Sunset

As the sun sets on the month and the year, I am posting this photo of one of the sunsets we have enjoyed through the windshield of our coach here in our site at Buckskin Mountain State Park. It has been a good month for us here in Arizona, and we wish for everyone a successful finish of 2009.

Birds of the Neighborhood

This is a Phainopepla, one of the birds we see daily in our corner of the park here at Buckskin Mountain State Park. Actually there are a number of birds we see on a daily basis, the most numerous and most vocal are the Great-tailed Grackles as they search the campsites for tidbits. The busiest and brightest bird would be a Vermilion Flycatcher that flitters out after insects all day long. Keeping a lower profile is another flycatcher a Black Phoebe. Possibly the prettiest are a pair of Gila Woodpeckers. And by evening a number of Eurasian Collared Doves roost in our Ficus trees.

Greening of the Desert

In the month that we have been here in Arizona there have only been a couple of days with rain, but evidently it has been enough to encourage new life. Shown here are the new green leaves unfurling on a Brittlebush. Everyday I notice a little more greening as more leaves appear and give a green appearance to the dead looking Brittlebush. Soon it will appear as a green mound in the desert instead of a pale dead looking pile of sticks.

Questions

When I head up the trail each morning, I usually take a shovel with me. I use it to make improvements along the trail to water bars and culverts, but I get asked the darndest questions. Here are a few: “What are you digging for?” “Are you actually mining?” and “What are you mining for?” This one on my return trip ---“Did you bury a body up there?” And my favorite - - -“What is so special about that shovel that you carry it everywhere?”

Gila Woodpecker

This male Gila Woodpecker, with his red Christmas cap, just snatched a fig from the Ficus tree in our site. Jeanette suggested that perhaps he has some figgy pudding in mind. ---- Merry Christmas

Brrrrr!

We have had a couple of cold days with some rain and wind and daytime tempatures down in the fifties. Buster likes it a little warmer and enjoys being wrapped up in his blanky.

Wild Burros

Last night as we were sitting down to dinner Jeanette noticed what she thought might be burros across the river. We grabbed our binoculars and sure enough there across the river on top of a ridge silhouetted against the sky were at least three wild burros. We knew they existed over there because a couple of weeks ago when we were exploring that side of the river, at Quail Hollow a BLM day-use park, we saw lots of hoof prints, trails, and manure. The burros are left over from earlier mining days, they now hide out and roam wild in the canyons and washes here along the Colorado River. Unfortunately, because of the distance and the fading light, I was not able to get a good enough photo last night to post.

Black-throated Sparrow

I took this photo of a shy Black-throated Sparrow this morning, appearing to try and hide behind a rock. Every morning I take my camera with me to work on the trails. I justify taking some time to take some photos in that come next month I will be leading nature hikes and will need to know what I’m talking about. Since leaving Elkton last month, I have now added 10 more birds to Cascade Ramblings, 6 of which have been here in Buckskin Mountain State Park.

Step Replacemnt

Yesterday I replaced a rotting step in the Lightning Bolt Trail. It developed into an all morning project by the time I found a replacement timber, rounded up a chain saw to cut it to the right length, got the chain saw running, found a drill and then a half inch bit to drill the timber to take the haft inch rebar, find some rebar. Then I had to lug everything up the trail, remove the rotting step, dig out the replacement area, and use a sledge to pound the rebar into place. I know it sounds boring, but I find it very rewarding. Shown here are the before (above), and after (below) pictures. Find out more about the Lightning Bolt Trail by clicking on the highlighted name.

Day off to Explore

Today was a day-off for us, and Jeanette and I went exploring on the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge, which is only five or so miles north of us here at Buckskin Mountain State Park. Look for more photos and information in the Trip Journal of Cascade Ramblings soon.

Interpretive Signs Complete

With the installation yesterday of the #7 Brittlebush sign I now have all 10 interpretive signs in their proper place along the Buckskin Trail. This was the last sign to be put in place and it has an interesting story. A couple of the other signs had to be moved to correct locations, but the Brittlebush sign was completely missing. Digging around in one of the maintenance shops day before yesterday looking for a drill, I spied this sign sitting back in a corner. It read “Brittlebrush”, notice the “r”. Now we do have a plant called Bitterbrush on the eastside of the Cascades in Oregon, but this plant in the desert is Brittlebush. My best guess is that someone misspelled in when it was made. Now, imagine ME correcting someone else’s spelling!! Possibly a first.

