Blue Goose ~ Day 43

July 13, 2014 ~ Rock Springs, WY to Big Bend Campground in the Rockies in Colorado

I lingered awhile in Rock Springs, half wanting to go to at least one rodeo performance but couldn't find ticket information online, and it would mean hanging around until evening....

Back on I80 which is efficient, its only redeeming factor. The road ran fast and straight through more sage and sun until I turned south early afternoon into Colorado and immediately the scenery changed. As I got closer to the Rockies, there were prosperous ranches and green fields and far-off snowy peaks.

I crossed the Platte River three times, stopping occasionally to read the historic markers, most of which describe various pioneer trails.

After getting gas in Walden, a small nondescript town but busy with travelers, I drove another eight miles south to the heart-stoppingly gorgeous Arapaho NWR.

Arapaho NWR - CO

Swainson's Hawk - Arapaho NWR - CO

I picked up information and refuge maps, drove an auto route and sat by a pond for an hour where I mostly watched parent and baby coots, but also a Black-crowned Night-Heron which flew over, and a gull which made several dive-bombing runs toward the baby coots, very concerning for the parents who flapped and fluttered about. The babies all dove out of sight, and the gull left after half a dozen futile attempt at a baby coot dinner.

I had found a spot where oddly (because it was on the edge of a wetlands) there were no flies or mosquitoes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lingered. I drove up on Owl Ridge and saw a Swainson's Hawk sitting on a post and looked down on the narrow winding Illinois River hoping to see a moose. I didn't but reveled in the overall beauty of this refuge.

Late afternoon, I headed east on US14 which goes into and over the Rockies. I started in sunshine but then went through 15 minutes of rain while driving over a 10,000 foot pass stopping constantly to take photographs in between rain drops. I know from previous experiences these pictures NEVER even begin to capture the wild whitewater rivers and immense rocks and boulders and millions of evergreens and the wildflowers and even in July, the patches of snow at higher elevations. There are always places to pull over so the temptation is constantly to do exactly that.

I kept driving by National Forest campgrounds and decided - why not? so turned around and went into the Big Bend campground. There were only eight to ten spots, three of which were for "walk-in tents" only, but there were at least four empty other places, each with a picnic table and fire pit. The deal is that one picks out a spot, enters some information (car license, zip code, etc.), puts money in an envelope and into a small receptacle with a narrow slot on top. I paid $7.50 which was half price because I have the Golden Age Passport which can be used for one night. (Richard - do you have that?) I discovered that these campgrounds are run by a private entity called American Lands and Leisure under contract with the Forest Service. Each has campground hosts who live in RVs with plants, cute signs, outdoor furniture and a definite air of being settled in for the summer. The bathroom was a pit toilet and spotless.

The amazing thing here and which I noticed almost immediately were hummingbirds buzzing as they flew rapidly all around. They seemed to inspect me and my van and several times were hovering two inches from the closed windows or buzzing very close to me. One came flying right at me with its bright red throat clearly visible. I mixed up some sugar water but only had a small plastic bowl to put it in. If I had had a hummingbird feeder, I would have been able to attract them within five minutes, As it was, I had cleaning solution in a red plastic bottle and put that on the picnic table next to the sugar water, and off and on they inspected that but never found the water. I checked my bird guides; this was a life bird for me: Broad-tailed Hummingbirds which were the only possibility with habitat and tail and red throat and geographic location. I was alongside a river, a meadow in front and huge cliffs behind me. It was definitely several steps up from a parking lot or crummy motel.

I hadn't planned this so only had Chobani yogurt and cheese and crackers for dinner which were easily sufficient. I only regretted not having coffee cream for the next morning. It got in the 40s as I woke up chilly, but then I had a Skeeter Beater on one window all night instead of rolling it up.

One more van came in at dusk and I could see its inside light in the dark. Andree gave me an LED head lamp which works perfectly and much better than my other three clip-on reading lights. So, I was a happy camper.

