#856

I was looking in Lightroom for a photo of ewe # 8056 and I typed in 856 by mistake. I saw a selection of photos that were fun to review. Here they are. IMG_0856This is etched into the barn floor after one of our concrete pours. Papa-San was my father-in-law. Dave is my brother. IMG_3856 And speaking of writing on the floor, this was taken Across the Road, not as permanent as the concrete etching except in my photos.IMG_8562My oldest son side job is climbing trees to remove branches or, as in this case, to remove a tree that should no longer be where it is.DSC_3856Sunflowers.IMG_8569Wedge weave rug at Convergence in Reno last summer. DSC_0856Hiking in Arches National Park.DSC_0856-2Hiking on the PawPaw Trail in Maryland last spring.DSC_3856-2Taken from our road trip in September on our way back from Washington.18056 Quartz-headThe photo I was searching for when I mistakenly typed  856? This is ewe lamb 8056, Meridian Quartz, a 6-horn ewe lamb. People talk about Jacob sheep having six horns but I've never seen one that has room for six really distinct big horns.

Road Trip to Washington - Day 6

Cape Disappointment: 'The first known documentation of the site was in 1775 by Spanish explorer Bruno Heceta, who named it “Bahia de La Asuncion,” or Bay of the Assumption.  Then in 1788, British trader John Meares named it “Cape Disappointment” when he mistakenly believed that the mouth of the Columbia River was only a bay. " (from the Park Service)IMG_9828Yesterday's blog left off at Cape Disappointment State Park. Here is the campsite the next morning.DSC_3812 There is a small lake just behind the campsite and in the morning I heard this osprey. I watched quite awhile trying to get a better photo. Eventually he (she) spotted fish and I watched him dive three times, always coming back to watch from this tree. I was surprised at his loud splashdown. DSC_3842We drove over to the Interpretive Center of the Park. Outside the Lewis & Clark Center is the old Fort Canby, built to defend the entrance to the Columbia River and manned by U.S. Army troops from the mid-19th century through the end of WWII. DSC_3841We spent a couple of hours here and I highly recommend it. Dan had recently read a book about Lewis & Clark so the details of their story was fresh in his mind. I didn't take photos inside except for this that reminds me of something that looks like it might belong in a weaving studio:IMG_9832This is a faking box and the thing behind it is a Lyle gun. The sign says "Propelled by a black powder charge the gun propelled a rescue line (hawser) to troubled vessels...The spiked posts were used to wind a rescue line in a special zig zag pattern to prevent tangling in flight when fired from a Lyle gun." There were also paddles. "These paddles with detailed instructions in English and French were sent by rescue line to shipwreck victims."I think it's interesting that there was a special way of winding the line so that it would not tangle.DSC_3816After spending a couple of hours at the Interpretive Center we went to see the second lighthouse in the Park. This view is from the trail to that lighthouse. We are now looking south to the breakwater on the north and can see the one on the south as well. The Columbia River entrance is between the breakwaters. DSC_3819This is North Head Lighthouse, built 42 years after the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was constructed because there were still too many shipwrecks in this area. It is still in service with an automated beacon. I didn't realize that each lighthouse has a unique pattern of sound and light to aid in navigation, as well as being distinguished by the color and pattern of paint. (This one is under renovation.)DSC_3829North Head is said to be one of the windiest locations in the U.S.  This is the view of the rocky coastline from the north side of the lighthouse.DSC_3826If you look closely at the rocky cliff you see cormorants--somehow gripping the steep rocky wall with amazingly little room to maneuver.  DSC_3837The beach stretches for miles just beyond this rocky point.IMG_9831Sign in the forest on the trail that overlooks the beach. The area gets seven feet of rain per year, falling in the fall, winter, and spring. However, during the summer there is fog. Cape Disappointment is one of the foggiest places in the U.S. having 100 days of fog each year.DSC_3846The plan for the day was to get to southern Oregon so that we wouldn't have as long  a drive the following day. It was time to get on the road. This is the bridge over the Columbia River.DSC_3856 Now to find the another part of the Lewis and Clark story near Astoria. DSC_3857We walked around the Fort and along a trail the followed the river, but we didn't spent a lot of time here, having had such a thorough look at the L&C story that morning. DSC_3858We read about another historic site in the town of Seaside. Before we found the site we walked to the beach.DSC_3864Looking north.IMG_9839Eventually we found the Lewis & Clark NHP Saltworks, a small fenced area right in the middle of a neighborhood. The expedition had run out of salt and needed more before making the journey home. Three men from the expedition spent six weeks here boiling seawater to secure the salt. Now we got on the road. I read that the Tillamook Cheese Factory was open to the public and I wanted to stop.IMG_9840This is an amazing place. It must be just swarming with people during the summer.IMG_9841You enter the factory and go upstairs to follow the hoofprints for a self-guided tour.