Warm Temperatures

Most nights the temperatures here at Buckskin Mountain State Park drop to the forties or fifties, but this morning when we woke up it was sixty-one degrees outside! We continue to feel that we made the right decision to come south to Arizona earlier than usual this winter, particularly in light of the extremely cold weather that is happening back in Oregon. Here in the mornings we run the heaters a little to take off the chill, but once the sun comes out, the warmth streams through the windows, and by the middle of the day we have to open all the windows to keep the temperatures down in the coach.

Buckskin Trail

My goal for the day was to work on replacing a culvert on the Buckskin Trail. The original culvert was only two feet in length and too short for the trail. Some one had tried to “make do” by covering over with boards, a metal sign, and 2x4s. I pried it all apart, cleaned out the trench and installed a three-foot replacement. All materials and tools have to be packed in on foot. I think its fun! Jeanette and Buster hiked up before lunch, so Jeanette was able to take the photo.

Trail Work

After two days off to get caught up on laundry, groceries, and some sightseeing, it was back to work this morning. I was anxious to check out the trails to see how they had done after our rainstorm on Monday night. So far this year they have only had three inches of rain, and one inch of that fell in Monday night’s storm. I hiked all four trails this morning and found everything intact. I had spent the previous days before the storm fixing all the water bars and the whole system seems to have done its job. I also took along my GPS this morning to check some elevations and found out when I do all four trails I have almost 1,100 feet of climb

Escaping the Cold

Our method for escaping the cold of winter by traveling south to Arizona has been definitely validated the last few days with the reports of the extreme cold back in Oregon. With all the sub-freezing weather up there our sympathy goes out to our family and friends.

Our method for further escaping the cold of the early morning 40s here in the park is to stay in the coach until the sun warms up the outside to 50 – 60 degrees. This is the view through the front windshield of our coach of the morning sun hitting the cliffs across the Colorado River from our campsite.

First Week

Today marks the end of our first week of work in our volunteer positions at Buckskin Mountain State Park. I’ve hiked the trails for six straight mornings, and to tell the truth, my butt is starting to drag a little, which is a dangerous position in this land of sharp rocks and cacti! I’m not actually complaining. I’ve loved it. In fact each morning it has been hard to wait for daylight to get out on the trail. I only have to walk about two hundred yards from our doorstep to the trailhead. With shovel in hand I head out to clear water bars and look for erosion trouble spots. I’ve also kept an eye out for plant interpretive signs. Some are placed with the wrong plant (trail gremlins), some are placed where there is no plant, and some are just plain missing. We have a total of four trails in our system here and it’s been an enjoyable experience to hike their routes and come to understand the area better.

Registration

This weekend a large group is camping here at Buckskin Mountain State Park with retro vehicles and trailers. Shown checking in at the Registration Station is a beautiful custom 1951 Ford pickup and teardrop trailer.

Here is Jeanette working her shift at the window of the Registration Station. Her hours are either 9:00 to 1:00 if she works in the morning, or 12:30 to 4:30 if she works in the afternoon. She likes these hours because if she works in the morning, hubby will have lunch ready for her, or if she works in the afternoon, hubby will be fixing dinner for her. Hubby works from 8:00 to 12:00.

First Day

Yesterday was our first day at “work” here in our role as Volunteers at Buckskin Mountain State Park. Jeanette trained for her job in the registration office. I went with the head Ranger to hike the trails to assess what needs to be done in my job of trail maintenance. At the end of the morning (we work four hours a day five days a week), Jeanette and I met back at the motor home for lunch. We were both excited to share how happy we were with our first day. She has lots to learn about reservations, passes, and fees. I will have lots of work to do with trail and plant identification signs and erosion control with water bars. It seems like such a good match for both of us, and we’re feeling very fortunate to have this opportunity at this park.

This is a photo of our digs. You can click on the photo for a larger size.

Satallite at Last!

This morning, Jeanette got to watch the morning news in her pajamas, drinking her coffee, with Buster on her lap. --- Eight o’clock last night we paid a satellite specialist to help us find the correct satellite. That was not the end however; Jeanette then had to spend the next hour on the phone pleading with DirectTV to flip the switch to give us Arizona TV. Thumbs up to Frank from Satellite Specialties for fitting us into his busy schedule. (I’ll be buying a signal meter like Frank’s soon). Thumbs down to DirectTV for customer service that became a four day marathon nightmare.

