Just another river walk

There is no such thing as a boring walk along the river.   Rivers everywhere are vital, nourishing places for many kinds of life.   But in our dry climate, a river is an especially lively place, in all seasons and at all times of the year.   Thursday is Date Day for us each week, and  the sweetheart and I keep various local river walks in our back pockets, so to speak, to pull out when we are tired or the weather is bad or we just want to see the latest developments in the river flowing through our town.

One of our easy river walks is a loop leaving from Ye Olde Mille Districte -- our name for the former lumber mill on the banks of the Deschutes River, now turned into an upscale (for Bend) shopping mall, complete with restaurants, the usual chain clothing stores (Banana Republic, the Gap, and the naughty nighty place I can't recall the name of right now), movie theaters, etc.  

The loop heads upstream along the river, and soon enters the pine forests and rocky bluffs of the canyon.  This is a popular trail for shoppers, runners, dog walkers and people you would never expect to see on a 'hiking' trail.   

There is always something to see, and yesterday was no exception.  The first sight we saw leaving the parking lot was, apparently, The Lewis and Clark Expedition in red plastic boats.

There were several more, but, they were spread out all over the river.  There were even a couple of stand-up paddle boarders, the first we've seen this year (background above).   (We routinely ridicule these devices as the lamest, most uncomfortable things ever invented -- but these guys showed more intelligence than most by exiting the cold water soon thereafter).

On closer inspection, the boats turned out to be full of children, suitably bundled up for the weather (it was raining) and accompanied by a presumably knowledgeable adult at the prow of each boat.

Continuing past the shivering masses, we came upon one of the first plants to bloom here:

a wonderful native formerly known as Squaw Currant, but of course now more respectfully renamed Wax Currant.  Sweet pink bells cover the bushes.

Sadly, although common everywhere here, the berries are mealy and tasteless, though deer eat them. 

Continuing up the canyon, we eventually reached the turnaround point, the Bridge of Khazad-dûm

and a good thing, too, because I was getting hungry and starting to bonk.

We did a group selfie by the bridge.

 If you're wondering about the odd expression on my face, it was just because I was thinking about nibbling on some nearby earlobes.   Why not, he didn't need them.

Fast forward to the final stretches of the trail, where it leaves the canyon and comes back out into open woodland.   Someone had thoughtfully decorated a trailside tree

 with a few words along with the easter eggs

Seriously, this is a great trail.  I don't know who the trail fairies are, but I appreciate their work.

Other local residents add their own special mark:

 By this time I was so famished I even considered trying a bit of tree bark.   But we made it back for a proper human lunch and left the beavers to their lignin feast.

Just another river walk.

Fall Color Along the Deschutes

A new pair of trail shoes ....

two weeks of glorious Indian Summer weather ...

a river ...

a boon companion ...

and it's time for our annual fall color walks along the Deschutes.

We feel so fortunate to have this magnificent river flowing right through our town.  More often than not, our Thursday Date Day Hikes take place on or near the river.  Although the arid West is not known for fall color the way New England is, and for good reason, we appreciate our aspens and larches all the more for their glorious light.   They pop out against the backdrop of dark evergreens and lava rock.

The river is quite low for this time of year, and the water, flowing more slowly, shows the deep green blue more commonly seen in the glacial meltwater lakes higher up in the mountains.

The past couple of weeks we have walked along the upper sections of the river trail, above Benham Falls, where the old railroad bed it follows are clearly evident.

The original railroad bed was converted to a haul road for huge log trucks in the 1950's and is now a wide, beautifully graded trail along long sections.  It reminds me of the carriage roads outside Bar Harbor, Maine.

The rotting pilings of the old haul road bridge sit next to the new one.

Just upstream from the bridge is the old log jam, purposely created to slow the river and prevent loose logs from running into the bridge pilings.

Most of this area was clear cut in the early 1900's and the trees you see are new growth since then.   There are still mature giant Ponderosa pines in the picnic area just beyond the bridge.

Just beyond the bridge, the trail bears south, after crossing the current railroad line,

and begins its run alongside the vast lava fields created by Lava Butte, visible in the distance here:

While playing with my telephoto....

I saw a flash of movement among out of the corner of my eye.   I glanced over, expecting to see a ground squirrel, but was surprised to see this little guy peering at me from a nice secure rock pile:

He stepped out to get a better view of me...

then posed for a profile shot...

Although he was as cute as could be

I suspected he was a rather fierce creature up close and personal.   Thinking he wasn't quite the right color for a pine marten or weasel, I did a bit of research once I got home.   Although rare in our area, I believe this little fellow was an ermine, or stoat.   A special wildlife bonus for the hike.

Then we headed back to our car, parked just above Benham Falls.   Here's the final view downstream