Coots on Arapaho NWR - CO

Arapaho NWR - CO

US 14 - CO

Blue Goose ~ Day 42

July 12, 2014 ~ Kingston, WY to Rock Springs, WY

I worked until noon, washed my clothes, got gas and two large slices of Everything Pizza at the gas station (one slice for $3.59; two for $5, so of course I bought two). No ice needed as it was still rattling around in the new cooler. The motel guy eventually showed up at the desk as another gentleman and I waited, ringing the bell numerous times. He was still in stocking feet and wearing the same grey T-shirt and jeans as last night. He had to rummage somewhere underneath the counter for quarters so I could use the washer and dryer...but he had a lazy nice smile. 

Back on I80, I drove east, feeling sleepy for some reason, up and down long grades with sagebrush high desert on either side of the road and very little else. After 100+ miles, I headed north to Seedskadee NWR. The name of this refuge is from the Shoshone "sisk-a-dee-agie"meaning "river of the prairie hen" and I expected trees and water - cool pine forests, based only this lovely name. Not exactly...

Seedskadee NWR - WY

It was 28 miles north of the interstate and the web site said it could be "bitter cold" as it was over 6000 feet. However, most of the state of Wyoming is over 6000 feet. In fact, the average mean elevation is 6700 feet, second highest in the nation. (Colorado is highest with mean of 6800 feet.) Not bitter cold; utterly silent; sunshine; sage; flies and mosquitoes; blue blue skies and the Green River. This refuge is another "mitigation" refuge, mitigating the habitat damage of the Fontanelle and Flaming Gorge dams. Seedskadee protects 36 miles of the Green.

Since it was Saturday, I didn't expect anyone but it is unusual to be where one can see forever and hear nothing. There were a few birds but the huge flies and other unidentified flying insects, plus the mosquitoes plus the heat plus rattlesnake possibilities plus failing walking shoes precluded even a short ramble out of the car, so I drove on refuge roads near the river where I saw a gentleman and his two dogs fishing from a drift boat. I love these western rivers.

The headwaters of the Snake are in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. It runs south and then west through all of southern Idaho. Near the border with Oregon, it turns north, flowing through Hell's Canyon and empties into the Columbia in eastern Washington. It has 16 dams! References describe these river as being "used for" irrigation and hydropower.

The Green also begins in western Wyoming mountains and generally runs south to Utah where is joins the Colorado. It has two major dams as mentioned above: Fontanelle and the huge Flaming Gorge.

Green River on the Seedskadee NWR - WY

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

The Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah is a significant regional source of water for irrigation and mining, as well as for hydroelectric power. Begun in the 1950s and finished in 1963, it was highly controversial and opposed by conservationists. Originally, a dam was to be built in Whirlpool Canyon, but the conservationist movement traded the Flaming Gorge dam for halting that proposal. Apocryphally, the Sierra Club, a not-for-profit environmental organization, lost its tax-exempt status for political action in opposing the proposed dam.

I spent a couple of hours in a Starbucks in Rock Springs and then discovered it was adjacent to a Walmart with many other obvious overnighters so I joined the crowd. Impressively, everything always quiets down by 11 or even earlier. There were a few simple conversations at the open doors of RVs but none of the RV park hoopla.

It was windy and the western sky had a mess of complicated clouds with the sun moving through them. I learned the next morning that the National High School Rodeo Finals were to begin in Rock Springs that day. I watched kids and their families bustle about, all with well worn cowboy boots, including one girl with long Goldilocks curls, wearing a red jacket denoting her a "2014 Contestant." She had that "whateVer" expression on her face. There was also a trio that interested me: a nicely dressed middle-aged couple and a young Chinese girl, and judging from their conversation, they were just getting acquainted. She was explaining how iPhones have an abbreviated language for use with Chinese; no way would all the Chinese characters be used.

One other time, years ago, I had travelled through Rock Springs and remembered it as a windy gritty town out in the sagebrush just off the interstate. It apparently has made itself into a viable regional center for commerce and culture in western Wyoming but definitely predominately a ranching cowboy culture.