Trail Scouting

Yesterday morning we spent a couple of hours scouting out two of the four hiking trails I will be working on in my volunteering position here at Buckskin Mountain State Park. I don’t officially start work until Friday, but I was anxious to get a preliminary look at the trails. Looks like some of the interpretive signs need to be, repaired, replaced or moved. Also some work on water bars. No brush to trim here mostly concerns with erosion, hence the importance of water bars. They have an outstanding trail system already in place. My job, as I see it right now will just to keep it maintained. I’ll be hiking it with the head Ranger soon and will have a more detailed idea what he has in mind.

On the domestic front ----- yesterday was the third day without DirectTV Satellite Service----aaaa---stay tuned.

Buckskin Mountain State Park, Arizona

There is a saying in the RV world, “home is were you park it”. Well, we parked it at Buckskin Mountain State Park today, where we expect to stay for the next four months. I’m shown here trying to relax this afternoon after loosing a battle with the blankety blank Satellite TV set-up. We think we are going to enjoy our stay anyway. It’s a beautiful park on a nice section of the Colorado River. High tempature today was probably 70. If you get a chance to stop by and see us, we are in site #68.

Lake Havasu

Made the short drive to Lake Havasu this morning where we are staying in Lake Havasu State Park where we worked as Volunteer Hosts last February. Great to see familiar places and visit with friends Scott & Judy Priebe, Volunteer Hosts. Tomorrow we move on to Buckskin Mountain State Park, just down river a ways, to set-up for our winter’s Volunteer jobs.

Needles, California

We left the Orange Grove RV Park this morning expecting to stay tonight at the Calico Ghost Town near Barstow, but the weather was so poor and we were making good time, so we decided to drive on to Needles. The climb over Tehachapi Pass went fine; there were snowflakes, but no snow on the ground. In Barstow it was raining, so it was easy to choose to go on. When I stepped out of the motor home here at Desert View RV Resort in Needles this afternoon, I was engulfed in the soft warmth of the desert, ah, a good feeling. ----- Tomorrow we cross over into Arizona and drive to Lake Havasu State Park for a night or two.

Orange Grove RV Park

We were up before the crack of dawn today, packed-up, and were on the road by 7:00AM, for our day's drive to Bakersfield. We are now set-up in the Orange Grove RV Park on the East-side of Bakersfield. This park is an annual stopping spot for us and we always enjoy picking some oranges. This year however we are earlier than usual and the oranges are not ripe yet. I guess the “early bird gets the worm”, but not the oranges. ----- Tomorrow we head on over the Tehachapi Pass to Barstow, probably camping at Calico Ghost Town.

Thanksgiving

Jeanette’s sons Sean and Tony, and Tony’s girl friend Maggie, who all live in Oakland, joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner in our Holiday Rambler here in Pleasanton. Serving a Thanksgiving Dinner for five people in an RV was a real challenge, but Jeanette proved it could be done, and very successfully.

 

Enjoying Pleasanton

We are enjoying our stay here in Pleasanton California. Yesterday we spent the morning doing odds and ends around the motorhome. After lunch we took a nice four-mile plus walk on some of Pleasanton’s walking/biking paths. We are shown here relaxing in the sun after our walk. In the evening we went to Richards and Mary’s for a lovely dinner of asparagus and cheddar stuffed chicken breasts and an exciting game of Mexican Train Dominos.

Picnic in the Sun

Richard and Mary wanted us to be sure and see Lake Del Valle while we are staying in Pleasanton. Yesterday they took us on a picnic and tour of Del Valle Regional Park. We enjoyed a picnic in the sun, and then took a stroll along the lake identifying birds and I tried to capture some of the park's beauty with my camera. We also scouted out the campground. It’s not a question of "if "we will return to this wonderful park, but simply a question of "when"!

Holiday Kickoff Open House

The big event of the day yesterday here in Pleasanton was attending Richard & Mary Sites “Holiday Kickoff Open House”. On display were some of Mary’s Department 56 collection. A huge display of the “Christmas in the City” series filled the dinning room spilling over into the kitchen, and the “Holy Land” series filled in one end of the living room. Food and friends filled in the rest of the space. 

Pleasanton California

We made it here to the Alameda County Fairgrounds yesterday. Driving Highway 680 with the speeding traffic bumper-to-bumper five lanes wide always gives me the feeling of having joined a mass of lemmings rushing for the sea. The worst part however was the terrible road surface, cracks, potholes, and deteriorating pavement, gave us a cupboard-jarring ride. But, we made it, and the warm sunshine is wonderful. Twenty-eight dollars a night here for a site. We have now been in California for a week.

