Blue Goose ~ Day 38

July 8, 2014 ~ Medford, OR to Burns, OR

I went from sea to sage and more sage and more sage. I started east from Medford expecting another hot day and, while the temperatures fluctuated between 70 and 90, it was not at all unpleasant because there was a cloud cover all day, plus it is so dry out here.

The first few hours I was still in the mountains and foothills with Ponderosas, Douglas firs, spruces, cedars and lodgepole pines. I learned that the twisted stunted shore pines along the coast, subject to an environment of constant salty wind, are also lodgepole pines  The tall, thin and straight species in the mountain are Pinus contorta; the shore pines add the variant contorta to their name and are thus Pinus contorta contorta, thereby emphasizing their appearance.

I stopped first at Upper Klamath NWR and pulled in at Rocky Point, recognizing this place from when the SODAs lived in Klamath and we once took a little road trip and ate here.

Rocky Point - Upper Klamath Lake NWR - OR

This is a large "hard-stem cattail" marsh. At Rocky Point one can access a 9-mile canoe route, but there are no hiking trails. There is a private resort here, slightly messy but totally comfortable and laid-back, in the best Oregon tradition. RVs, picnic tables, canoes, kayaks and fishing boats, docks, a restaurant, camp store store and restrooms, all overlooking the marsh and Upper Klamath Lake to moutnains in the east.

Continuing north and east to Klamath Marsh NWR, 40,000 acres of marsh and uplands. "The first 15,800 acres were purchased from the Klamath Indian Tribes in 1958 with funds from the Federal Duck Stamp program."  In the marsh the Indians historically gathered wocus, the seed from the water lily from which they made a flour or used directly in soups.

Wocus on Klamath Marsh NWR - OR

The refuge headquarters were behind a locked gate so I did a little googling and figured I might be able to see a White-headed Woodpecker if I sat just off the main road for a hour. Which I did and didn't - did sit and did not see a woodpecker. But I had another flycatcher ID frustration with the bird not singing and being just a bit too far. It was very quiet in the Ponderosas and aspens. I saw one Oregon Junco (a western version of the Dark-eyed Junco), a single Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Western Tanager. Only four cars passed during the hour.

Oregon has just about every habitat - ocean, mountains, desert, rivers, lake and marshes. It's a beautiful state, although not everyone would agree about the eastern half - the sage and hay half but, for me, it has a singular beauty. If there is any chance of irrigation / moisture, there is hay which is baled in gigantic rectangular blocks, not the large rounded bales one sees more to the east. And even in the endless sage, there are single, widely scattered dwellings and trailers, usually modest or marginal, but occasionally a well proportioned and cared-for two-story home.

Trailer in sage west of Burns, OR

Who lives out here? Or are these vacation or working places? The grace of night skies and the early mornings and evenings would have to be balanced against the heat of the day, which would preclude most people from choosing to live out here. Still, if one is born and bred to this land....

I drove conservatively and got over 28 mpg with the van.

My routine at smaller towns without a Walmart is to cruise around, checking out all possible sleeping places. Burns had a truck stop, at least two RV parks, a Safeway and a large, mostly empty parking lot adjacent to a McDonald's and Rite-Aid which I chose. At the Safeway, where I used the bathroom, I saw a huge woman with no bra wearing a very thin and grubby T-shirt, turned to the walk out and ran into two very large (not merely overweight but gigantic) youngish women in those store-supplied motorized carts. I see men also but more women as poster people for our national obesity epidemic. This Safeway was busy and figured I didn't want to spend the night there.

In my own private parking lot though there was one other vehicle, a dented red sedan that wasn't running. It had been towed there, and later I saw a guy pushing it to the back corner of the lot. He/they also slept there so I wondered what their story was. And I saw two separate traveling couples that intrigued me. One had some European vehicle (the kind I associate with crossing the Sahara), and the other was eating in McDonalds and had long, dread-locked hair and dark, loose clothing; they all were all attractive and fit and obviously on adventures. Later, I regretted not asking a few questions, especially the Sahara Vehicle couple. The Steens are mountains south of Burns that attract the more adventurous traveler and I wondered if either couple was headed that way. While I never have been there and wasn't about to go with my vehicle that isn't particularly good on back roads, I really want to see these mountains. Steve and Andree always tell me how amazing they are, kind of tucked away in southeast Oregon.

I had a salad bowl from a grocery store that was stashed in my cooler, a glass of wine, some crackers and cheese and read an hour. Another good day.