Blue Goose ~ Day 41

July 11, 2014 ~ McCammon, ID to Kingston, WY

Everyone was up early at the Flying J, bustling about, getting ready for the day. I got coffee (surprisingly good) and a slice of a Western Omelet pizza (surprisingly good) along with a dozen or so burly guys also getting coffee and food (and a few women). I drove east to Soda Springs (passing near the town of Grace and thought of Dave and Ellen) where I stopped at a supermarket to buy dental floss and came out with the very same model of cooler that Steve wanted to buy for me in Florence but which I declined knowing, if I waited, I could pay $10 more for it in Soda Springs, ID…just kidding. Sorry, Steve…I should have accepted, and it fit perfectly (as Steve said it would). Since I have been buying ice at $1-2 a bag nearly every day, it will soon pay for itself. 

The road to Grays Lake NWR is the same road that goes to Jackson, WY, which, Joanie, is as close as I will get to Drew and his hot plate. It was a lovely scenic road, curvy, but easy to drive. There are many big RVs everywhere out here, and I was behind four of them most of the way, which was fine. Zen Driving is the thing with me lately. We carefully edged past bicyclists and watched for open range cattle. I wanted to coninue over the big mountains into Jackson just for the ride as the road was good, the sun was out; it was summertime….

Grays Lake is a shallow depression with marshy areas and pioneer / mining history. The refuge was open although I didn’t see or talk with anyone. The route around Grays Lake is about 25 miles and easy driving on gravel.

White-faced Ibis at Grays Lake NWR - ID

I saw perhaps three or four cars even though there are scattered ranches around the "lake." The map showed a boundary called Lake Meander which I gather was the historic lake bed or even its furthest reach in the spring after snow melt. Lake Meander…whimsical. 

I soon saw a White-faced Ibis and a cooperative Swainson’s Hawk, not at all spooked by my presence. A coyote ran in the distance. I passed a sign advertising bird houses for sale and immediately thereafter was half a mile of bird houses on fence posts, inhabited by Mountain Buebirds and Tree Swallows.

Mountain Bluebird at Grays Lake NWR - ID

So essentially, this was a large open flat place with mountains all around.  At the south end were aspens and Douglas firs.

I retraced my route to Soda Springs and went south to Bear Lake NWR which was another serene and bountiful marsh, with canals to help manage things. It is called Dingle Marsh by the locals. Here, as at Malheur, invasive carp are a huge problem. They are bottom feeders, uprooting vegetation and muddying the waters, effectively messing up habitat for the water birds.  (The water on this refuge is part of the contiguous huge Bear Lake.) So this is a management issue...trying to eradicate carp or reduce their invasion through dikes.

It was late afternoon, and as usual no one was out here. It was a Marsh Wren mecca. I saw several nests, up to four at once, and often the tiny birds would fly in hanging on the reeds, singing (chattering) constantly. My tires got loaded with Canada goose poop. The goslings look nearly full grown and could fly out of the way as I approached. 

I made a Priceline reservation in Kingston, WY, and on the way almost drove past Cokeville Meadows NWR, which is only accessible from the road, although there was a very short loop trail, an information kiosk and a viewing bench overlooking open wetlands.

Cokeville Meadows NWR - WA

A woman and teenage boy were also looking things over, binoculars at hand. Her husband stayed in their RV. She knew of Crystal Lake and Frankfort where her family had had a cottage "for many generations...and ya know...people say you can't go back again, but you can here...I did and nothing has changed." She now lives in Washington state and they were returning home. Again, in retrospect I wish I had asked the kid if he was also interested in birding. He was taking photos of the cliff swallow nests in the kiosk. I love to see the kid-bird connections. 

The brilliant late afternoon sun, the blue skies and distant grey mountains were a quintessentially western scene as drove into Wyoming. 

