!!!CHICK TRIP!!!

Vacation....what is that? I haven't had a real vacation in a long long long time...Mickey agreed to go with me...she'd been wanting to go visit the Fossil Beds in John Day, Oregon - and so....

DAY ONE

A good start as usual to any fun trip is a breakfast at Beckies Restaurant in Union Creek

CRAZY!!!

 Rock Penstemon of some pinkish sort along highway 230 that borders along the west boundary of Crater Lake National Park....Nope...we didn't go visit the park....we were on another type of drive!

 Lupine....little tiny pretty purple Lupine....  

So we're on highway 97 just coming into Bend, Oregon....

well you can't drive past the High Desert Museum can you? Naw....let's go see this.....

Great Horned Owl...it's daytime...he's snoozin!

Western Painter Turtle posing all nice for me!

 Hairy Woodpecker...no Not Harry the Woodpecker...it's a Hairy Woodpecker.

Cassins Finch

 They had a Lynx and a Bobcat there at the museum...I think this is the Bobcat?

 We had left the museum and were driving along the road and we had to stop because there was some sort of road work? so I snapped this little picture of the forest...Ponderosa Pine....

don't you just love them? I do...

and THEN.....we were there....THE PAINTED HILLS

Pretty Grand!!!!

 Helianthus annuus Wild Sunflower

 These beautiful wild sunflowers looked just right with the clouds and blue sky as a back drop

 How can you get tired of this view...lived in Oregon my whole life and didn't know this was here??? 

 We drove into the Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds...we'd been driving most of the day except of course when we got out to go to the High Desert Museum, and it was time for a short hike....

Painted Hills Unit

 Calochortus macrocarpus-Mariposa Lily

  Dalea ornata

" Leaf Hill Trail [1/4 mile loop]

The Leaf Hill area has been the site of extensive 

paleontological research. No fossils can be seen today 

along the trail, but an interpretive exhibit shows 

examples of a few leaves that have been found there."

http://www.nps.gov/joda/planyourvisit/upload/Trails-PH-Clarno-Units-Screen-Rez-2.pdf

We hopped back into the SUV and on down the road we went until we got to the end of the road...where there is a new trail called the RED HILL TRAIL...another short little trail

 Dalea ornata

 It was sort of funny...there was a sign telling you that this was 

the place to take a photograph....do you think?

 Dalea ornata

 Arnica

SHOE TREE....we saw two of these trees...it was pretty interesting...in a strange sort of way...these shoe trees were on the way to John Day...we rounded a bend and there is was on the left hand side...had to pull over and walk back to get the photo....I think there were woodpeckers in this tree too...

lots of noise and commotion....

DAY TWO
This was by far my favorite day of the vacation road trip! We did tons of things that day! From John Day that morning we went to breakfast, then set out for the Sheep Rock Unit!  So....we drove west on Highway 26 and turned north on Highway 19...this first picture is a morning shot of the John Day River...  "it is the second longest free-flowing river in the continental United States and the longest un-dammed tributary of the Columbia River."  And let me say it was a beautiful morning....a few clouds, but really a great day for hiking....it even rained a bit....which was wonderful too!

 As you can see in the upper part of the picture, there are pastures with fresh 

bales of hay...It really smelled unbelievable! I love the smell of fresh cut grass and alfalfa!

A mallard hiding in a swampy pond...I love finding birds and butterflies and wild things!

Ah yes...see the skull on the sign....a tease of things to come later in the day, 

when we stopped at the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center.....

Columnar basalt pillars along Highway 19, heading into the Sheep Rock Unit....worth stopping and taking several pictures I think?

"Large eruptions of basalt lava may create deep flows of molten rock. As the rock slowly cools it shrinks slightly. The stresses cause jointing in several different planes, and columns of rock form with a generally hexagonal shape, like pencils."

There it is....Sheep Rock...what an outstanding valley this was...

beckoning us to continue on our days journey!  Ah....it had just begun!

 Bittersweet Nightshade - this is poisonous....not to handle but beautiful to photograph!

Blue Basin Trail....oh this looks easy said I, as I looked down the trail....meandering....Mickey had read about the trail, I think....difficult maybe is what she was thinking??...she didn't really tell me that....not right off anyway....such a smart girl! She totally out-hiked me the whole trip by the way....I'm good on the up, but horrible on the descent...totally not my thing...

