A Walk in the Winter Woods

We are so lucky to have a beautiful forested park right outside of town. Shevlin Park was gifted to the city of Bend by one of the big lumber companies in 1920 and most of its 650+ acres are undeveloped. Just the place to go on a sunny winter day for a walk with my sweetheart.



As we are in the middle of a classic El Nino winter (most West Coast precipitation occurs south of us, bringing torrential rains to California and a mild, dryish winter to the Northwest) there is very little snow on the ground at our elevation (4000 ft). Skiing continues to be great just uphill from town, but for a less strenuous outing on our Thursday day off together, we took ourselves here.

Winter walks are a time to see the bare bones of the landscape -- nature's hardscape, and the remnants of last summer's greenery as well.

The park consists of a long canyon, with a paved road along part of the valley floor, and trails along the creek, the hillsides and on the canyon rim.





It's a favorite destination for mountain bikers, runners, walkers, and people on leashes. Since it is a wildlife refuge, dogs are required to be leashed, but I'd say the majority of dog owners let their dogs run free as soon as they leave the entrance and simply carry the leashes, obviously considering the rules don't apply to THEIR dog. I don't quite get this, so I assume they know best: that it is they who need to be on the leash.....

There's a covered bridge, a large group area with big shelter, a couple of very low key picnic areas, including one in Fremont Meadow, named after explorer John C. Fremont, who camped in the area during his 1846 expedition.

There's a creek....




and an interesting cast of characters.

The Rock People...


(Bigfoot?!)


Trees with history...



and ex-trees.... This one fell across the trail during a big windstorm last winter.



These are all that's left of last summer's wildflowers...





Manzanita is evergreen...



I love its smooth red bark and sturdy round leaves..


On our way back towards the car, we took the trail on top of the rim, which goes through a burn. No pine needles underfoot, just mud and lots of tracks. Footprints of joggers, hikers, bike tires, dogs...



and these...


hmmmmmm, definitely not dog prints. Bobcat or a young mountain lion. There have been a lot of cougar sightings in the park in the last 10 years or so. My intrepid sweetheart, who rides there several times a week during the season, has never seen one. But he says he won't be surprised if and when he ever does. Conventional advice when coming upon a mountain lion is to stop, make oneself look tall, and slowly back away. I suspect it would be tough to ride backwards, so I hope the looking tall would be enough.

The day after we took this walk, it snowed several inches and the trails and park were buried under a new blanket of white. After a few warm, sunny days, it's clear again. We'll probably head out there again soon.

Technically gardening

Unlike the rest of the country, apparently, we are having a (mostly) mild, dry winter. Well, we did have the weird 6" of snow on October 4 .... and the wee freez-a-rama (3 days of -10F-ish here in Bend, 5-10 degrees colder in neighboring locales) ... but other than that, it's been anywhere from nicely brisk (overnight lows in the high 20's) to downright balmy (days in the 50's). Sheesh. We haven't seen snow since just before Christmas. There's still enough to ski on (the local skiers are praying for more, though) but down here in the lower elevations, it's just like spring. Well, like spring in Bend, anyway.

The greenery I see sprouting in the garden is, alas, mostly weeds, sneaking in an early start (the little baggages!). Still, I have been strolling around outside quite a bit in the last week or two, cheering on the things I know are lurking underground: the garlic and shallot bulbs I planted last fall.....



and of course the spring bulbs: species crocus and tulips, miniature daffodils and all the usual suspects. Last week, after several days indoors with a cold, I just had to get outside. It hits me every spring, but this year it's coming on a bit early. In the early days of my gardening habit, I would I tell my sweetheart "I've got to outside and throw some dirt around!" and at first he was surprised. I guess he thought I was kidding? As the decades have come and gone, he has moved from amazement to chuckling (apparently it was cute there for a few years) to, nowadays, barely a head nod.

I could have done it too (thrown dirt around), since the soil is not frozen anywhere except where shaded by fence or northern exposure trees. But as I picked up my shovel and donned my gloves, I had a little guilt attack about the pile of mulch/compost which I had had delivered last fall, still sitting out by the street, partly encroaching on my neighbor, Stan's, front lawn. Oops. So I grabbed my trusty wheelbarrow and moved a few loads to the back yard:





I did three loads and then my cold-weakened limbs demanded a tea break, and that was it for the day. Still, it was very satisfying to be outside with my plant buddies. Today looks promising too ..........