Lunch with Rudy

We took the car and drove up to Grass Valley yesterday to have lunch with a family friend Rudy Thompson. He grew up in the Toledo Oregon area with Jeanette’s dad, Jim Dye. They were scoutmasters together and after WW II they both lived in Roseburg with their new brides. The couples did things together and remained friends for life. Rudy is the only one left, but he is a very spry 97 years old. Jeanette and I have remained in contact with him, and in fact he has contributed photos and information to Cascade Ramblings for Derrick and Trembley Lakes. When we called to arrange a visit, he insisted on fixing us lunch himself. He provided everything for a Norwegian style lunch of open-faced sandwiches including smoked lox, and pickled herring. He has such a zest for life, and is involved in projects too numerous to attempt to list, but one of his latest is learning Norwegian!

Today we pull up stakes and head for the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton where we will stay through Thanksgiving.

Yuba City, California

Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds - - - we have discovered that county fairgrounds often have RV camping available. They have to be scouted out, as they are sort of under the radar in that they do not usually advertise, nor are they listed in most RV park guides. They are however great places to stay for several reasons. In the first place they cost less than standard RV parks by ten to fifteen dollars. We paid twenty dollars a night here. Secondly they are interesting places to stay in that it’s fun to be able to walk all through the fairgrounds. There is some danger in exploring the fairgrounds as Jeanette found out yesterday. During our walk, Jeanette went through a turnstile and found herself locked into a secured parking lot with no way to get out. I had told her there was no way to get out, but she proceeded to attempt to prove me wrong. In the end, I had to go find a maintenance man to unlock the gate to let her out!

We are staying two nights here. We have unhooked the car and today will be driving up to Grass Valley to visit with our friend Rudy Thompson.

Sycamore Campground

Sycamore Campground and the Red Bluff Recreation Area have so much to offer that we stayed a second night. This campground is completely unknown, right on the banks of the Sacramento River, with miles of hiking trails. We toughed out the first night in a site without electricity, but in the morning we moved to the site shown here with electricity, twenty five dollars a night, but with Senior Pass, twelve fifty a night. The sun came out on the second day and we relaxed, hiked, and got some good photos of birds to add to Cascade Ramblings. I was able to add; White-breasted Nuthatch, Black Phoebe, and Red Shouldered Hawk. Today we will be traveling on to Yuba City

Red Bluff, California

We had to continue fleeing south ahead of the storm yesterday. We left Yreka in the morning as the rain was just threatening. High winds between Yreka and Weed made for some treacherous driving, the best I could do was only 45 miles an hour. Once we descended down to Dunsmuir we were out of the wind and driving was back to normal. We got gas and lunch in Anderson and then drove on to Red Bluff where I wanted to try camping at the Lake Red Bluff Recreation Area. Here we are in our eight-dollar site in the Sycamore Campground. The no-hook-up sites are actually sixteen dollars, but with a Senior Pass it's half price. We got in a great hike on the park trails just before the rain hit at 3:00. Looking at the road cams later I could see snow on the route we had just driven, in fact snow was reported as low as Dunsmuir.

California or Bust

We are now in California! Yesterday we made it safely over the Siskiyous just ahead of the upcoming storms. We had to make a fast dash, as yesterday was forecast to be the last dry day, meaning no snow, for some time to come. We left the Salem area early in the morning, repacked the Holiday Rambler in Elkton, and sped down I-5 and over the Siskiyous, arriving in the late afternoon at the Yreka RV Park as shown here, where we were happy to pay $38.50 for the night. Phew! Over the first hurdle on our southward migration for the winter.

Astro Boy

Yesterday at the invitation of my grandsons I went to see the movie “Astro Boy” with, as shown here, my wife Jeanette, my daughter Lisa and my grandsons, Jake, William, and Luke. My grandsons told me the movie was about robots. And there were lots of robots, robots of every size and description and they contained powers beyond my imagination. But as the movie progressed I realized it was the classic battle between good and evil, a father’s love for his son, and the son’s willingness to sacrifice his life to save the world. The son, in this case, Astro boy, was able to save the world because the power of his goodness ultimately overcame the forces of evil. Hmmmm, ---- now that sounds like a familiar script.