 So this is what the first part of the trail looked like....gorgeous right? What I didn't know was we were going to start climbing....Very Sneaky Mickey!!!!! lol!

Dalmatian Toadflax...now this was a flower I'd never seen before....so it was new to me....it had a snap dragon look to it, but with little tails on it like a tadpole turning into a frog!

Mountain Serviceberry...Serviceberry - now I wasn't sure of this while I took the picture, but we have a serviceberry bush at home, so I was hopeful that is what it was...and by golly...I guess they grow out in the wild over there!!!!

 Bombus fervidus fervidus - Bumble bee on Bull Thistle
I have a friend who is a bug expert, well more of a Butterfly expert, so I sent him this picture asking him what sort of pollinator he thought this was....well said he..."it looks like a bumblebee to me"....sheesh....it didn't look like the bumbles I am used to....ours are black and yellow....well you know....black in the middle right?  Little did I know that there is this cool site  Bumblebees of North America   So Check it out! Who knew there were so many Bumblebee body styles!

"Blue Basin Overlook Trail [3.25 mile loop]

Climbing to an overlook of Blue Basin, this trail 

provides breathtaking views down into steep 

badlands and grand vistas of the John Day River 

valley. Clay surfaces are very slippery when wet. 

This strenuous trail includes 760 feet of elevation 

gain" Sheep Rock Unit - Trails

I hike, but I am an off trail wanderer too...I did keep and eye out for snakes...this is pretty much as close as i got to a snake....Barbed Wire....I think this would be a nice picture framed...I kinda like it!

 moth mullein

Sulphur Butterfly

Wood Nymph possibly Cercyonis pegala ariane??

I don't know what kind of flower this was, but I love the way it looks now!

Look at the purple colors in this rock...honestly there were so many different layers of colors in this area it would take months to understand the geology....especially if you're like me fixated on the birds, butterflies and flowers!

I think this is a Queen Alexandra's Sulphur - Colias Alexandra edwardsii but I can not be sure.  What a sweet little yellow butterfly though.  Usually I can't get good pictures of sulphurs...they really like to stay on the wing, and not touch down!

As the hike progressed we kept climbing...

and climbing....around each switch back we thought we might be getting to the top...then there was a false summit and there was this cool sign....bwahahahaha!!!!!

It flattened out for a bit...then of course what goes up must come down....and this is where Mickey was really in her hiking element....she is pretty far away from me at this point...wait up Mickey!!!!!!

Of course I had to stop and take this picture of our state bird the Western Meadowlark...who can resist this bird...they have such a beautiful song!

We finally got back to the parking lot, got out some Cheetos and sat at a picnic table and enjoyed something cool to drink and took off our boots.....ahhhhhh......and down the road we went...

We stopped along the road when we saw these beautiful long horned cattle...

Above the pasture where the cattle were there were big lines and perched on one was this beautiful Kingbird....

WESTERN KINGBIRD

And I just liked this cow so much...the grass was really tall...

so I don't know if it was a cow or a steer?

Along the road near pastures here is a Cabbage White - Pieris rapae

The interesting thing about the Cabbage White Butterfly is that it feeds on Mustard type plants that have chemicals called glucosinolates.  When these are ingested it makes the butterfly unpalatable and icky tasting! See? This Butterfly is on a Mustard Plant part of the Brassica genus, which also includes plants like Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts!  mmmmm I'm hungry now thinking of that! 

We did a few more stops then back down the road toward the CANT RANCH

There is so much to say about the Cant Ranch but the most exciting part of it for me was that it was a working sheep ranch!!!! Yep...the barn was fantastic and HUGE with tons of sheep pens and a sheep shearing station...I bet it was such a wonderful place to be back then!

 The main house is beautiful and serves as a museum on the bottom floor.  Inside one of the rooms was wooden frame to show how the huge jute/burlap bags used to look...they were much much taller than that, and people would step down inside of them to pack the shorn wool down, then sew it all in across the top after it was full, then it got shipped off to the wool mills where it was washing, spun and woven into fabric. The jute bags completely full would weigh between 250 to 450 pounds depending on how many fleeces were inside and how tight they were packed into the bags!