There is good signage to explain all the equipment and processes that you see. The tour ends at the cheese tasting area and of course a huge gift store.IMG_9869After the tour we got back in the truck and drove. We found a beachside (and highway-side) campground just after dark.

Road Trip to Washington - Day 5

I left off in  the last post going to sleep in the mostly dry truck listening to the rain.IMG_9737View from the sleeping bag.IMG_9739This is where we stayed. We didn't have a good look at it the night before when it was raining and dark.DSC_3744More of my slow-moving wildlife subjects. We had spent the previous day on the east and north sides of Olympic National Park. We wanted to see the rainforest areas which are on the west side. The place we camped was near Lake Quinault and there are several access points to the Park along the road that follows the Quinault River.IMG_9745We started with the Rain Forest Nature Trail that leads to Willaby  Creek Falls, one of the points on the Waterfall Trail we were following. IMG_9751Everywhere you look there are trees rooted over fallen trees. Every surface seems covered with something growing.IMG_9755The park protects the largest old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest. Rainfall varies from 12 feet (!) in the temperate rain forests on the west side to 40" on the east side. IMG_9753More of the Devils Club with a good view of he spines on the leaves.IMG_9757Did I mention that this was a walk through the rain forest? And rain it did. We stood for awhile under the umbrella because is was raining so hard. On our way back this path was filled with water.IMG_9767The forest was just beautiful.IMG_9773

DSC_3749Lots of fungus in addition to the ferns, shrubs, and trees.

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DSC_3765Some of these photos were taken on the trails to Falls Creek and Gatton Creek waterfalls  on creeks that flow into the lake. The next stop was at the World's Largest Spruce Tree.IMG_9799This Stika spruce is 58', 11" in circumference and 1000 years old.IMG_9805It is 191' tall and is one of six record breaking trees in the Park.IMG_9809Sulightn was coming through the clouds as we drove down the road on the north side of the Quinault River.DSC_3784It gave a special glow to the moss covered trees in the flatland along the river.DSC_3783A wildlife shot of something other than a banana slug! Can you see the second fawn? I didn't even see it until I was looking through my photos.IMG_9818We left the rain forest and the Park and headed for the southwest corner of Washington and Cape Disappointment State Park where we hoped to spend the night. DSC_3793There were campsites available so we reserved one and then walked took one of the Park trails that follows the coastline to one of two lighthouses in the Park. This is the breakwater constructed on the north of where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific.DSC_3796Looking south from the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center you can see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and the Oregon coast in the distance, across the mouth of the Columbia River. DSC_3801The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was built in the 1850's. There is a Coast Guard Station nearby. According to Wikipedia: "The lighthouse had several shortcomings. The fog bell was sometimes inaudible due to the roar of ocean waves. It was discontinued in 1881 and moved ... Also, the light was not visible to ships approaching from the north. This problem was corrected by building a lighthouse at North Head, two miles from Cape Disappointment. The first-order lens was moved to North Head ... The lighthouse was electrified in 1937. In 1956, the Coast Guard intended to close the station, but retained the light when the Columbia River bar pilots protested. The light was automated in 1973. An observation deck has been built for the Coast Guard to monitor traffic and bar conditions."

DSC_3804This is the view looking back north to the Interpretive Center (which we visited the next day). Also visible is the small cove called Waikiki Beach. The campsites were beyond that. We got back to camp about dark, our usual M.O., and ate an unexciting dinner, and went to bed.

 

 

Road Trip to Washington - Day 4

There has been a lot going on since I wrote about Day 3 and now but I really want to finish up our Washington trip before I talk about Texas and the sheep and the farm. In the last post I ended with a photo of us in the truck at night. IMG_9686Here is the view from my sleeping bag the next morning. DSC_3661Later we wondered why we didn't buy a bigger tarp since then we could have covered the whole camper, although I wouldn't have liked not seeing out the side window. As it is there is some leakage around where the camper joins the truck bed and we had to make sure that our sleeping bags, clothes, etc didn't touch the edges or they'd soak up water.