Good Memories

We have had a great three days staying in Salem. The repairs on our RV were all completed by Wagers Trailer Sales on Thursday; the cabling was set up to receive satellite TV in the bedroom, the loose wire was found to repair the left-hand mirror camera, and a leak was found and sealed that was causing rust to form and drip out at the wheel-well. So, the motor home is all set for out trip to Arizona. We have also got in some shopping for odds and ends, and in fact it has been kind of fun just to drive around our former hometown. The best part of our stay however, has been time spent with friends and reconnecting. We have met for lunches and dinners and gone for walks at River Front Park and Minto Brown Island Park. To my great disappointment I failed to have my camera with me on both of our walks. We will however have the good memories to carry with us.

Salem Senior Center

In general I stay away from senior centers. Call me stubborn, or in denial, but that fact is I don’t much like the idea of getting old. So, imagine my surprise yesterday to find myself at the City of Salem Senior Center standing in the cheap lunch line! Jeanette and I were there to have lunch with friends at the table reserved for members of our Chemeketans hiking club. I tried to explain to strangers that we were not members, just guests. To our chagrin, no one even asked if we were old enough. I did notice that several hiking friends had gotten a lot older. As soon as we were finished eating, we got up and left. That’s another thing I hate about old people, they are so impatient.

Practice Trip

We are currently set up in our motor home in the Phoenix RV Park in Salem. We will be here through Sunday having some work done on the motor home and visiting with friends and family in the area. I’m calling it a “practice trip” before we leave for our “big trip” next week for the winter to Arizona. Don’t let the photo fool you; we did see our share of rain earlier in the day while driving up I-5.

Looking for the Bright Spot

I have always felt that it’s important to make sure I get in some exercise every day. Most days now it includes taking our dog Buster for a walk. It’s important for him too, he seems easier to live with if he gets daily exercise, and he sleeps better. It definitely gets to be more of a challenge in the wintertime with the predominance of cold foggy wet rainy days. But, I’ve noticed if I am vigilant, that even on rainy days there is usually a break in the weather, a bright spot, and the sun comes out even though briefly. Today was such a day, solid rain all morning, but about noon the sun came out and dried up the streets and walkways, and so I took Buster out for our walk. It’s important for my sanity to keep looking for that bright spot, its usually there if I keep an eye out. Seems like that’s probably true with the rest of my life as well.

In Search of Mushrooms

For me, photographing mushrooms in the fall takes the place of photographing wild flowers in the spring. I am drawn to seek them out and attempt to capture their beauty with my camera. Eddie Harrod snapped this picture of me taking a photo of Scaly Chanterelles on yesterdays hike along Brice Creek.

Halloween

Halloween was featured at Brandborg Winery again this year in Elkton. Jeanette and I are shown here in our costumes as Wacky Tourists. It was a fun evening when adults got a chance to prove they are still young at heart. To see more photos of the evening check out Webshots.

Dreaming on Rainy Days

On rainy days here in Oregon I find myself dreaming of Arizona, practically Buckskin Mountain State Park. The park is shown here in this photo I took while staying there in November of 2005 on a trip across the southern states. The park is an attractive green oasis located on the banks of the Colorado River on the western boarder of Arizona. This park is where we will be spending our winter this year as volunteers. I will be doing volunteer trail maintenance and leading nature hikes. Jeanette will be volunteering in the registration office and gift shop.

Busy Beaver

As the daylight hours grow shorter, and the rain seems more persistent, I seem to get more sluggish. But here is a guy that has been busy at work,----Mr. Beaver. I don’t know if he plans on eating the whole thing himself this winter or what. Although we often walk along his stream, Elk Creek, this is the first time we have noticed his handy work.

A Day With My Son

Yesterday I spent the day riding with my son on his cheese deliveries. He has just started his own company, Northwest Artisan Cheese Cellars. We drove to an unimaginably long list of customers, in an equally unimaginable variety of locations, to deliver, --- you guessed it, an unimaginable amount of cheese! We where in locations as diverse as the rural hills of Yamhill County to deep into the busy streets of downtown Portland, crisscrossed with modern suburbia of Washington County and country farms along the Columbia River. Thank goodness my son is very adept at using the map application in his i-phone. It was a long but very rewarding day.

Sweater Time

This morning while we were getting ready to go on a hike I noticed that Buster seemed a little lethargic. My best guess was it was a little too cold for him, so I dug out his argyle sweater. That seemed to perk him up, and he had a great day on the trail. He is shown here at a viewpoint on the Eel Lake Trail.

