Skip navigation

Tag Archives: waterfalls

Seasons are Changing

Two days ago, the girls and I took a road trip to visit Spring. And a little bit of Winter. Our, well my, main goal was to see a Snowy Owl and I managed to do that after one hundred miles of driving. The girls’ main goal was to walk on dirt instead of ice. They managed to do quite a bit of that and enjoyed all the smells of wet dirt and early spring. The snow had just melted in parts of Douglas County and left moist ground, sometime just plain mud, and water all over the place. Water was laying in wheat fields, crossing roads, pouring over coulee walls. Oh, and it was cold enough that much of it was ice-covered.

Sadly, much of what we saw was burned down to dirt in last Labor Day’s Pearl Hill wildfire. Much of the ash has already blown away or been washed away. The vast landscapes look barren with little sagebrush remaining. I had hoped for a few Spring birds but there was nowhere for them to perch or take cover.

The skies were incredibly blue. The snow-covered mountains on the horizons were lovely. Sunshine warmed us. The coulee walls were lit up with lichens. We enjoyed walking on dirt and getting away from our ice and snow-covered world at home.

Snowy Owl with Moses Mountain in the background to the north
And to the west, the snow-covered central Cascades
Most of the big coulee burned last Labor Day. It’s painful to see.
Possibly rabbitbrush
Rock Pigeons caught the sunlight as they soared around the coulee walls
This trail used to go through head high sagebrush

I saw 54 bird species scattered over numerous habitats. Nothing rare. They were:

Canada Goose

Tundra Swan

American Wigeon

Mallard

Canvasback

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

California Quail

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

American Coot

Common Loon

Great Blue Heron

Golden Eagle

Northern Harrier

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Snowy Owl

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel

Northern Shrike

Steller’s Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Black-capped Chickadee

Pygmy Nuthatch

American Dipper

Varied Thrush

European Starling

House Sparrow

House Finch

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

Lewis River

Last week, while we were camping, the girls and I went in search of a cool place. We drove down the Lewis River Road towards a bunch of waterfalls I saw on a map. We went as far as a day use area at the lower falls where a Forest Service employee turned us away saying that the parking lot was full and there no room for me to park. Hmm, this was on a Tuesday and seemingly, a long ways from anywhere. So we backtracked to the middle falls where there were also a lot of cars parked. Gosh. People were looking for a place to cool off just like us. So we ended up at the upper trailhead for the Lewis River Trail and walked downstream about a mile to the highest waterfalls. It was a beautiful sight but pretty dangerous with un-fenced overlooks that provided potential for falling dogs. Or people. I got a few photos before we backtracked to a shady beach by the river.

This pretty little plant is non-native. Lathyrus sp. Sort of a sweet pea.

Sweet Creek Falls

I had a chance to explore a little bit of western Oregon last week following a wedding near Eugene. You can see photos from the wedding here.

Afterwards, I visited my cousin at her place in Florence and of course, the girls (dogs) and I spent time at the beach, but the highlight may have been a hike with my cousin and her husband to Sweet Creek Falls. It’s a Forest Service trail near Mapleton and you can learn more about it here.

The falls are really worth the trip. It seemed that around every corner, there was another cascade of flowing water. I was glad I had packed a tripod and polarizing filter. They made all the difference in the world. Even though we were there in the mid-afternoon, the water was often shaded by the tall Douglas fir and maple trees that dominate western Oregon’s forests. Sweet wildflowers were sprinkled in with the thick ferns and other undergrowth.

Frozen Falls Creek Falls

Yesterday was a lovely day to visit Falls Creek Falls. It is a short drive from Winthrop and I love to see it in any season. Never mind that the temperature was probably hovering around ten or that the sun had already descended beyond the mountains. The falls were incredibly beautiful and partially frozen and we could drive to the trail. So far there is not enough snow to close the road although there is enough that you might want four wheel drive.

Each section of the falls presented its own little vignette of ice and water. It was hard to decide where to point my camera next and when to stop. Part of the time, my feet in their warm pack boots, were partially submerged in the edge of the creek. My tripod had ice up to the top of the first section when I was done! Cold hands brought me to a finish before I was ready to be done.

This is the creek downstream from the falls at the road.
Ken made this picture of me when I was standing in the creek.

Here is another view of the falls in winter when we had to ski to the trailhead.

%d bloggers like this: