Painted Hills - April 2014

The Painted Hills Unit is part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Park, which lies about 2 hours northeast of Bend, through the beautiful Ochoco Mts, and not far from Mitchell :-) The colors of the clay layers that create the painted effect can vary depending on how much moisture has been recently received.

I did not get a good picture of Ranger Scott Rinker (?) who led us up hills and down, but here are the two group leaders from Bend Parks and Rec, Leslie and Ron.

You had to keep your eyes open for rattlesnakes and cactus (this should sound familiar to my Nevada hiking pals). The hedgehog cacti were just starting to bloom.

We saw several other types of wildflowers, including Yellow Bee Plant (cleome):

Chaenactis:

Larkspur:

Pink and White Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva):

Getting pictures of the latter were responsible for me spraining my ankle - sigh - but they were indeed beautiful and amazingly delicate looking amidst this harsh landscape.
Saw an interesting antler along the trail that had been dyed pink, maybe by the minerals in the soil??

We went onto BLM land (out of the park) under the guidance of Ranger Scott and were able to pick up rocks with petrified leaf fossils.

The spans of time revealed in these geologic formations are truly mind boggling.

And isn't it nice to know where some of the basic ingredients for your toothpaste and your kitty litter come from?!

Eagle Rocks Hike

Monday, April 21, 2014 was a cool cloudy day but we covered 5.7 miles without a drop of rain. We started just on the outskirts of Sisters at the Peterson Ridge Trails. Very level walking until we reached the Eagle Rocks Pass cut-off and then it was a very manageable 100 foot elevation gain to be rewarded with an up-close and panoramic view of the three Sisters and Broken Top mountain. Unfortunately, the high overcast totally washed out the contrast and you can barely see the snow covered mountains against the gray sky.

Just as we were getting toward the end of the trail, we came across a white headed woodpecker and I managed to get one decent shot when its head was not buried in the tree.

There were some huge burned out snags that provided wonderful color (and often homes for multiple critters) along the trail as well.

Much of this trail system is also used for mountain biking but we only met up with one biker that day.

Catherine Creek - April 2014

On our most recent visit to see Mickey and Joan in Portland, we were joined by their friend Kashala for a day hike at Catherine Creek, a couple hours east along the Columbia River gorge.

It was a beautiful spring day and we had some panoramic views of Mt. Hood on the horizon above the river and the orchards on the Oregon side of the river.

I loved the derelict old corrals along this trail and took several pictures of them.

We had a nice picnic at the top of the trail and some people even had a little lie down. The tough looking guy in the hat is brother-in-law Mickey...

We saw lots of wildflowers, some in great swaths sort of "flowing" down the mountain.

 

The drive back along Hiway 14 was pretty. The Friday afternoon traffic on I-5 coming into Portland was not!

Tumalo Historic Canals Trail - April 2014

I have decided to start using this blog to post pictures of our activities around Bend as well as our travels further afield. I may do a little retrospective posting, so these are not necessarily going to be in order. Joined Bend Parks and Rec group, led by tour leader extraordinaire Leslie Olson, on April 14, 2014, to hike on the trails located between Hiway 20 and 97 that were once slated to be irrigated developments. The whole thing with the canals, and later with the dams, did not work so well, however--seems that porous lava rock does not hold water very well. In spite of an early April snowfall, this trail was already dusty and dry, but fairly level for the 4 miles we covered. Some nice views of the Sisters and Broken Top from several spots along the trail.

I learned from our volunteer assistant that lichen is a combination of algae and fungus and saw several brightly colored examples along the trail.

Some amazing old junipers were to be seen including one which had grown up through the rocks and carried a piece of rock up into the branches. Also saw some really beautiful twisted old stumps like this one.

 There was also a ruin of a small stone building--not sure if it had been intended as residential or just for hunting.

I think this would be a good trail for winter hiking, but not for summer as it would be too hot.

Last Day in NZ

Our last day in the land of the Kiwis. Many people believe New Zealanders are called "Kiwis" because of the endangered flightless bird that lives here. That's only indirectly true. The nickname was popularized by the Americans during WWII because the NZ soldiers used Kiwi boot polish. The polish was indeed named after the bird, with an image of same on the can, BUT the company was started by an American in tribute to his New Zealander wife!
We were up and packed and ready to go by 10:30. Had to stop and take one final picture of Lake Wanaka as there was a nice band of clouds lying across the range at the end of the lake.

We took the long route to Queenstown, through Cromwell and miles of wine country. It is not such a harrowing drive as going over the switchbacks of the Crown Range but still offers some lovely scenery going through the Kawarau Gorge. Here is a picture of the Kawarau River as it is joined by the "Roaring Meg" stream (ostensibly named after a noisy prostitute in the gold mining era) --they combine to power a small hydro-electric station. Beautiful color of water...

Arrowtown itself is surrounded by sizable hills--isn't everything on the South Island?!  We had lunch in a nice outdoor garden and then strolled around.

It was originally a gold mining town. Hal stands by the spot where gold was first discovered.

There was also a substantial influx of Chinese when gold was discovered; they established a small community in Arrowtown and are still a significant portion of the population.

Much like Sisters, Oregon, they have attempted to maintain the original flavor of the town with the storefronts.

As with any tourist town, lots of tempting opportunities for shopping. We bought a piece of "greenstone" for Mickey at the local jade and opal shop, but refrained from bringing home any sheepskins!

Finally, it was time to drive to Queenstown, fill up the car ($9.00 a gallon), and get to the airport. We couldn't resist digging out the camera to document the formidable trip that lay ahead ;-)

Our route took us from Queenstown to Auckland, then to Vancouver, BC, and finally to Portland. Not fun going through customs two times in Vancouver--note to self, never do THAT again. Finally arrived back on U.S. soil at 3:20 pm on the 17th--about an hour BEFORE we left Queenstown (i.e., 4:40 pm on the 17th). Time travel IS possible!
My appreciations to that small band of "followers" who virtually accompanied us on our journey--you know who you are...

Day 18: Lake Wanaka

Up reasonably early to catch our 9 am departure with ECO Wanaka for an exploration of Mou Waho, the largest island in the lake, and a designated nature preserve. Co-owner and guide, Chris Riley, was friendly, passionate about the area, and well informed about flora, fauna, and geology.

Here he is showing us an example of a plant that evolved to have inedible leaves up to a certain height to prevent the moa (now extinct) from eating them. Above moa height, the original leaves and blooms remain. Pretty amazing!
Invasive species of plants and animals have been eliminated from the island and ECO is part of an ongoing effort to restore the island by planting a native species of tree each time they bring a group.

One of the flightless bird species wiped out on the mainland, the Buff Weka, has been re-introduced to the island and appears to be thriving.

We met Wally, one of the original birds put on this island (he still bears his leg band) and, as you can see, they are totally unafraid of the humans. He joined us for tea, and while I was talking to a fellow traveler, he came right up and stole a biscuit out of my hand.

We also saw some gecko motels, built by local college students, which protect them from being eaten by the wekas.

We saw wood pigeons (below), bell birds, and heard a number of other species that we didn't see.

One of the really unique aspects of Mou Waho Island is that it holds a rain fed lake several hundred meters up from the shoreline.

In the middle of this lake, is a small island that itself sports a teeny little lake when it rains. So then there's a lake on an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island in the middle of the ocean.

Chris was nice enough to take pictures of us when we reached the top of the island.

The scenery was really wonderful in spite of the overcast day. This photo is from the west side of the island.
We head home tomorrow, so this will probably be the last post for a few days.