More Grapes

We worked again yesterday and today helping with the grape harvest at Anindor Vineyards. At this time of year in Elkton it’s a kind of “all hands on deck” kind of situation with everyone pitching in. I am shown here yesterday afternoon dumping a bucket of Pinot Noir grapes into a half-ton tote.

Camera Found

Late last night I got a call from a guy named Bob who said he had my camera. My wife Jeanette is a person that thrives on a challenge. She had jumped on my lost camera situation with all her vim and vigor. One of the things she did was post on the Lost & Found section of Craig’s List about a lost camera offering a reward. I met with Bob this morning, he handed over the camera, I handed over the cash. He had found it at the base of the pedestal on Mt. Pisgah, with the battery popped out, and no recorded photos. With a closer examination I realized that the data card was missing. Hoping it had popped out and would still be laying on the ground I made a trip to the top of Mt. Pisgah again. Thirty minutes of searching turned up no card. I got a new card at the camera store, so I am now back in the business of taking photos.

Missing Camera

We went for a hike today at Buford Recreation Area, just south of Eugene. It was a great hike, the last of sunny days. We explored new trails, took lots of photos, and eventually got to the top of Mt Pisgah. While visiting with a fellow hiker with a nice black lab, I set down my camera on the memorial bronze pedestal and mistakenly walked away leaving the camera. A mile down the mountain I reached for my camera to take a photo and discovered no camera. We immediately turned around and raced back up the mountain to the summit. No camera. We hurried down the mountain to the headquarters, no camera.

Hairy Manzanita

We planted some Hairy Manzanita today. We have a dry bank area that has not been a good location for boxwood that we had planted, too much sun and needs too much watering. In thinking about something native that might work in that location, Hairy Manzanita came to mind. It’s a shrub that we enjoy seeing when hiking, and it seems to do well with lots of sun in rocking areas. It turned out to be hard to find any one who stocked this plant, but finally found them at Wallace Hansens’s Northwest Native Pants in Salem.

Grape Harvest

We are back home in Elkton with cool foggy mornings, and warm sunny afternoons. The grape harvest is now in full swing. Jeanette is shown here emptying Gewurztraminer grapes into a tote while working for Anindor Vineyards at the Elkton Vineyard of River's Edge Winery.

Change In Weather

There seems to have been a change in the weather, the summer temps are gone, snow has fallen in the high Cascades and in the highway passes. Pine needles have been falling like rain for the past several days here on the Metolius. We will be pulling out of Camp Sherman today for a couple of days in Salem/Dallas for various things and then on to Elkton on Friday afternoon. The Santiam Pass shows no snow this morning on the road cam, so it’s the day to head over. We feel like we have milked the last of summer out of a very pleasant stay in Central Oregon. Our timing seems perfect; all the sites in Black Butte RV Park were we have been staying will be taken starting tonight with hunters.

Camp Sherman Store

Camp Sherman is the hub of activity in the Metolius River Recreation Area, and the Camp Sherman Store is the very center of that hub. It is a must stop. We have been enjoying coffee and pastries, great sandwiches, groceries and fishing supplies this past week.

One-Month Anniversary

Today marks the one-month anniversary of taking delivery of our new Holiday Rambler. We have lived in it every day since, except for four days when we had to be back in Elkton for the Fort Umpqua Days Pageant. The major places we have camped have been Silver Falls State Park, Champoeg State Park, Diamond Lake Campground, and here at Black Butte RV Park on the Metolius River.

The Metolius River

Jeanette and I are here on the Metolius River for a week to enjoy its crystal clear waters, hike its scenic trails, and enjoy the great fall colors. There is probably no other area I have returned to so consistently in the past 40 years as the Metolius River. I have fly fished it clear waters, hiked, mt biked, and backpacked the river-side trails, camped in tents, campers, vans, trailers, and motor homes in every campground. It still captures my attention and casts a spell of awe with its beauty.

Crater Lake

On Tuesday morning, the wind was blowing at Diamond Lake so strong that Dan and I agreed not to go fishing. Instead, a bunch of us decided to go up to Crater Lake for the day. Friend Eddie Harrod showed up in time to go with us. We enjoyed a tour of the rim road, and concluded with a wonderful lunch at Crater Lake Lodge. Pictured are Dan, Charlene, Eddie, Michael, Jeanette, & Melissa.