After a quick breakfast (granola and hot chocolate for me and Cheerios and coffee for Dan) we drove further up the road to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.IMG_9689The name was a clue to the weather on the ridge.IMG_9694It was a wee bit breezy windy and cold. This view looks south into the Olympic Wilderness with Mount Olympus off to the right. The clouds kept moving but we never had a view of the peaks. We saw photos of this area in the summer--covered with wildflowers. I can imagine how gorgeous it is then. IMG_9699 There is a trail from the Visitor Center to the top of the nearby ridge.DSC_3683View looking down on the Visitor Center and Mt. Olympus in the clouds.IMG_9698View to the other direction and the road to the Visitor Center.DSC_3665Walking along the ridge we tried to get a view of Canada. It's out there across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but mostly in the clouds.DSC_3669More views along the trail.DSC_3676

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Pearly EverlastingI admired these flowers blooming so late in the season. They are in the sunflower family: Pearly Everlasting.Goats Beard LichenGoat's Beard lichen.

There are no roads that go all the way through the park. From Hurricane Ridge we needed to go out the way we came in before our next stop. The road goes through Port Angeles and we decided to make a stop for gloves. Why I didn't bring decent gloves I don't know. I guess, not having worn them all summer, I didn't know where they were, and it's hard to imagine cold and rain when it's 90 degrees and so dry, so I didn't look very hard. IMG_9706We both bought gloves. Next stop was Madison Falls at the edge of the Park near another road that follows the Elwha River.DSC_3693It is a short walk on a paved trail to see the falls.IMG_9707

DSC_3694At this point we were thinking about where we would stay that night. As on all of our trips there is always more to see than we have time for. This was Saturday and we needed to get home on Tuesday. That left Sunday and Monday for more time in the park with a long drive on Tuesday. The bulk of the Park takes up the northern part of the Olympic Peninsula but there is also private and tribal land along the northern coast, the far northwest corner of the state, and the western portion. I wanted to go to that farthest most point of the continental U.S. but we were going to run out of time to do that and spend time in the rainforest. There is a narrow sliver of land all along the Pacific coastline that is also part of the Olympic NP so we decided that we would camp there for the night. That decided, we stopped at the next waterfall on our Waterfall Map.DSC_3704The trail to Marymere Falls was also within the Park.DSC_3708This waterfall is on Falls Creek and drops 90 feet. Take a look at the log at the top of the falls.DSC_3712It made me think about the amount of water that must flow in this creek at times. That is a whole tree that is stuck at the top.IMG_9727 Magnificent trees.IMG_9732We were walking by this tree and I saw a young woman trying to prop her phone on the ground so that she and her friend could both be in a photo of this huge tree. I offered to take the photo and then she reciprocated.

We got to the coast late in the afternoon.DSC_3736This was the first beach where we stopped. We drove south to find that the first campground was full. There was plenty of space in the other campgrounds where we stayed so we hadn't anticipated this. The beach. RV camping. Saturday night. None of the four beach campgrounds had campsites left.

When you're in the national forest you can camp anywhere, but the rules are different in the national park. And we do follow rules. Our plan was to see the rainforest part of the Park the next day so we didn't want to leave the area. Between the coast and the access point to the Park there was mostly Quinault Reservation land along the highway and we couldn't stop there. In studying the map I found some campsites in the Forest land to the north but it was getting late in the day and it was difficult to tell the condition of the roads. There was a sliver of Forest land that was accessible from 101 with Reservation land on one side of a USFS road and National Forest on the other. We took that road as it was getting to be dusk.  The road went up...and up. We hit fog...or a cloud. The rain started. We were watching for small signs nailed to the trees that had arrows and indicated USFS or Reservation.  You really couldn't see anything at that point. Just a narrow tunnel of a road in the bushes and trees. It rained harder. Eventually we turned around and went back down to where there was a wide spot on the road. We put the tarp on top of the truck, ate a hasty dinner (more canned beans), and got into sleeping bags.IMG_9736Saturday night lodging.

Road Trip to Washington - Day 3

We certainly could have spent more time at Mt. St. Helens NVM (Day 2) or gone to see Mt. Rainier, or any number of other interesting places in Washington, but now we were on to our primary destination, Olympic National Park. We were concurrently following the Olympic Peninsula Waterfall Trail that Dan had read about.DSC_3635Our first waterfall on the trail, and before getting to the park, was Murhut Falls on the Duckabush River.DSC_3641I first wondered about the name of the river. You have to duck under bushes if you don't have a ready made trail? No, in a side trip to Google I found that it is an Indian word meaning red face, referring to reddish bluffs in the area. IMG_9663As we found in all our wanderings in this area, the forest is dense, damp, and spectacular.DSC_3636A wildlife shot along the way. So far the only wildlife I was photographing was slow moving.IMG_9665About 3/4 mile up the trail we found the falls.DSC_3643The waterfall trail guide says that this one is 120 feet with another 35 feet below this point. Photos don't do any of the forest scenery justice.DSC_3644Weather continued to be damp and misty but not much real rain. DSC_3647You can certainly tell that this is a wet climate as opposed to most of the places we find ourselves hiking and camping.DSC_3648

We continued north with the Hood Canal on our right and heading towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the body of water that separates the U.S. from Canada. I had thought that we'd have time to visit some of the nearby islands, but that will also have to be another trip.

