Pete French's Round Barn

A finger of Malheur Lake as seen from the Princeton-Narrows Road east of the refuge

I spied a pair of pronghorn antelope on the way to the Round Barn

This area has a rich history.  There are links to history all over the refuge and immediately off it. Today I visited the Pete French Round Barn. Peter came here from California in 1872 with several vaqueros, a Chinese cook and 1200 head of shorthorn cattle.  He was opening up a new area for his boss, Dr. Hugh Glen.

He bought what the refuge calls P Ranch from a man named Porter who sold his squatter rights, a small herd of cattle, and his P brand. Pete French built his ranch up to 160,000 to 200,00 acres, covering three valleys.

He broke thousands of horses each year and designed three round barns so the horses could be broken through the winter. Only one barn still exists. (And the refuge owns the P Ranch now.)

The round barn is 100 feet in diameter and thirty feet high.  It has an interior corral made of stone that is 60 feet in diameter. You can see the barn from the highway.  It looks like a huge coolie hat sitting in a field. I was there all by myself and felt a great peace when walking around inside. I could almost smell the lovely warm smell of horses and hear their nickers and stomps. But it was empty except for a raven that appeared to be building a nest on top of the corral wall.

The Round Bard as seen from the approach

The working side is behind the barn.

The horses were worked around this outside "donut"

T

The center part was used as a corral

This is the 30 foot long center cedar post with the roof supports coming off of it

The gates were built with mortise and tenon joints

I also had a good visit with Dick Jenkins, who owned the barn and a huge ranch.  His son is runing their ranch now and he is running the  lovely Round Barn  Visitor Center.  He sells a HUGE collection of books about the area, about cowboys, area cookbooks, books on natural history and the the history of the area. It was a fascinating place to visit and he gave me lots of information about the area.

I get to go to the Carp workshop for the next three days.  Thursday I'm going on a tour and will record the conversation, then come back and transcribe it. I've been figuring out how to turn carp into various foods.  The hard part is getting the skin off of it and then cutting fillets without bones.  But I'm hoping to become an expert on it.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - First Impressions

I've worked at Malheur NWR five days now and am pretty overwhelmed with EVERYTHING - the place, the people and all the different stuff I get to do.

First, the place: This a a place of contradictions. It's a wetland in the Oregon High Dessert. The area feels like a flatland, surrounded by low mountains, but the basin itself is at an altitude of 4093 feet and Steen Mountain, the tallest mountain, is 9700 feet. The water runs in but it doesn't run out.  It has to leave  by evaporation or sink into the ground and get used by plants. Long ago, Lake Malheur was connected to the sea, but a basalt uplift blocked it's passage so the final place for the liquid water is in Lake Harney, which, of course, is very salty. The landscape is a mix of soft and hard.  The rounded hills look soft but there are lots of rocky outcroppings that are hard. And there are hard transitions between rises and plateaus.

View of Steens Mt. from Buena Vista Overlook - miles of valley in between

A "soft" spot where the marsh is turning to dry fields

Rocky outcropping

"Soft" sage-green hills in the evening light

 And the Size of it: 
You can't figure out how vast the area is because you can see so far. I find myself speeding because I don't feel like I'm going past anything. I think Steens Mountain, the 35 mile long block mountain that supplies most of our water through snow melt via the Donner und Blitzen River, is about 50 miles from headquarters, but is visible from our high point where the fire tower is and from the auto tour road. And at night, I can see the lights of Burns, about 30 miles away.

View of Steens Mt. from Frenchfglen where the Steens Mt. driving loop starts

 

I'm reading a book I found in the house, The Oregon Desert, written in 1964 by two friends, a "cowboy who thought like a scientist" and  " scientist who thought like a cowboy. Reub, the cowboy, says you don't measure the desert in miles, but in looks.  It's a good ten looks across.. I think I've traveled about half a look so far.

And the remoteness of this place:
 Malheur NWR is in Harney County, the largest county in Oregon and the ninth largest county in the United States.  But it only has 7,600 residents so the towns are both small and far apart.  I think I can drive 6 miles for stuff like white bread (Ugh) and milk. The first Safeway is in Burns.which is 32 miles away.  The town where everyone goes for major shopping  and doctor visits is Bend which is 160 miles away. The staff lives in Burns and carpools to work. Yesterday I drove over 100 miles and saw maybe 6 other vehicles. Today I drove about 90 miles and saw three cars.

View looking south down Hwy 205 to Steens Mountain - upper right white line.