The motel...jeez louise. It was listed as three stars and a "smart deal" but it was at most half a star. The guy at the desk eventually showed up in stocking feet, almost certainly under some drug influence. He was nice enough and intelligent and not grubby but had that way slowed-down manner, and he rambled on and on about Priceline and "entities...bookings...front desk/front deck...scams" most of which I stopped trying to follow after two minutes. He had a bit of trouble getting my room key which seemed to be in a box on the floor. And then had to "check the room a minute" before I went in. It was relatively clean, although the bottom sheet didn't fit well and looked as though it had been washed 200 times. Luckily the Internet connection was fine, so I worked several hours after getting Tex-Mex food down the street. Wherever there is intensive farm labor to be done by hand (picking, weeding, hoeing, shoveling, moving water pipes) there are Mexicans in jeans and hats, and they obviously have settled in many towns and communities all over the west. 

Blue Goose ~ Day 40

July 10, 2014 ~ Nampa, ID to McCammon, ID

Yes! There was a Starbucks in Nampa just down from the Walmart and after that stop I got on I84 and drove 75 mph for a long time, passing semis generally moving at 65-70 mph. Weirdly, the temperature, though it varied from 85 to 95 degrees, was not unpleasant even though the sun was out again after a few days of clouds. The van continued to get between 27 and 28 mpg. I was driving along the bottom of Idaho which is what? 4 times longer than the panhandle? which is the route I usually travel through this state, so it seemed a long day. I was still in the Snake River Valley most of the day under blue skies with clear dry air and distant horizons. I passed too many CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) wondering why anyone would choose to make a living this way and how they placate the neighbors. 

My destination was Minidoka NWR, where the Snake River is dammed to create Lake Walcott and give water to farmers. In fact, the refuge is in Lake Walcott SP. This was the first refuge that was unkempt around the exterior of the offices (but a cool mailbox).

Minidoka NWR - ID

Weeds in the parking lot, a air of neglect so unlike every other headquarters so far, and the doors were locked even though I arrived well before the closing time of 4 p.m. Lake Walcott is, of course, a reservoir and open to camping and fishing. Sprinklers were on “1 hour per day” to keep lawns green and park-like in this arid landscape. When not watered, the land is sage and light brown soil. I had to detour to get to this refuge but finally figured it out, driving by fields and over large canals and smaller ditches. It’s all about water here (and most other places in the west...perhaps all over the country). The dam allows people to farm because it subdues and manages the water making it available on demand. 

As I drove into the refuge headquarters, a family of killdeer was in the drive, the babies running about but not purposefully and the parents calling their distress. I very carefully avoiding running them over and they finally got into the safety zone of the weedy lawn. On the way out, they were back in the road again, so I repeated the careful slow driving as the parents called continually, while the adorable tiny killdeer ran hither and yon as fast as their tiny legs could carry them. 

I got to the river below the dam where there was a little stretch of wild white water that looked like a tributary. Many waterfowl, including White Pelicans, were hanging out there. I drove on, passing through Lava Hot Springs, a tourist attraction mainly consisting of brightly colored plastic and then through Pocatello to a Flying J Truck Stop near McCammon, ID. It was basically out in the sage just off I15. I ate at a nearby Subway and parked next to a white van with US Government plates. A nearly full moon rose to the southeast. It was warm but tolerable as the sun set behind the mountains in the west. Someone was trying to load or unload a vehicle from a trailer in the lot and having trouble. It sounded as though there were missing tire(s) and each time they tried something, there were loud screeching metal noises. And while I was half asleep, someone else was changing a tire one car away.  And periodically, there were announcements for the next hot shower: "Professional Driver #6, your shower #4 is available." Soon, I am going to try this option mid-week. 

I was tired from driving on the interstate most of the day and slept well. 

Blue Goose ~ Day 39

July 9, 2014 ~ Burns OR to Nampa, ID

Burns is 30 miles north of Malheur NWR which is where I headed early this morning. I had been here before, a couple of years ago, and saw my first Sage Thrasher hanging around the Visitor Center.

White Pelicans at The Narrows on Malheur NWR - OR

On that trip I also saw fluffy Clark Grebe babies climbing off and on a parent in the spot called The Narrows between Malheur Lake and Mud Lake. And I had a flat tire way out in the refuge but a kind cowgirl named Lola came by in her pickup truck and fixed it for me. She had a lease with the refuge and was on her way to cut hay...which is called an "extractive" or "consumptive" activity.