We stopped at the Visitor Center in Port Angeles to pick up a map, but didn't spend much time there because we were anxious to get to the Park and figure out where we were going to spend the night. We found that the Heart O' the Hills Campground had spaces so we parked in one and then went hiking.IMG_9677The forest was stunning. The trees were massive.DSC_3654Vegetation is dense.

IMG_9672There were lots of trees down throughout this part of the forest, but it doesn't take long before ferns and herbaceous plants are growing on the downed trees and the forest covers them over.IMG_9679

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IMG_9678This plant with huge (up to 15") leaves was everywhere in the understory (see the three photos above). It is called Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus) and is endemic to dense, moist, old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. It has a long list of uses by Native Americans from medicinals to face paint and is covered with irritating spines.DSC_3652Dwarf Dogwood, Cornus candensis.IMG_9674 I didn't even try to identify fungi, but took photos because I like to share these with a friend who dyes with mushrooms.DSC_3655

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DSC_3659We walked until we reached the creek and were undecided how far the trail continued. But it was getting to be dusk and we decided that we'd better turn back.IMG_9682This forest would be pretty dark when the sun was down.

I've lost track of our camping meals because they are not exactly gourmet food. On this trip much of the time it was dark by the time we got the camp-stove out and we just dumped a couple of cans of chili in a pan and put hard-boiled eggs and cheese on a salad mix from Safeway. Our sleeping accommodations in the camper shell are just as fancy. We sleep on top of a platform that Dan made so that you can pack all the stuff underneath.IMG_9683Fortunately it was warm enough with sleeping bag on top of my thick sheepskin. (Maybe it wasn't that warm, seeing that I'm wearing my wool beanie and a sweatshirt.) IMG_9684 Oh, I have a wool blanket with me too (handspun Jacob by the way). This is the view out from my sleeping bag.

More tomorrow.

Road Trip to Washington - Day 2

The first day of this series of blog posts was rather boring--just driving north to get to where we were going. It will get better, at least for those of you who like scenery of our fabulous country. We arrived in the dark at Doug and Karen's place in Newberg, Oregon. They have bide a wee farm and raise Jacob and Navajo-churro sheep. I have known them for years and have some of their sheep but have never been to their farm. The next morning we followed them around as they did chores.IMG_9635Karen lets the ewes out into the pasture where some of them race to see who will be first to find the pears that may have dropped since the day before.IMG_9636Some sheep stayed behind but this group checked out the pear snack department and then traipsed back to the barn for the morning hay.Windy Acres LightningNearby we met Windy Acres Lightning, who happens to be Buster's sire.IMG_9637This is inside the barn. There are a couple of Meridian ewes here but I don't think this is one because she has a bideawee ear tag. I like these feeders and think that we should try making some.IMG_9645This is another barn on the property. Those are some of the ewe lambs and their guard llama.Hunters Glen RoyRogersAcross the road (the property is split into 4 pieces by the country roads) there are more rams. This is Hunters Glen Roy Rogers and his wether buddy. I sure which that I could get some of these horns like Lightning and Roy Rogers on my sheep.DSC_3572After breakfast we got on the road to our real destination.DSC_3574Here is a more welcoming sign along with pretty flowers. DSC_3577We were headed to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument for our first stop. We followed State Route 504 along the Toutle River and stopped before entering the NVM at this site where the sign said Sediment Retention Structure. We followed a trail through the beautiful woods.DSC_3582

DSC_3585After a short walk we reached the dam. A sign told us: "As the North Fork Toutle River re-formed and carved new channels in the deposits [after the eruption in 1980], it became one of the world's most sediment-laden rivers. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers build the Sediment Retention Structure to trap sediments before they are carried further downstream. Sediment clogs river channels, worsening floods, and degrades water quality and aquatic habitat." It is hard to tell the scale from my photos but this is a massive structure.