Second, the People: All the people here are go-getters with big ideas and the energy to make things happen. The volunteers get to go to the staff meetings and give input and learn what everyone else is doing. This contributes to the family feeling.  I've liked and admired everyone I've met and several people already feel like new friends.

Third, my jobs: Every time I open my mouth, I'm given another interesting job even though my calendar says I'm only working in the Visitor Center.. So far, I

• am working on retrieving the numbers of ducks here in the spring from the Refuge narratives and putting the information on an Excel sheet.  When finished, it is going to one of the speakers at the John Scharff Migratory Bird Festival for him to use in his presentation. (This refuge was established in 1902, so it took parts of four days to finish this job. I probably would have not taken so long if I didn't get trapped into reading funny stories or following the reintroduction of Trumpeter Swans. ) 

• worked on planning to cook carp into various appetizers for the Carp Workshop next week.  I'll also be the cook IF the staff can find the carp. And be the carp cleaner/preparer. Since it's so cold - 14 degrees as I write this, with a high of 45 degrees expected -the carp are probably down too deep to easily net so this may not happen. ( Thought I was off the hook with this one, but, but just as I was starting off to play, a happy staffer gave me two carp and promised me he was working tomorrow and expected to get lots more. )

• will be taking little environmental learning activities  to share with Paiute Indian Children in an afternoon program on Fridays. (There is a reservation in Burns.)

• will get to attend the three-day Carp Conference and will also be a general gofer - and possible cook  - there. 

• have been directed to take the trail brochure and hike all the trails and make sure the brochure description matches the trail conditions and length. (Hiked one this afternoon.)

• have been told to familiarize myself with the Draft Comprehensive and Conservation Plan so I can discuss the three alternatives with visitors. 

•  have been given the job of inventorying 4 housing areas so they have everything they need for the volunteers.  (Got two of them done.)

• have been given the job of filling the bird feeders as needed  (So I take my binoculars, fill the feeders and check out new arrivals in the trees, grasses and pond.)

•  will drive around the 45 mile auto tour, as well as other places to fill up the brochure boxes.(Took parts of two days to find them all but I've got this job figured now. )

• have  been given the job of producing a Power Point show about the refuge that has to be ready by
  April 7.

• will be leading a tour of the refuge or driving the second van on some of the tours that happen during the bird festival. 

• will work on scanning pictures from the narratives of the refuge. 

• will be a wandering docent starting next month. 

•  will be entering bird sightings in Facebook to keep up with our new arrivals.  We are getting new species in on an almost daily basis right now. (Today's new species were green-wing teal and shovelers. )

• will, of course,  work in the Visitor Center.  But we have had NO visitors yet since I've been here so I have lots of time to work on other projects. And some of them will keep me out of trouble in the evenings. 

And I've already been "got" here. I took this picture at 2:30 P. from Highway 205.

A lone cowboy drives a few cattle about a mile away from Highway 205

This picture was taken about 5:30 from about a quarter of a mile away.

Or maybe not.

I gave everyone a good laugh when I told this story at work.  I found out that Dwight Hammond is a rancher whose lands adjoin the refuge. He used to have grazing rights on the refuge  and has had bad feelings about the refuge phasing them out. I think he put up these sculptures out of spite, but it makes for a beautiful scene and is a reminder that a few ranchers were successful in the Oregon High Desert.

And Harney County is one of the top producers of beef in the country. 

Yesterday, I ended up working late and doing the 45 mile drive home, again stopping lots of times for pictures while checking that the auto tour signs were all up. My reward was this an awesome moonrise, complete with a moon dawn of red clouds.

Even the moon looks closer here- this moonrise even came up with a red cloud ahead of it

Sundial Bridge

One of the fairly nearby attractions that I had planned to visit was the Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA. And even though I tried to schedule adventures at least two days of every week, I didn't get time to see everything. So I decided to see the bridge during one of the two trips I had to make to Malheur to haul all my junk.

And of course, I wanted the lighting good for pictures.  I first came past it in the dark, then in the early afternoon and finally made it to the bridge just before dawn.

The lighting makes for a gorgeous view at night

The floor is made of glass to let light pass to the river below to help spawning salmon

The bridge is part of a wonderful, thirty-five mile long, trail system that goes along the Sacramento River on both sides and takes one to the Shasta Dam.  Since it was too dark for pictures and since I had a ten hour drive still ahead of me, I decided to get in a little walk. I walked out for about one and a quarter miles. By this time it was light enough to read and I was reading the various trail signs. I got to one with a picture of eagles and a telescope next to it.  It told of an eagle's nest right there in urban Redding, CA.  I scanned the trees in front of me with the scope and found an eagle sitting on a nest, with a slough and an apartment complex in the background.

