John Day Fossil Beds: Sheep Rock Divison

 

   One of our destinations in the US was the John Day Fossil Beds which we had "flown by" via car on our way to Death Valley many years ago.  We had the opportunity to visit the town of John Day, and the museum,  which is centered on the lives of 2 Chinese,  settlers is worth a visit:  the Kam Wah Chung Museum and the building is a National Historic Landmark.  Failing to achieve a campsite in the National Forest near the town (fires had closed roads) we stayed at a state park and the next day went to the Sheep Rock division of the Fossil Beds.  Everything is totally "free" in this area even though it is part of the National Parks.  I guess this is because it is a National Monument and not a park.  We had a lovely hike through the fossil beds - this picture does not do it justice.  The hazy skies from the area smoke is visible.  The hike had a lot of variety and a side route leads you to the popular part of the site - some actual fossils on display.  At the headquarters, there is a large display of the entire area and the fossils found in it - I was impressed with all of the dioramas and the amount of work that has gone into the displays. 

 

Travels in America:  Rattlesnake Pass

We made the decision to leave Clarkston and take WA 129 into Oregon.  When you look on the map, it's pretty straight forward and I offered to drive.  One hairpin turn appears on the 50 states atlas.  Little did I know that I would encounter Rattlesnake Pass.  We got to the top of the pass pretty quickly and saw the summit sign.  Then the descent began.  I have never felt vertigo when I've been the driver but I did notice it here.  We did not  pull over to take a picture or change drivers - there were rare opportunities.  This photo appears care of a friend, Annette, who travelled north over the pass a couple of weeks later.  It's an amazing road in a very sparse area for population.  I wonder how often it closes in winter??  At the bottom, we crossed the Grande Rondo River before it travels further east and joins the Snake River.  This is an extraordinary road and very scenic - not recommended if you don't like exposure!  We arrived in OR and had more stunning viewpoints and as we made our way to Enterprise, OR.  

 Travels in America:  Lewiston/Clarkston

Our original intention was to spend a day in Moscow and we did enjoy visiting the University of Idaho's arboretum in that town.  We did not find satisfactory places for camping.  We headed south and decided to stay in Lewiston or Clarkston.  It worked out well for us because we were introduced to a long, winding road off the newer highway into Lewiston, ID.  Here's the Lewiston version of the highway into Bella Coola (only this one isn't nearly as long.)  

The Snake River divides the states of WA and ID and Lewiston is location on the ID side, while Clarkston is on the WA side.  We thought this road looked pretty impressive.  Little did we know what we were in for on the other side when we travelled over Rattlesnake Pass.  Here's the view of the Snake at Lewiston/Clarkston:  

Travels in America: Idaho Biking Trails

We basically spent 3 days exploring Idaho on a bike.  The first day, as mentioned, was at Farragut State Park and we avoided Idaho State Parks following that night.  The next day we had picked up groceries and parked in Coeur d'Alene where there is a lovely bunch of trails, many of them relatively new.  There is the State Centennial Trail which travels through the city and then seems to follow the I-90 to the WA border.  We experienced a wee bit of this at the end of our vacation in Spokane, because the trail connects to the Spokane River Trail.  We chose to travel on the Coeur d'Alene Lake trail which took us close to the lake for a solid portion.  Then we went through the central part of the city and it could have been better marked, but it was really quite lovely.  There are not a lot of building cranes currently located in downtown Coeur d'Alene.  Rather than take the State Centennial Trail,  we chose to follow along the Spokane River and went through a couple of neighbourhoods that were new with large homes.  The fall colours were gorgeous on that day.  I'd definitely recommend this trail to others.

More than 10 years ago, we had experienced the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes on 2 separate occasions out of Plummer, ID and out of Cataldo, ID, on the I-90.  This time, we parked at the town of Harrison and rode up to Rose Lake which we had reached from Cataldo 10 years ago.  It was a nice ride and the trail is in good shape - might be great to try it during spring migration.  One thing we did find was that we think they are working to "reclaim" some wetlands and so we did have to ride past a 10 km section of brush burning and equipment tearing up the area.  The total ride that we did was 30 km each way and most of it was very good.  A state highway is audible, but it wasn't that busy.  It was good to see how well used the trail is - we encountered more than 60 people on the trail that day - mid-week in October.   It's amazingly FLAT!  Highly recommended. 

Travels in America, 2024 Part 1

 IDAHO STATE PARKS

We left on a 2 weeks holiday to hike and bike in various areas of Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.  No specific destination was in mind but we knew of a couple of trails in Idaho that we wanted to visit and one in OR and in WA.  Basically, we followed our nose.  

