The REAL First Snow has melted and we had our two days of Indian Summer. The weather is moving into a cooling mode now. The few apples on the one apple tree are inviting to the deer that pass through. The deer have also finally found our flower pot and nibbled the petunias down. They were past their prime bloom so I won’t begrudge the deer a last snack before the winter.
We woke up on Saturday, Oct. 20 to one inch of snow!
The rosy glow of dawn filtered through the snow dusted pines.
Bigfoot is well insulated for the cold!
The patio furniture was stowed last weekend and the shade curtains have been taken down and stowed. Soon the shade cloth on the canopy will be removed so the weight of future snows won’t collapse it. But the hot tub is still filled and toasty warm!
Some of the vine maple leaves survived the pre-snow wind and rain storms we had last week, so there’s still a little color on the property. The snow however did not survive the day. It should be about 70 degrees on Tuesday!
For all the years we lived in Bend (1986 to 1997) and the 3 years we’ve had this property, we never walked the Deschutes River Trail. For Sammy’s birthday (Happy B-day again, Sammy!) we decided to check it out. We drove the 13 miles into town, across the river, then out of town on Century Drive to Meadow Picnic Area on the river. This site happens to be directly across the river from our neighbors that live across the street from us, so we were a good stones throw away from our property! We then had a great hike on a good path along the river.
Again, the fall colors were spectacular. We were on the opposite side of Lava Island Falls, where the fork of the river is narrower and more calm.
We stopped at a convenient bench to rest and look at the canal flume across the river. It looks like a raised train trestle in the upper left of this picture. Yesterday we were walking over there!
Above Lava Island Falls the river converges and there are placid stretches with beautiful views.
The aspen groves across the river weren’t in full color yet, but tops of groves could be seen out in the huge lava field across the river. We hiked a little past Big Eddy and on our return we stopped to watch a kayaker maneuver through the falls.
The kayaker is the red splotch in the upper center of the picture, it looks like he’s getting doused with a wave in the face.
Our friends Sammy & John from Atlanta came to visit for a three day weekend and we took them on the obligatory visitors canal walk. We had a sunny day and beautiful fall foliage to photograph.
We had another great view of Lava Island Falls ( I can’t believe that kayakers go through this whitewater!)
As we neared the point where the canal is diverted from the river we were being watched by a Great Blue Heron from a lava rock outcrop.
On our return trip Robert went down the only path we saw to the river and found this broken canoe. I guess some river adventurers don’t make it!
On our way to a friends wedding in Northern California we stayed overnight at Goose Lake State Park, literally on the border of Oregon and California. We arrived just before the snow squall and spent a cozy warm night in the camper. We woke to a dusting of snow on the foothills.
We routed our return trip into Nevada, looking for sunnier weather. We found a nice spot to camp on the edge of the Smoke Creek Desert outside of Gerlach, Nevada.