 Here is a close up of the fleece in the bag.  Honestly this doesn't look like a meat breed fleece, but more along the lines of a Merino of some sort-a dual purpose breed perhaps?....although I did read that a flock of sheep from Vermont was brought into Umatilla County to improve the flocks already in the area....so....this could be some sort of fine fleece that looked much the same even back during the hay-day of the CANT RANCH!

A picture of wool buyers from the Pendleton Woolen Mills, sheep shears and a piece of fleece.

Down the road we drove to go to the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center where we enjoyed not only the history of the area, but got to see many beautiful Fossils close up and read about the animals and how they existed eons ago.

Inside the beautiful Thomas Condon Paleontology Center there were some big Biters! Yep...lots of teeth to be seen on the skulls and there were hundreds of skulls and bone fragments and stories too!!!!

Entelodonts were large powerful animals related to pigs and hippos.  

The had elongate faces with mysterious flanges on the skull and large, 

grooved canines.  These omnivores could eat anything, plant or animal

Several different kinds of camels are found in the Rattlesnake strata.  

Some, like Megatylopus, were enormous; others were about the size of 

modern llamas. Their appearance coincides with drying trends.

After leaving the Paleontology Center we drove back to John Day to the motel for the evening...we had to drive through Dayville...but as we approached we saw the Dayville Cafe...

The sign outside said PIE....yeah....Pie and coffee please...

 So there were a few to choose from, but really...there is nothing better than Strawberry Rhubarb pie...à la mode and with whipped cream too....nothing in my coffee please...I like it black!

Day Three

 Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

                            Strawberry Mountain Wilderness within the Malheur National Forest
                               OH!!!!! What a VIEW! acres and acres of beautiful Prairie land!

                                                           Charadrius vociferus - Killdeer

                                                    Eremophila alpestris - Horned Lark

                                                        STATE OF OREGON BIRD                                           
                                                 Sturnella neglecta - Western Meadowlark    

                     "From 1865 to 1869 a military camp, "Camp Logan", was located on "Strawberry

                              Creek" a couple miles from the spot where the creek exits the mountains."

Pastures near old Camp Logan, where wildlife abounds! We saw many deer, quail, chipmunks and birds of all types here.  The pastures were tall and blowing in the wind....a mile down the road was a nice big cattle ranch...First we came upon some beautiful big Bulls! Then the cows and calves....so cute!

 Here is one of the smaller bulls....but he was just such a handsome fellow I thought I would take a photo of him....Nice BLING hanging from his nose!

                                       

                                                                       Lupine

                                                                 Western Wood Peewee

                                                                   

Photos of a young Lazuli Bunting!  I couldn't figure out what kind of young bird this was, but thanks to the help of Greg Gillson! (The Bird Guide) Birds and Bird Watching in the Pacific NW

Yes....we are in our element...

.there was so much beauty everywhere....

including us of course!!!! Snort!

                                                  Close up shot of California Corn Lilly

                                       ..and a whole pasture of the California Corn Lillies

                                                       Tragopogon dubius - Yellow Salsify

                                                                   Aquilegia - Columbine

                                                    Passerina amoena - Lazuli Bunting
               What a beauty of a bird....Mickey pointed it out to me...then it was up to me to sneak until I 
               could get a good shot of it....what a bright blue!

                                                      Polemonium - Jacobs Ladder

                                                                 My Pal Mickey! 

She saw all the tiny things that were happening on the plants....I was always looking at the bigger picture....she was checking out what the little bugs were doing....COMMENSALISM or MUTUALISM..She always teaches me tons...not that I remember everything, but it's fun to learn

                                                                     Wild Rose

                                                   Corallorrhiza maculata - spotted coralroot

Because that was where we were....

in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Area....

                                            Cypripedium montanum - Mountain lady's slipper

We pulled off into this Horse Campground - no one was here, but there are corrals and stalls for your horses and overnight camping is $8.00 it's a beautiful little place and yes....there is a nice clean vault toilet too!  This is on Highway 60 heading out of Prairie City going up towards the Strawberry Campground.

