Days 13 and 14 - Along the Oregon Trail

It was June 12th, when we were at the start of the Oregon Trail in Independence, Missouri. After our detour through Utah and Arizona, we finally got back on the trail in Idaho after departing Salt Lake City early on June 23. We prepared for the trail ride by stopping at C. J.'s Restaurant in Elwood, Utah, for a great country breakfast, then headed north to Idaho. We traveled along I-84, which basically follows the trail route west to the Oregon border. Of course, we traveled at the 75 mph speed limit, so moved much faster than the 10 miles or so a day of the early pioneers. We also saw something the pioneers did not: lots of Idaho famous potato plants.

Idaho Famous Potatoes

The pioneers crossed the Snake River around Glenn's Ferry, Idaho. We actually crossed it several times, stopping to check out the river canyon at Twin Falls. In the photo, you may be able to see the falls in the background.

Snake River Canyon

We had been undecided about which route to take when we reached Oregon: follow I-84 along the Columbia River valley or cut directly west through the middle of the state. Because the Idaho leg took less time than expected and with birding opportunities in mind, we pushed directly west through the high desert of eastern Oregon. The road actually was quite scenic following the Malheur river around the hills and through the sagebrush. We stopped for the evening in the small town of Burns, but some desert rain deterred us from making a 30-mile detour to Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

The next day, the morning ride took us past three Golden Eagles and on to the mountain resort town of Sisters. Fellow Forsyth Auduboner Shelley Rutkin had recommended Sisters as an excellent birding area, so Phil had brought along a map of local bird hotspots. The sisters actually are three mountains in the area.

Two of the Three Sisters

The first location we checked was in the Deshutes National Forest, and the Oregon Birding Trail "promised" Northern Goshawk and White-headed Woodpecker. When a hawk flew in front of the car on a narrow dirt road, Phil was quite excited, but the bird turned out to be merely the Goshawk's smaller cousin, a Cooper's Hawk. And no woodpecker at this spot either, although he did find Green-tailed Towhee, Cassin's Vireo, Western Wood-Pewee and Black-capped Chickadee. Never give up if your a birder, though. As we drove into the second stop, a woodpecker flew to a tree just in front of the car. Sure enough it was a White-headed Woodpecker, which Phil could add to his life list.

White-headed Woodpecker

Phil also added some other trip birds at this site, including a male Calliope Hummingbird - smaller than an eastern Ruby-throated - and a Steller's Jay. There also were numerous California Quail walking on and across the road seemingly chasing their own head ornaments. One pair had at least 8 chicks that must have been out of the nest only a day or two. Can you find the one in the second photo?

California Quail

Where's the Quail Chick?

From Sisters, we literally drove downhill for 125 miles, stopping only briefly to check out the Detroit Lake Dam and Reservoir. An Osprey was patrolling the waters, but one of the local fisherman had beaten him to about a dozen Rainbow Trout. We thought about going home with him.

Detroit Lake

An hour later, we were in the state capital of Salem, where we will meet up with our daughter and son-in-law at the very nice Grand Hotel for a few days before heading to their home in Seattle.