The first night we stopped at Farragut State Park near Coeur d'Alene, ID.  Generally, we've liked the national and state parks throughout the US on previous visits.  We couldn't "register" for camping until after 3pm but we picked out a site and rode our bikes around.  There were lots of views of Lake Pend'Oreille and there were numerous roads and trails for biking.  Our bikes did not like the obstacles on  some of the trails, but there were plenty of options.  We stuck to the roads most of the time.  

When we registered for camping we were a bit shocked to discover that the price was $65USD.  In Idaho, if you are "non-resident", the price is doubled - a regular campsite is $32 for a resident, plus tax.  In Canadian money, this is close to $100 for a single night of camping?!  As a result, we did not visit more state parks in ID and I'd suggest that the prices are too high for Canadians to consider.  Fortunately, this did not occur in other states that we visited.  

The National Forests are good places for camping and we were a bit surprised to find out that the campsite we located called Beauty Creek had already closed by October 8th.  We parked at the entranceway and the bathrooms were still open (with toilet paper!) and it was quite a nice spot.  Of course, the Beauty Creek had completely dried up - this whole area was in great need of rain.  There was a pretty good hike up a hillside to some good views but I had no idea if I had enough time to actually "hike" it before dark.  I opted for one viewpoint.  The next morning we did do a lovely hike above Lake Coeur d'Alene near the campsite.  

Our third night of camping in ID took place at the trailhead on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes near Harrison, ID.  There were no signs stating no overnight parking and a bathroom was at the location we chose.  We observed our best sunset of the entire trip.  The 2 "free" nights rather made up for expensive camping in the state parks.  

Harvest Days

 Harvest Days

I can hardly believe it, but we've managed to get most of our fruit safely into the house this season with very little damage from all the animals who share our space.  We have had a small black bear turn up a couple of times and he/she took a considerable number of grapes.  We had purchased these grapes as "seedless" and they didn't turn out to be, so we don't really mind losing some grapes.  

The apple harvest is featured in the photo above.  It was small this year, compared with last year, but there are plenty of trees around that want picking and we have been able to obtain more "eating" apples from a friend or two.  Thanks to Tammy who got us started with the "transparents" which are now frozen,  awaiting a pie plate!  Our peach crop was extremely plentiful and we gave away quite a few and made lots of frozen and canned peaches.  The Damson plum produced well, as it normally does, and we have lots of it canned or made into other things.  I gave a considerable amount of them away to a woman who is promising me some fruit leather in the future.  Mmmm.  

This is always my very favourite time of year.  I love harvesting....oops, there goes the timer on the stove - time to get the salsa into the jars for the upcoming water bath!

Meeting A Great Horned Owl

 Three weeks ago while spending a weekend in Trail we had an unusual experience with an owl.  I had gone for a morning walk around our neighbourhood and was walking through one of our two parks in Sunningdale.  I noticed an object close to a fenced yard and as I got closer, thought that it was a pretty good statue of an owl.  The closer I got, the better it looked.  Then it blinked at me and made a hissing sound by opening its beak.  It stared at me with considerable venom.  I gave the owl a fairly good space and it watched me as I moved away.  I told Dave about the experience and he took his bike up to take a look.  Sure enough, the owl was still "on location".   We figured that the owl must be hurt because it was allowing us to get so close.  Dave googled a bird rescue facility and spoke with someone in Delta, BC.  Within 5 minutes of that call, we had a call from Amanda who works with animal rescue facilities and she was prepared to come out to help us capture the owl.  Amanda had a cage for the bird and we were told to bring a blanket or sheet so we could cover the bird.  We returned to "the location" and then I wandered out to the road to wave at Amanda (we had never met) so she would know where to leave her car and meet the owl.  That worked very well and within seconds Amanda and I were walking towards Dave who had been near to the owl.  Then Amanda said, "Isn't that an owl over there on the hillside?"  Sure enough, it was "our" owl.  It had flown there.  What we did discover is that the owl had caught a skunk and had devoured its head.  We figure that the skunk had the opportunity to spray the owl before its death and the owl was probably in recovery, somewhat stunned by the skunks' actions.  We attempted to get close to the owl 4 times as we walked through the park but it would not let us get too near.  There were several crows enjoying the owl's predicament and they were making plenty of noise.  The owl did a good job of ignoring them.   It would fly very low over the ground or it would walk.  It was obviously not injured in a serious way.  Amanda called Delta and she was told to let it go and we did.  Hopefully, it recovered completely.  

I wandered over to the park later that day and saw no sign of the owl or the skunk.  I wonder if the owl came back to get that meal??  I can't imagine something so distasteful, but apparently skunks are often a preferred food of owls.   Who knew?