It was cloudy all day, raining intermittently, but usually only for five minutes at a time. I did stop by the VC but the mosquitoes were ferocious, even with an application of Esther's vanilla-lemon-lavendar spray. I think it does help some as we used in around the camp fire in Oregon one night and weren't bothered at all but it was not very effective in this mosquito hell. I tried a very short trail to a photo blind and was getting bitten through my sox and on my exposed hands which were saturated with this good-smelling DEET-free stuff. The woman volunteer in the center said she uses something with eucalyptus and lemon peel by Repel that she had to order online and which the refuge workers use. She stays at Malheur as a volunteer for three months and then lives in west Texas near Big Bend National Park the rest of the year. There were birds flying outside...an Osprey guarding a dead fish on a platform in the marsh, a Rufous Hummingbird at the flowers right outside the window....swallows, an oriole, ducks and grebes....but I moved on after visiting a little museum at the headquarters with many taxidermied bird specimens, most collected nearly 70-80 years ago on the refuge. There was also historical information and photographs (as there are at many of the refuges), in this case detailing the conflicts betweens settlers and ranchers, the early sod homes, the indigenous Indians and the tribulations of pioneers coming from the east, getting lost and wallowing about in the marshes.

I left on a wide gravel road east out of the refuge, connected with a main state highway and saw my first Ferruginous Hawk. Now this hawk I have been chasing all over the west for two years...sort of. I was always on the lookout for it. I think I saw one perched on a fence post one afternoon in Oregon as I climbed out of the Deschutes River Canyon south of Maupin, but never went back to check it out. And there weren't shoulders so I couldn't just pull off, which is always a consideration while doing driving-birding. I always regretted not turning around that day as these hawks just aren't that easy to see. But there it was today right in the appropriate habitat - dark on top, white underneath, with a white tail that I saw clearly when it flew. It looked a bit like an osprey at first - but there was no water nearby and it wasn't an Osprey. Now I want to see it better and longer. Still, an unsatisfactory sighting is better than not seeing one at all.

And then I drove and drove and drove through sage, up and over long rolling hills, along the back (eastern) side of the Steens. I got hungry early afternoon and pulled over at a gravelly spot near the Owyhee River and cooked a meal if using heat to eat qualifies as cooking. I boiled water in my little JetBoil stove and rehydrated some Teriyaki Chicken. Feeling refreshed, I kept driving north and east, finally getting into the Snake River Valley near Nampa, Idaho. The desert began to turn green, irrigated by water from the Snake and other waters, the air deliciously fragrant with mint fields all over.

I got to Deer Flat NWR after 4 o'clock so it was closed, but I picked up a map, which usually are available after hours, and drove the the 47-mile Snake River route. Deer Flat NWR is composed of the Lake Lowell Unit and the Snake River Unit with management of 104 islands in the river. The last on the auto route is Dilley Island which "was purchased for the refuge by Idaho Power as mitigation for the construction of C.J. Strike Dam." 

Snake River Island - Deer Flat NWR - ID

I hate dams and reservoirs. To me reservoirs are bloated rivers with dead trees at the bottom and kind of creepy. Perhaps they are necessary, but I don't have to like what they do to free-flowing waters. 

At the first pull-out along the auto route, my endless paging through bird guides over the years helped when I rather quickly identified a small bird bouncing around the boulders using to outline the parking area and prohibit over-entusiastic drivers of motorized vehicles from venturing into the riparian habitat. It was the second life bird for the day: a Rock Wren. What happened is that I saw two of them close up but briefly before they disappeared into the brush, so I decided to sit for an hour and wait them out. One of the field guides says they seldom are seen far from rock jumbles. And 30 minutes later, out comes a wren, which sat on the ground in the shade of one of the rocks with wings held partially away from its body and its mouth open.

Rock Wren at the Snake River Unit of Deer Flat NWR - ID

I've seen birds do this on very hot days which it was today, especially when clouds finally cleared. It stuck around several minutes so I got to see it well. Nice!

