May 4 Oregon High Desert

We begin today with a trip to the High Desert Museum, about 7 miles south of Bend, Oregon.  We arrive before it opens and have a pancake breakfast in the parking lot, with oranges, coffee and hot chocolate.  The temperature was 31 when we awoke, but has warmed to near 50 by 9:00.

The High Desert Museum is a combination museum and zoo.  The museum part is divided into 2, one featuring local history including fur traders, Hudson's Bay years, miners, and the emigrants of the Oregon, California and Applegate Trails who became ranchers, buckaroos (horsemen of hispanic decent) and farmers. Nice walk-through dioramas and displays.

The other part of the museum is about the First People, the Northern Paiute and other tribes who inhabited this area for thousands of years.  It traces the various Indian wars and treaties and establishment of reservations, as well as showing clothing, tipis and other items of Indian culture. This one is made from tules, a reed found in marshes, and lodgepole pine.

There were also a few smaller galleries - one on Growing up Western, one of local Breweries.

 There were a few animals inside, a raccoon, bobcat, various snakes, turtles, lizards, etc.  Here is a desert tortoise and a chuckwalla.

We joined a nature walk through the grounds and learned about various trees, bushes, flowers and animals and how they adapt to high desert life.  Here is Beth sniffing a Ponderosa Pine (which smells kind of like vanilla.)

 The Ponderosa Pine has very thick bark and sheds its lower limbs as it grows - both to protect itself during fires.  Not having lower limbs (a fire ladder) prevents flames from climbing from the ground.  We saw quite a few trees that had survived fire.  The Lodgepole pine has two kinds of pinecone.  One sheds with seeds every two years, the other type are very resinous and they fall to the ground and only open after a fire, which then deposits seeds. Many of the plants and trees have interesting survival skills!

We watched some birds of prey, saw some sleeping otters, and listened to a talk about porcupines. The "bristles" you see here are actually fur.  The quills are shorter and nearer the body. The babies are born with the full 30,000 quills (which are soft for the first hour or so to protect Mom!).

From here we went east to the town of Prineville.  Greg called to find the Visitor's Center, where we talked with two very helpful locals.  The area is noted for rock hunting and we were given a map and it was suggested we could talk with a local, Bill Quant, at his rock shop.

Bill was great.  His shop, surrounded by piles of rocks was started by his Dad.  After walking through the shop and learning about different specimens, he gave us directions to a spot where we could fine jasper. He obviously enjoys what he does and explained things like how to dig a hole and other tidbits of wisdom..His directions ended with with "turn just before the cattle guard and then look for a pine tree on the right with a painted white arrow.  Park there and walk up the mountain till you are under the power lines."  Long story short, we found it with only one wrong turn!

 It was about 28 miles out of town in the Ochoco National Forest on a mostly good (?) gravel road.

Bill had told us we could camp there too, so we set up camp.  Greg exercised and then joined me looking through rocks.  We found some interesting pieces, one of which had fern fossils on it! We will tumble some when we get home.

 Chilly night as we went up a bit in elevation to get here.  I looked out our rear window in the wee hours of the night and there was a full moon shining through the tall pines.  Gorgeous!