Walk around the lake

It has been a dream of mine every since we bought this property in 1985 to have a walking path around the lake. It is such a beautiful setting and offers many different views and some dramatic changes in plants - from forest to river savana to jungle grass to lake bank........ etc. Well I did try over the year with shear muscle behind a chain saw, weed whip and on an ATV but not much luck. If it finally took a tractor and even an excavator to clear the twisted piles of fallen trees lashed together with massive blackberry vines.

The new trail is like a rustic park but very smooth and clear of brush and debris. It does take some maintenance every year but is well worth the effort to keep it open. We live in a north western coastal rain forest. We get about 60 inches of rain a year. So I have to literally fight back the jungle. Fortunately, it is only a few times a year in the early spring when I have to mow and weedwhip. I look forward to the dry season and grass dying. hahaha

With tractor I can rake and maintain a nice 5 foot wide walking trail. It is like a peaceful meditation. The trail is smooth so your eyes can take in the beauty of the forest, the lake, the wild life and nature. I have created a labyrinth of trails with foot bridges around the property.

I have built 3 different foot bridges spanning water flow areas on the lake trail. Thank heaven for pressure treated wood and screws and bolts. They last for years and years.

The wildlife really love the new trails. They can walk freely and easily around the lake. Last winter I smelled the strong unrine smell of a cougar. Ten or 15 feet farther Janai spotted the foreleg of a deer. In the fall, we occassionaly see foot prints of bear and elk. Many wild things use the lake. It is a major migratory stop in the spring and fall. We have a nice batch of Northern Pond turtle along with other amazing creatures - fox, mink, nutria, bald eagle, heron, hawks. vultures, dragonflies, etc. The lake does have fish - non-natives mainly. I do not fish because they are ravaged by the wild life. This time of the year the lake is really low. In the winter it raises up about 3 to 4 feet and covers about 7 acres.

So after 23 years, it has finally come together.

I will just stream the pics. They are in order and I took an occasional side view of the lake from the trail. Elk Creek is on one side of the lake and runs like a river in the winter.

Enjoy...........................






this is a new land bridge so I can get down when the ground dries up to harvest firewood and keep the trails clear.


























I would guess that it is around 3/4 of a mile around the lake. We are so lucky that it sets on our property alone so we do not go down and listen to LOUD obnoxious music blaring or find beer or soda cans floating in the water. It is a very protected place for the wildlife. They just have to watch out for each other - hahahaaaaaaaaa.

Snow Funnnnnnnnnn

Sadly the climate here in Oregon has been getting warmer and warmer. Finally today we were blessed with a wonderful bit of snow. It was wet and clung heavy to each little branch. My bamboo was bent almost to the ground. I had to shake it off so that it would not break if more snow fell. We worked furiously and took off for a nice time on the lake.

We used to get snow regularly in the winter. The old timers say they trudged knee deep in the snow to feed the livestock in the vallery - we have never seen that. The area is so warm now that some insects are killing off some of our trees - bark beetles in the white fir trees.

Our lake used to freeze over with a nice little crust of ice. We would load the kids up and play ice breaker crunching in the aliminum canoe around the lake. Slices of ice thrown frisbee style across the ice would tinkle like the chiming of fine cut glass.

Oh well we are witnesses to an amazing era on the planet.

Enjoy the pics and the break from the routine of your day.