I drove on and pulled into a river access site scraping bottom on the rutted road. I always want to get as close as possible to water. There were four people camping down there, all checking me out as I drove in, stopped and got out. I engaged two of them in conversation and they were friendly enough, once they realized I wasn't going to stick around. I'm not sure the thin guy had teeth. His companion was a heavy-set woman in shorts. They were about to bathe in the river. The guy told me they camp down there often, for free, on a "First come; first served" basis. He said he had an uncle who lived in Michigan and "had a dairy farm up in Detroit." 

The route ended on one side of Lake Lowell where people were fishing, although there were signs all over stating that "All Boats Must Be Off the Lake by 9:30 P.M." 

For many years, I subscribed to HCN (High Country News), a magazine about issues in the west. I found this while searching for information about Lake Lowell: 

WWW.HCN.NEWS

Protesters armed with posters opposing a ban on fishing, canoeing, boating and other recreation paraded 200 boats in a “Death of Recreation Parade” July 9. Locals worried about Idaho's Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge's proposed comprehensive conservation plan were demonstrating to express concern that the new plan would limit their recreational pursuits and the industries that recreation supports.

The issue provides a type of case study of what can happen when recreation and government mandates mix.The refuge's main feature is Lake Lowell, a manmade reservoir and one of the largest off-stream reservoirs in the West. It was created in 1909 to supply irrigation water to Idaho farms. It’s also become a haven to boaters, fishers, hunters, horsemen -- and wildlife. Normally, revising these management plans does not provoke such spirited responses, said Desiree Sorenson-Groves, Government Affairs Vice President for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. But Deer Flat’s case is unique: The refuge lies atop a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation site, and dammed lakes are more often seen as recreation areas than wildlife havens.

Complicating Deer Flat’s planning effort was a confusing battle over who owned surface water use jurisdiction--the Bureau or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [who manage National Wildife Refuges]. The two left it undecided until the service began design of the conservation plan. In June 2010, the agencies agreed that FWS should control Lake Lowell's surface water use. Now, Lake Lowell recreationists are faced with rules where previously there were none, and it seems the mere presence of federal government meddling has irked them. But these recreation-hungry Idahoans may have jumped the gun with their parade. The Deer Flat plan’s preferred alternative would allow most current recreational activities...The effort to satisfy both recreationists and wildlife protection mandates is part of an ongoing nationwide process set off by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997. Refuges are part of more than 150 million acres of public land across the United States, a system initiated by Theodore Roosevelt as a means of protecting fish, wildlife and plant; this law focused on updating their management. The 1997 act requires each refuge to design a 15-year plan by 2012 to guide future recreational and wildlife management.  As of April 2011, 424 comprehensive conservation plans were complete, 114 were in the process and 16 had yet to get underway.

Deer Flat's plan would protect more than 200 species of waterfowl, like Canadian geese, bald eagles and great blue heron and 30 mammals such as mule deer, river otter and red fox use the area.After four open houses to gauge public concern, the refuge office had received 197 comments as of Wednesday evening, some addressing recreational concerns but others suggesting limiting use to non-motorized boats, along with some other ideas, said refuge manager Jennifer Scott-Brown. While Deer Flat's dilemma has made the news for its contentiousness, refuge managers say they believe plans generally settle on an adequate balance between wildlife protection and recreation."Usually where most (plans) fall is somewhere in the middle," Sorenson-Groves said. News reports also indicated the goal isn’t to take away boats, but still meet the federal mandate to protect wildlife. But as the boat-driven battle continues between late-enforced rules and recreation habit, Lake Lowell boaters are unlikely to be appeased.

Always, the tension between what most Americans want and any effort to protect at least some of our country from major "consumptive" use.

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.

Blue Goose ~ Day 37

July 7, 2014 ~ Gold Beach, OR to Medford, OR

After working a couple of hours this morning. I debated whether to go to Humboldt NWR in CA or not...back and forth, carrying on the "inner dialogue" but fog was the decisive factor. It rolled in significantly near the border, although as soon as 101 turned inland at all, the sky was a clear rich blue. I did decide, though, to try for Castle Rock NWR in Crescent City, CA. Perhaps, it all would clear by then. The coast between Gold Beach and Crescent City was incredible before the fog obscured everything. 