This was some sort of vine maple that had what i thought was some sort of disease on it....it was quite beautiful with the real Christmas Colors of Red and Green, but clearly there was something ailing it.  I noticed several trees that had leaves on it like this

                                                  The Creek at the Strawberry Campground

This was a very large beautiful Ranch in Prairie City on County Highway 60.  The view must be gorgeous on a clear day, but then again, I'm betting on a cold windy day, you might wish you were somewhere else...and if it was snowing, you might wish you were....well...for sure INSIDE....although ranchers seldom get to spend much daylight inside....This place was well taken care of with a nice herd of Black Angus Cattle.

 Meanwhile....back in Prairie City.....we decided we might be a bit hungry....so we stopped at the...

Oxbow Restaurant and Saloon and had a few beers....it was raining outside a little bit and the roof was leaking...I kind of loved that they had a few pans sitting here and there catching the drips of water coming from the ceiling!  All along one wall there were large stuffed trophy animal mounts watching us eat our lunch!! and an Historic Saloon bar complete with glass mirrors! It was pretty homey inside and the owners were friendly! Hey the food was good too!

After we were done with lunch we decided to go up to Magone Lake...we got a little turned around but finally found the road we were looking for....more beauty to be found driving in to the lake!

Madia gracilis - Slender tarweed.  This is a member of the sunflower tribe and grows in grasslands, open wood, along road, below 7500 feet.

Gosh we really struggled with this one...it looked so much like a dogwood tree, but the branches looked more like those of an apple tree...it's Lewis's Mock-orange ...if I would have smelled it I might have known.  I believe my mom and dad had a spray of Mock-orange at their wedding.  I've had it at one of my homes, and the smell is fragrant and sweet...

Driving to Magone Lake, we drove past a wet boggy area and past what looked like to as Yellow Paintbrush.  Castilleja cusickii - Cusick's Paintbrush found in bog, and wetland meadows! It was beautiful and just like the California Corn Lilly, it took up part of a pasture that followed a narrow stream.

                             This is where we found the Cusick's Paintbrush - at Coxie Meadows.

This is a mule deer fawn.  They are built bigger and have more of an elk like body than our little black-tail deer of the west side of Oregon....He was quite a beauty!!!!

  AHHHH one of our destinations! MAGONE LAKE!!!!! Mickey parked her car and we watched a few birds...then got out and decided we would walk around the lake....yep....it was getting late, but we started the hike...only a mile and 1/2 but flat...and wildlife...wildflowers...what could be better?

 And so we walked....

and walked....

and we found that there were Beavers...?

and Spotted Sandpipers......

.....mating.....National Geographic moment....

and a Butterbutt...aka Yellow Rumped Warbler (thank you Maria for teaching me that 'other' name for this bird!)

and Chip

And a Downy Woodpecker....

and if you look really close under the two little twig branches you will see a baby sticking it's head out!

and a Muskrat here and there!!!!!

                                              and as we hiked around, the light started to fade.

What a gorgeous day it was....this was a wonderful hike...mostly void of bugs or bees or anything that might make it less enjoyable...and we watched mama ducks with their many ducklings...and an Osprey flying over the lake, looking for dinner...

a Chipping Sparrow...my first ever.....LIFEBIRD!

                                  Allium acuminatum - Tapertip onion...oh my did it smell yummy!
                                     a whole dry meadow of them...with a few other things mixed in....

Day Four

Traveling home

We decided to go south out of John Day towards Burns on our return trip...to see different sites...

                                                                          Elk Cow

                 Bluebird fledgling at the wayside schoolhouse at Silvies Valley Ranch.  Silvies Valley Ranch

                                           
                                                 Barn at the Silvies Valley Ranch Wayside

                                                                 
                                                                      Red Tail Hawk

                I finally scared it off...and it flew away....so beautiful, I never get tired of seeing them!

                                                       
                                                              Near Fort Rock, Oregon

                                                                 
                                                                  Klamath Marsh

                                                               
                                                               Upper Rogue River

Yeah...I don't know...I think I was supposed to eat the Poison Berry....really this is a good berry, try it....it's a Salmon Berry, no...it's a wild Strawberry, no I think it's a Thimbleberry...

go ahead...try it...tell me how it tastes!!! Mwahahahahaha!!!!!

Last picture on the Upper Rogue from our trip....what a beautiful enjoyable trip!!!!!

Yep...that is it! all done...whew! That was fun! Let's do it again next year ok?