IMG_9658-2               Here is an aerial view on the sign.DSC_3589This part of the structure is on the aerial photo but is the "little" part at the left end of the horizontal part of the retention structure and to the right of the spillway.DSC_3617We continued on to the NVM. There are plenty of interpretive sites before you get there, some put out by the state and some by Weyerhaeuser. From their site: "Weyerhaeuser Company began more than 100 years ago with 900,000 acres of timberland, three employees and a small office in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 1900 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser, we’ve grown to become one of the largest sustainable forest products companies in the world." I was interested in the divergent viewpoints about the response to the destruction caused by the 1980 eruption. Weyerhaeuser began to reforest as soon as they could, planting millions of seedlings. Their sign shows a contrast between their now almost 40-year-old forests and the vegetation across the boundary where the response was to let nature take its course. Both arguments are convincing and I am not bashing a giant lumber company. After all I live in a wood house. The film that we saw in the Mt. St. Helens NVM Visitor Center, however, describes how quickly the communities begin to recover, starting with gophers, of all things,  that survived in their burrows under ash-covered areas and moved soil and seeds to the surface. The film points out that the communities are now at their most diverse and as the natural sequence of forestation continues there will eventually be less diversity as one sees in a mature forest.

I took the photo above because I wanted to share the scene as we traveled through this particular part of the forest. I think these are noble firs and you can sort of tell what I was trying to portray here. It was almost like you couldn't focus on them. The right angle nature of the branches gives the effect of horizontal lines throughout. It was striking as we drove through.DSC_3623It isn't possible to see all of the NVM in one day.  No road goes all the way through and it is a lot of driving to get to other entrances. We chose this northwest entrance and realize that we'll have to come back some day. DSC_3625I liked this closeup of the USFS sign--see the detail in the tree? Someone had to think of that.IMG_9657We started at the Visitors' Center called Johnston Ridge Observatory. Here is a model of the terrain and as the story is told different color lights come on to show lava flows, ash deposition, etc. IMG_9654View of the mountain. We never got a clear look at it because of the clouds. It is amazing to think that the whole area in this photo was impacted by the blast and that everything in the middle part of the photo is deposits from the volcano.DSC_3603Coldwater Lake was formed when volcanic debris blocked Coldwater Creek. DSC_3605A wildlife shot! DSC_3611We stopped at an overlook before leaving the area and watched as the clouds moved past the mountain. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens was mostly from the side and it created a valley that faces mostly north (the cloud filled part on the left of the photo).  DSC_3612We caught a few views of what is left of the mountain.DSC_3614This definitely warrants a return trip.

We headed north for our next destination and found a place to camp but it was almost dark and I guess I didn't get any photos there. Stay tuned!

Road Trip to Washington - Day 1

Our deadlines of the summer were over. We finished (almost) our kitchen renovation. The house was clean (at least the part we had been working on). I had delivered sheep to the butcher and had people lined up for chores. I set up the pasture fences to make managing the ewes as easy as possible. I even made a barricade so that the ewes wouldn't be near the rams because I didn't want to risk the rams bashing the fence and each other. We packed as if we were going on safari. We hadn't been out of shorts and t-shirts for months and now we were going to the North where it is said to be Cold and Wet. Better grab another pair of pants, another sweatshirt, rain-pants. Oh, you're bringing two pillows? Then I'll bring two pillows...and a yoga mat and my sheepskin for under my sleeping bag.

We got away on Tuesday, September 11 at 10 a.m., only about an hour behind schedule. IMG_9620Here we go!DSC_3536All of these photos are "drive-by", taken with my camera or my phone while in a moving car. They are hazy and the sky is ugly. But that's how it looked as we drove up the valley. We have been living for most of the summer with smoke-filled skies. Now we were smelling smoke too. This is Shasta Lake and it is evident how low the water level is. A reservoir can be an ugly place when the water is low (in my opinion).DSC_3540 We began to see signs of the Carr Fire which had caused the closure of I-5 in both directions for 5 or 6 days just the week before we left.DSC_3534One of my son's manages a USFS helicopter and his crew was on this fire, but that wasn't the his helicopter. DSC_3541The fire had burned right up to the road and had actually burned vehicles that couldn't get away in time. DSC_3545IMG_9622

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IMG_9626 Trees that are near the highway are being removed for miles.IMG_9625And it's not over yet!DSC_3550There were active smokes along several miles. IMG_9630My two sons and a daughter-in-law all fight wildland forest fires. This is a scary year.DSC_3553As we drove further north the skies cleared and the forest again hugged the sides of the freeway.DSC_3554This isn't a great photo, but I am usually driving when I see this dragon.There is a metal cow and calf a few miles back that  missed. But I got at least one photo of the dragon.DSC_3556Heading to the Shasta Valley in northern California.IMG_9631Somewhere in Oregon. It seems like a long time since we've had rain here.

It was dusk as we got to our destination for the night in northern Oregon. More about that in the next post.