Cheryl's News from LaPine, Oregon
May 24, 2016

A brief update to let you all know our whereabouts for the summer.

Rich, Mimi and I will arrive at Natural Bridge Campground in southern Oregon Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

We will be staying at Natural Bridge until the end of September, October 1 at the latest.

Visitors welcome and greatly appreciated. If you plan to visit, give us a heads up.

Mimi camping in LaPine. She hates the harness!

Thunderbolts and Lightning, very very frightening

Weather Update for 12 July – 18 July 2015

High Temp: 90.0

Low Temp: 54.1

Humidity: 31% - 94%

Rainfall: Zip

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

Thorsday, July 9, 2015

Kaboom! And lightning crashed down into the Natural Bridge Campground.

Fortunately for us, it was raining at the time (over and inch in less than an hour), so it wasn't the fire hazard it would otherwise have been. Still scary though!

Lightning-struck tree

That day, we had heavy rainfall. There was even a brief period of hail the size of blueberries (during which when I opened the door, our cat, Mimi, bolted for her safe place in the woods). End of the day, big puddles, 2” deep in our campsite. And site 6 was a lake with about 6” of water throughout. Six inches of water and a black lab sitting and playing in it. That was how our day ended.

All sites were impacted by the storm, but all the campers stayed. Real campers, all.

The next day Rich and went on an explore to locate where the lightening struck. As it turned out, one bolt had hit four trees. That made us curious, so we asked around. The park ranger said the lightening probably hit the lead tree, then ricocheted to two other trees, and finally ricocheted off one of those trees to hit the fourth tree, the smallest tree of the four hit.

We also asked around about why the bark was stripped off the tree. There was a physicist staying at the campground at the time, and he said that when lightening strikes a tree, the moisture under the bark instantly vaporizes, which creates a force that blows the bark off of the tree. 

Now, isn't that something.

Cheryl 

Fire Update, or Is That Smoke?

View from Prospect

August 11, 2015

The fires are still burning. But we are safe here, with no evacuation planned. Not true of Diamond Lake - they are on notice to plan for evacuation, and only campers with reservations are being allowed into the area.

Last Thursday Rich and I hiked to Boundary Springs, this origin, at least groundwise, of the Rogue River. Today, that area is now closed to hikers.

We were handed a fire map yesterday. What you are looking at: The pink area is the area affected by the Crescent Ridge fire. The red trails are the ones that have been closed to hikers.

For us, it is not the fire, but the smoke. Rich and I deal with smoke off and on during each day. My sinuses suffer the most. Daily I have either sinus headache or headache bordering on migraine. Ibuprofen is becoming a daily staple.

Fire Map

Cheryl

PS: If interested, here is a link for Crescent Ridge fire updates -
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4463

Fire Season

CHERYL'S NEWS FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

The nearest fire to us is 60 miles away, so Rich and I are safe. But we are surrounded by smoke. Irritating.

Just in case, we are planning various evacuation scenarios on the chance we get evacuated and need to leave in a hurry. My first task will be putting our cat, Mimi, in her carrier.

Will post fire updates regularly. Picture is looking south down the road in Prospect. Taken in front of the laundry mat.

Cheryl

When does a tree become a log?*

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone 


*A tree that falls of its own volition is known as a downed tree.
A tree that is cut or sawn down is called a felled tree.

Downed or felled trees become logs when they are sawed into smaller sections.

Thanks to the Prospect librarian, who comes from many generations of loggers, for the answer to this question. 


About 9 PM, as I am putting away the outdoor kitchen, I hear the unmistakable crack, crackle, creak, crack sounds of a tree in the process of falling.  The noise is loud and close.

I freeze.

Looking up to scan the tree tops for movement, praying that I don't see any. Praying that the tree is not going to fall into our camp.

Big THUMP! The ground vibrates.

But, whew! It wasn't a tree near our camp. Still obviously somewhere close, though. Rich and I jump on our bikes and go in search of the downed tree, very much hoping all camps and campers are okay.

Everyone was. As it turned out, the tree fell across the road, I estimate about 200 yards from our camp. It didn't hit anything. The prevailing emotion of the campers is excitement mixed with relief that everyone is okay.

