Northern Ramblings

Here's a sight to gladden the hearts of water managers and hydrologists throughout California. Lake Shasta...full! To the brim! Not sure when the last time was that this happened, but it has been a rare occurrence the past several years. This pic was taken Sunday May 24...there has been more rain...and snow...in the region since then.

I stayed at the Wolf Creek Inn in southern Oregon last weekend. It has been a hostelry almost continuously since 1883. Bygone luminaries such as president Benjamin Harrison and Clark Gable have stayed here. It continues to be a comfy place to crash, with a nice restaurant, in a quiet area 76 miles north of the CA border off I-5. Jack London also stayed here. In fact, he stayed in this very room for several weeks in 1911 with his wife Charmian while writing a short story and taking excursions in the surrounding countryside. Notice the water pitcher, portable washbasin, and chamber pot at the foot of the bed...standard accoutrements in a good hotel room in those days.

Here's a nice view of the Wolf Creek Inn. My room was in an annex just out of the picture to the left, built in 1925. There was a 1919 edition of London's novel "The Mutiny of the Elsinore" on the table next to the bed, and I read about 180 pages of it while I was there. I need to find the book to read the other 60 percent of it!

I visited several covered bridges while in Oregon, as usual. This one was near Myrtle Point.

This was our resident osprey at the rental house in Gold Beach...she hung out on a tree branch right near our driveway. It was nice to sit in the hot tub overlooking the Rogue river and watch the ospreys bring fish back in their talons for their young'uns. The house was in a great locale for birdwatching...we saw all sizes from hummingbirds to bald eagles!