Southern Oregon coast

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Since 1933, 31 tsunamis have been observed in Crescent City. Four of those caused damage, and one of them, in March 1964, remains the "largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to ever strike the United States Pacific Coast,"according to the University of Southern California's Tsunami Research Center. The 1964 tsunami killed 17 people on the West Coast, 11 of them in Crescent City.

The 1964 tsunami was caused by the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second-largest ever recorded anywhere. The so-called Good Friday Earthquake, whose epicenter was just north of Alaska's Prince William Sound, registered 9.2 on the Richter scale and killed 115 Alaskans, inflicting its worst damage on Anchorage...After Alaska, California, where the tsunami hit a little before midnight, was the state worst-hit by the 1964 wave. Total property damage there was $17 million (Oregon and Washington each sustained less than $1 million), of which fully $15 million occurred in Crescent City. According to Dennis M. Powers' 2005 account of the 1964 tsunami,The Raging Sea, in Crescent City "the disaster exceeded the combined effects of all previous death and destruction totals caused by tsunamis on the United States mainland and the greatest fatalities, injuries, and destruction ever reported on the West Coast." Although the earthquake killed many more people in Alaska than in Crescent City, the property damage per block ended up, weirdly, being greater in Crescent City.

Why is Crescent City so vulnerable to tsunamis? Apparently the main culprit is the Mendocino Fracture Zone, an underwater elevation extending westward that guides tsunamis into deeper water, where they pick up speed as they approach the mainland. The West Coast's topography around Crescent City curves inland, which intensifies a tsunami's effect, and the shoreline of Crescent City itself is (as the name suggests) a curve within that curve. The town's name is also, of course, the nickname of New Orleans, itself devastated by flood during 2005's Hurricane Katrina. 

I had remembered this about Crescent City from reading it somewhere, sometime...just not the details. But there was only fog this afternoon. I had to google and research and peer out off the coast to find Castle Rock, but finally did, and intermittently could almost see bird and animal shapes, especially the larger pinnipeds.

Castle Rock NWR - Crescent City, CA

A few of the massive honey-colored Steller sea lions looked like polar bears as they lumbered about on flippers and threw their heads back and roared. There were other species also, but the distance was just too far to identify them for an inexperienced seal person like me.

I didn't want to drive another couple of hours with the chance of fog in Eureka (nearest town to Humboldt NWR) and will leave that for next spring (possibly). So I spent the afternoon driving a very scenic road over the coastal range, first through redwoods and then the Smith River Canyon (crossing both Patrick Creek and Elliott Creek along the way). Far below the road, at nearly every pullout, people were frolicking in the river. Since the temperature went from 65 degrees at the coast to 102 by the time I reached Grants Pass, it was a good day for river frolicking, and although hot, it wasn't humid, and I didn't use the AC. Maybe tomorrow as the predictions in parts of Oregon are as high as 108!

I stayed in Medford in another "upscale" Walmart (relative but still...) and watched the surreptitious way other vehicles crept in for the night. Two guys in my vicinity in separate vans met and then discussed if they thought they would get towed, as there were signs up: "Customer Parking Only." One had a bike next to his car. I read a long time on a caffeine jag with the windows wide open, catching whatever breezes blew through. As the sun set, it cooled but only slightly until well into the night. There were trees though and it  was very quiet...UNTIL some time in the early morning when the dreaded Walmart parking lot sweeping machine went back and forth over every square inch of blacktop, certainly waking anyone with half a mile. But who were we to complain....

There are many more vagabond / wanderers out here than in other parts of the country....usually thin men with packs and deeply tanned faces and longish grey hair who must be good at finding sleeping places also but without the shelter and safety of a vehicle. I finally rolled up the windows most of the way and slept fitfully. I was again sticky; the lights were bright; and it was hot. I tried rummaged around (unsuccessfully) trying to find my makeshift window covering. I was laughing at myself....and really not overly bothered or fretful. We shall see if the heat continues how long and how well I tolerate this lifestyle at 100+ degrees.

Southern Oregon