The next morning, I went out to examine the tree. And I discovered that the tree had broken off about 3' from its base, its core totally rotten. The culprit is a conk fungus. Our mushroom book does not include this particular species, so it remains unnamed for now.

Forest Service personnel aptly call it a “cow pie” conk.

May Blooms

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

Last summer there was a large variety of blooming flowers all during the season at Natural Bridge Campground, unusual for the area. This was a result of increased rainfall during the winter and spring that year. And while I was at Camp Webeback, I couldn't help but wonder what this year's summer blossoms would be like, how much there would be if there wasn't all that rain.

But upon arriving in camp, it was clear that a lot of rain had fallen during this winter and spring, as well. Lush greenery all around, and the campground was laced with vole trails. Voles ruffle the surface of the earth as they tunnel around seeking worm snacks or - optimistically - a night crawler for dinner.

Rain = worms = voles. And thus, conversely, if you see vole tracks, it means there's worms, which means there was rain. We will be blessed with bountiful blooms again this year.

A lot of plants bloomed in May. I have pictures of 15 different plants. Here are my favorites.

Dogwood

Iris

Solomon's Seal

(Slipper Flower)

Vanilla Leaf

Wild Strawberry

Sometime I would like to come up in April to view the trilliums in bloom. There are a few precious such plants in camp.

A Day Off in Paradise

Weekly Weather Update

14 June – 20 June

Weekly High: 78.1

Low: 45.9

Humidity: 31% - 77%

Rain: Zip

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

Rich and I

Wednesday, June 17th, we have a day off. A day to be lazy. A day to eat and read to our heart's content. Back before we started camp hosting, when Rich and I would go camping, we called it going to eat and read, because that was how most of our time was spent.

On this break, in the afternoon after a long period of reading, we walk from camp to Natural Bridge. We walk along the Rouge River. Decades ago, in prelitigation era, the path, a small portion of which still exists,

Old Path

took you to the river's edge. You could sit and dip your toes in the water. You could walk across the natural bridge. Those days are long gone. However, for adventurous campers at Natural Bridge Campground, it is still an option. 

Still, there is a trade-off to doing so. Sitting at the river's edge, you miss the spectacular falls.

The main reason I wanted to walk this particular trail (deer trail for the most part), is there is a better view of the Rogue River entering the lava tube tunnel.

Into the Tunnel

Unfortunately, it's real hard to capture what's happening in a pic. Dang. But what you are seeing in the above pic is the river flowing under the log then into the tunnel.

After spending a leisurely time at Natural Bridge, we meander home to camp. Dinner is pan-fried pork chops, steamed yams served with a bit of butter and brown sugar and salad. The last of the salad until Tuesday. Dinner followed with reading while sitting outside in the meshed shelter until it is too dark to read. A wonderful meal and enjoyable books to close a wonderful day off.

Dip, dip, Dipper

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

A little bird-watching story.

Ah, the elusive Water Ouzel, aka the American Dipper. Rarely do they still long enough to photograph. Not much contrast either, as their color is the same color as the rock they are typically standing on.

Dipper

For years now, Rich and I have tried to spot an Ouzel nest. But they are always located somewhere inaccessible, like a hole high up in a rock. Or you see them fly to a nest area that is across the river, with no path to get there. And if you try to take a picture all the way across the river, the Ouzel appears about the size of an ant. Not to mention, it turns out looking more like a small rock projection than a bird.

But today, it finally happened! The long awaited moment arrives, and we feel blessed. We spotted a nest.

Rich and I sat for a long, long time, patiently waiting for the Ouzels to arrive and feed their young. Waiting for a few decent photos. Waiting for a chance to make an interesting video. Long enough to need to stand up occasionally and walk around to get some circulation in your butt.

And at last, our patience is rewarded, and the Ouzels arrive. The female is not concerned at all by our presence. She flies straight to the nest, feeding frenzy, then flies off. The male is very shy. A bonus for us. He hangs near to the nest area, creeping a bit closer over time, maybe 10 minutes before feeling safe to feed its young. The bonus is, he sits still long enough to photograph and video!

(The picture and video are of our Ouzel nest viewing at Natural Bridge along the Rouge River! Enjoy!)