What weird weather we're having

Redchic....it's the Coast Fork of the Willamette that runs between our property (we all own our lots here) and Mt Piscah. We own a small partion across the river, but it's undeveloped. We have several places with benches to sit and watch. Right now when the water is low, people can wade across to hike around Piscah.

ahhh.... thanks folks. really wayyy tooo sweet! I would love to have seen the buck drunk on fermented fruit. I've heard that that can happen, but never known anyone who saw it. The lake is the upper Erma Bells lake. this is the mess that we're there fixing.

Wow, sally. Your place sounds great. Especially with the water and mt. pisgah right next to you! Doesn't get better than that.

Yes, we love it here, my kids wondered how we would handle winter, now they're talking about coming up. DH always says the only way they'll get me out of here is feet first. LOL

yep, that sounds about right! feet first and kickin!! ok, I know that you mentioned this before, but I don't remember. Where did you live before here?

We lived in Lawndale CA. Which is right near LAX airport. Close to the beach, out of the smog, close to work, but concrete jungle just the same. Came up here after I retired to look after my folks. Lost my Dad 4 yrs ago, but Mom is still going strong at 94. We still pinch ourselves at how lucky we were to get this place, right next door to them.

that's for sure.... you were definitely lucky! And to still have youre mom going at 94. She must be quite a person. And so nice you you and your DH to move near to her to help out. it's not always all that easy. Well, I have to be off to bed. Goodnight all

Me too, have to meet the garage door people in the morning. And yes my Mom is quite a person, everyone here loves her.

Beautiful photos Red. I can smell the fir blowing into the cool air at the bottom of the water fall. Water seems to concentrate the forest essence.
This is our favorite small stream here in NW Montana. It is NW of Glacier Park right on the border. Graves Creek.

redchic once again you posted an incredibly great photo - where is that lake and what is the name of it? I doubt that I will see an otter here in Portland - the only wildlife I see from my porch is walking down the sidewalk to Hawthorne.

redchic...look who came to visit us today. I saw smoke across the river, went to investigate, couldn't see any people so called 911. They were already on the way. Couldn't see them working, too many trees, but after about 45 min. this guy showed up, loaded up in the river, dumped on the area a few times then left. I assume say they were drenching it so there could be no flare ups? The smoke was gone by the time he came.

Beautiful water pictures. Makes me want to buy hiking boots. We have otter on Hood Canal also. They really bother the people who live on the shore. Stinky and destructive.

Sofer, I love that picture! It looks very similar to some of the area around here. What fun. That water looks quite cold!

Thanks all, and Portland.... that lake is what is called upper Erma Bells. There are three Erma Bells lakes, they are all right next to each other and look just alike. the others are of course middle and lower Erma Bells. The are located about an hour southeast of Oakridge on Aufderheide dr. (or some spelling like that). Which is a route that is well documented as one of the best scenic drives in the fall. All in all, it would be about a 3 hour drive South from Portland. But, well worth it if you have the time to make a day trip. There's also a campground at the trailhead. And there's is lot's of potential to see all sorts of wildlife such as bears, fox, coyote, bobcats, bald eagles, falcons, otters!!!, many other animals. Don't worry, there has never been an animal attack there for as long as they have started keeping track.

Sally, looks as though you had an interesting day. It's sort of fun to watch them isn't it? It's a good thing that you called, especially since Pisgah has all of that side that is all dry grass. You called it exactly right on what they were doing though. that close to homes and people, they will take every precaution and then repeat them all a second time. They (those in the helicopter) could probably see small smoke rising long after you could. Odds are very good that somebody will come back to check on it again tomorrow and the next few days. Probably the folks on the ground, but maybe the helicopter! Why that helicopter is always so interesting to watch always baffles me. A plain old helicopter is rarely interesting to see. But, put a bucket on it and all of a sudden it is quite the show!

Sofer, one of my friends lived in glacier national park (he worked for the park service for about 10 years) and I believe that Graves creek is an area that he really liked to hike around. I don't think he mentioned a trail, I think that he went out cross country style hiking. But, none the less, he thought that it was an absolutely beautiful area. I agree with you that water is the essence of a forest!

Portland, a link about that drive up to the Erma Bells trail (it's right by the box canyon guard station)
http://oregonmotorcyclist.com/ridepage.php?page=hwy19
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071001/DISTINCTLYNORTHWEST/710010310/1002

Willow, that's too bad about the otters in your area. However, you should go and get those hiking boots!

Portland...we checked out the audio tape at the forest service (you drop it off at the other end). It was really interesting. Good Oregon history, absolutely beautiful drive, we went in October so we could see the changing leaves. Nice restaurant in Blue River.

We don't have any water falls or even big rocks, but this is where I stop everytime I go back to our compost area with a load of clippings. I love to sit and listen to the water going over the rocks, the river is low right now so the music is soft, but in a few months it'll be full again and it's like a full blown orchestra!!!

The other local Otter problem........right in downtown Olympia we have a lock and a bridge that separate the end of Puget Sound and Capitol Lake. Last year we had otters crossing the street there so often they had to put up temporary signs to warn motorists to look out for the otters! I think they were enjoying dining on the salmon waiting to get into the lake.

An otter crossing. That's just too funny!!!

Sally, I'm glad that you enjoyed the drive as much as I tout about it! Your river might not be rushing white water, but it's pretty, tranquil, it's yours, and it's always just a few steps a way! what more could a person want! And there's no need to put a pond in your yard!! (oh wait, you don't have one do you :-p )

Zhinusmom, thanks for the story about the otters. I know that isn't ment to be funny really. But the image in my head of seeing otters crossing, behind an "otter crossing" sign, in the middle of town just makes me laugh. I know that it's a problem, but I would think it so cute. It's not there now, but up until about a year ago there was a "duck crossing" sign on an 'on ramp' to the freeway in Eugene. I always felt sorry for those ducks trying to contend with freeway traffic. I alwyas thought that it was strange that they chose the freeway. The flock had been there before the freeway was there and apparently was sure how to change locations. But, otters would be much more interesting than ducks!

This message was edited Sep 3, 2008 10:42 PM

This message was edited Sep 3, 2008 10:43 PM

Actually I have a pond behind my house in the winter. The rainwater run off ditch is behind us and it always pools next to our place. That's why I always get the chorus from the frogs in the spring LOL!! Ducks stop by and we usually have a nesting pair of Heron. Winter time is busy outside my windows.

wow, I would love to watch Heron. They seem like such graceful birds. I like the idea of a pond that you don't have to take care of really. That's the way it should be.

We all enjoyed the otters and actually felt good that someone cared enough to warn motorist to take care and avoid our furry visitors.....while creating a traffic problem for a time it was quite amusing!!

I've watched people walk ducks across one of our busy streets (Franklin) everyone cheered when the family got across. And now the geese are starting to come back, so they'll be all over town. And hopefully in our pond, we just don't tell them it's a drainage ditch.

We had geese at Blacklake. Some of my neighbors didn't like them, they are messy, but I thought they were great.

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