Almost sunrise over the Sacramento River.

It was rapidly getting light, so I worked my way back, only getting distracted by pictures a few times. Then I took pictures of the bridge from both sides of the river.  

Canada geese at sunrise on the Sacramento River

Early morning shot looking upstream to the Sundial Bridge

Just before lights out on the bridge

A closer view of the sundial

Beautiful geometry

View from the bridge of Mt. Shasta Bally and gulls

The bridge was built by Santiago Calatrava. He is both an architect and a sculptor.  The pictures of his work are breathtaking. So, if you are into beautiful architecture, check out his works.

But the bridge is not a stand-alone attraction.  It is part of the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, which also has a museum and the McConnell Arboretum and Botantical Gardens. I couldn't wait until the museum opened but saw a man opening the gates to the garden.  I asked him if I could visit the gardens and he said yes.  So I got to see it in beautiful morning light, rather than after 9:00 A.M. This is a very young garden and it was also mostly dormant but looks like it has great possibilities to show people how to have a beautiful, but sustainable garden without using too much water or herbicides and fertilizers.

And this is a very birdy place and should be particular wonderful during spring migration. Besides the nesting eagle,  robins were moving all over the ground and giving their fussy calls.  They were joined by spotted towees.  Yellow-rumped warblers were singing. Canada geese and ducks - buffleheads, common mergansers, ruddy ducks - were swimming in the river. Gulls were there in great numbers. I could hear the Chi-CA-go calls of a flock of California quail and the hunting call of a red-tail hawk.  An Allen's hummingbird was sitting at the entrance to the garden and then started feeding on red, tubular flowers while I watched. When I noted the location, I found that I was walking into a bird sanctuary.

This is definitely a wonderful place to visit. Bring your hiking shoes, bike and binoculars,  and take a ride to the Shasta Dam and enjoy the birds.Visit the museum and the gardens. Bring your lunch or eat in the museum cafe.

On The Oregon Trail

Last Tuesday was an exciting day. After going to a 75th birthday party for the Sacramento NWR where the volunteers were also recognized - I volunteered 518 hours - I finished packing my Honda Fit. Then after a few hours of sleep, I left at 4:00 A.M. for Malheur NWR  which is about a 500 mile drive.

 

California Dawn

 By the time dawn arrived, I was in the  mountains northeast of Redding, Califronia, on Highway 299.  As the day brightened, the views stretched across broad plains. A storm was promised by evening and I watched the clouds roll in.

View across the valley

Water in the landscape

Scenic highway

By the time I reached Oregon, it was mostly cloudy.  Traffic was mostly very light but I had a road hazard that consisted of a flock of big horn sheep. Then I found cows were free ranging.  And I went through a little sand storm. 

Winter storm rolling in

Oregon Road Hazard

Cows roam free in Oregon

Sand dunes along the road

By 2:30, I was only about thirty minutes away from Malheur. I started seeing water on both sides of the road holding Canada geese, tundra swans,  and a flock of snow geese - they are just starting to move north and have just arrived here.

Canada geese live here year round

Swans are migrating north

Then I saw a very familiar sight - the Malheur fire tower which is a clone of the one at Sacramento NWR.  A few minutes later, I was at the Visitor Center meeting with Lisa and Carey, the two ladies I'll be working under.

The Malheur fire tower

Almost Home

Visitor Center

Then it was time to drive on down to the volunteer area and find my little house. I'm the only volunteer here for now.  I figured out why when it starting snowing while I was unloading my car.  I had it about halfway unloaded  when the snow got so heavy that I didn't want to be out in it. I think most people know it won't be spring here for another month.

New Home Sweet Home AKA Coyote Hollow

After the snow

I'm sure I'm going to love this place.

Early Spring in Mendocino Coast Botantical Garden

I had to go back to the wonderful Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden before I left. I ended up taking off a day in order to get  good light for photographs.

The magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas, jonquils were in bloom. The cacti and succulents were amazing and the heather was just as spectacular as it was last time.

This blog will be going up a few days after I arrived at Malheur NWR.  I got here safely mid afternoon of February 28.  I'll be telling you the story of my trip and early days there in the next few blogs. And so much is happening that I'll have to blog a little more often.