Pine Creek Comes Back to Life

It's all about the beaver

I have been attending the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) annual meeting every year since 2005.  This event, spent at OMSI's Hancock Field Station near Clarno, is a highlight of every year.  I enjoy catching up with friends over a good beer (or two) and hanging out by the fire listening to music while the stars come out.  I also enjoy the Saturday work party, a fixture of the annual meeting from the beginning.  In the early years we concentrated on removing old, obsolete barbed wire fencing while in the past several years our attention has shifted to riparian restoration along Pine Creek.  I still miss the fence removal projects, but seeing Pine Creek resplendent in lush riparian vegetation and festooned with an astonishing number of beaver dam/ponds, I really came to appreciate the fruits of our labors.  The creek is looking great.  There is a long way to go, of course.  It will take a multi-generational process to erase the revenges of decades of questionable land management practices and over grazing, but this little intermountain west creek valley seems to have turned a corner and is now meandering in the right direction.

We planted those willows!

Can't let the beavers get everything

Riparian vegetation coming back

Whychus Preserve

Whychus Canyon

Maria and I had a weekend in town so we headed to Whychus Preserve, a Deschutes Land Trust holding about half an hour from home.  There are seven miles of trails in the preserve and, on this chilly Sunday, there were only a few people on them.  It was great to spend some time creekside.  It was even better to not have to share it with a bunch of mountain bikers and other hikers.  Kudos to the Deschutes Land Trust for protecting so much of this amazing little creek canyon in or backyards!

Whychus Creek

Prineville Reservoir

View of Prineville Reservoir from near State Park Campground

It is not often that I get a chance for a first visit to a state park in Oregon.  The fact that this particular park was barely an hour from home made it that much more unusual.  I had never visited Prineville Reservoir State Park.  This was largely because of fear of crowds and the roar of over-powered watercraft. An early spring weekend was the perfect time to go.  The campground, while plenty busy, was not full and the lake was surprisingly tranquil.  We enjoyed kayaking, hiking, and mountain biking on this quick getaway.  I am very glad I finally made it here.  I wonder what other over-looked spots are out there for me.

Hauled out along shore