Christmas Eve

A Snowy Quiet Christmas Eve

Snow For Winter Solstice

Two months after our first snow

we got new snow last night  

 

Thanksgiving Day

A warm and wet Thanksgiving

with the river high and roaring

Bridge Out

The bridge over the South Fork of the Breitenbush River

got moved to one bank during high waters

that followed heavy rains earlier this month

Falling Leaves

Cottonwood leaves falling in the wind

on a beautiful blue sky Fall day

An Early Snow

Yesterday we got out
first snow of the winter

Fall Is Here Again

This morning was the first day of ice on the bridge

Still Here, Still Green, Still Magical

After 3 weeks of being away and fires getting ever closer, rain finally came. It was great to come back to see everything looking so green and wet. We reopen on 9/25.
 

A Deserted Breitenbush

Yesterday most of the staff evacuated Breitenbush

after we decided to close for a couple of weeks

due to smokey air from nearby fires

The Big Eclipse

Our valley was covered in fire
smoke so I went to the ridge line
above it to see view the eclipse

Here's the video of the eclipse.

It didn't get as dark as I hoped.

Woodpecker

A woodpecker near my cabin

 

Forest Fire

There is a big forest fire in the
Mt. Jefferson wilderness area.

The smoke from it has been blowing our way.

no view of Devils Ridge now
 

local fire fighting agencies came here today

and gave a presentation about the fire

Devil's Peak hike

I hiked up Devils Peak today

 

 

the cliffs from the Cliff Trail 

the view from Devils Lookout

 Mt. Jefferson from Devils Peak

there is fire smoke at the base

Flowers In Bloom

The flowers in front of the lodge

are in full bloom now

 

New Reservoir

Our 100 year old water reservoir

has now been replaced by 

our new much larger one

Snow Melt

I've only seen the river high when we've had lots of rain.

Now it's high, I guess, because these very warm days

are causing a lot of snow to melt.

Leafing Out

These trees along the river show

how much change happens in 9 days 
 

Woodpecker

This morning a colorful woodpecker

was hammering away on my cabin roof

Little Wetlands

Because of all the rain lately the small wetlands

between the lodge and the magic pool is very flooded

Geese

A pair of geese have been enjoying

the green grass and sun here today

Migrating Birds

A flock of migrating birds appeared today in the trees

making a racket. I could hear them more

than the camera over the sound of the river. 
 

More Snow

Yesterday morning more new snow was falling. It's been an usual winter with many snowfalls and for the fact that snow has covered the ground for more than two months. It must make it harder for the deer to find food. The high temperature has only been a little above freezing or below in all that time.

Landslide

Two large rocks the size of my car

broke loose on the road to Detroit

probably because of the freezing weather

Heavy Branches

This week we got our normal heavy wet snow

and then below freezing temperatures,

which put a lot of weight on tree branches.

Then we had some wind which caused a

number of branches and trees to break off.

Snow Drifts

Usually we have wet snow at Breitenbush.
Earlier this week it was unusually windy and
the snow was so dry and cold it created snow drifts
for the first time I recall here.

Rare Cold Snap

Instead of melting between snowfalls,

which is usual, the snow has been piling up. 

It's the first time I've seen ice forming in the river.
It was 0º this morning!