High in the Pines, 2021

We made a trip to Delintment Lake, high in the pines in eastern Oregon. There’s not much of a report. Casts were made, fish were caught, we sat back and enjoyed what we could see of the stars through the smoke. Mainly it was just good to get away. And in rejoicing about deciding to go, instead of to stay, I was reminded of a passage from John Muir.

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Forks of the John Day, 2021, Part 1

The John Day River is the longest undammed river in Oregon. We were able to get out and enjoy a few pieces of it this spring. Our first stop was the South Fork, catching up to it flowing north toward Dayville. The South Fork is a decent sized stream, especially during spring runoff, surrounded by a picturesque canyon through most of it's run before it spills into the main fork of the John Day. Coincidentally,…

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Return to the North California Coast, 2021

We started to narrow down the list of possibilities for an extended anniversary weekend. We’ve been to the top of Hager Mountain and out to the Lost Forest. What would it be this year? Choices are somewhat limited, and although we’d really like to check out a yurt in the mountains of Idaho that will have to wait for another year. How about the wildflower bloom in the California deserts? Well, you need some rain for that. A hike on the Olympic Peninsula? Sort of hard if the trailheads are closed. After lots of thinking and staring at the map we settled on the northern California Coast. We headed out on Friday and made it to the Smith River for our first night. Then it was off through the narrow band of the redwoods on the way to the coast.

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