Deschutes Canyon ~ posted by Melissa

I waited to post photos from our vacation for a few days so I wouldn't bury Kelli's cute hat post right away.  Jas and I did a camping test run with the dog last week and we ended up in Maupin, Oregon.  The scenery was amazing, the early autumn weather was better than we could have hoped for with a tent (80 degrees every day and the nights were chilly but mild enough that we didn't mind the burn ban and no campfires), and Dozer, after figuring out that we weren't going to leave him in the middle of nowhere, settled right in and was fun to have around.

hazy wildfire sunrise at Snoqualmie Summit

We headed out before dawn and got a text message when we reached Snoqualmie Summit that Jas' coworker and his wife had their baby about 8 hours earlier and wouldn't you know it, we were going to be passing through Ellensburg about an hour later, so we offered to bring the new pappa a latte and stopped at the hospital and were priveleged to meet 10 hour old Neoma Jane on her birthday.  Remember all these baby things I made a few months ago?  I've been promised photos of Neoma in her knitted things as soon as they fit her.  She is adorable!!



We dropped off the main drag after leaving the hospital and took the Canyon Road along the Yakima River to scope out good spots for future trips.  We stopped at Umtanum Recreation Site to give Dozer a break from being in the truck:

Umtanum Suspension Bridge



I did not like being on a suspension bridge...over a river...which I could see through the slats moving under my feet...blech

Yakima River, Washington State

and then once again at the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge where I went exploring for a bit and was tracked overhead by this Northern Harrier:

We crossed the Columbia River, headed south and ended up in Maupin, Oregon in time to get our campsite picked out and all our gear set up before dinner.  There were so many places to choose from this late in the season that we felt like we had the whole canyon to ourselves!

our own waterfront property on the Deschutes River



We stayed 4 days and quickly settled into a nice routine ~ Jas getting up first every morning and bringing me French Press coffee in bed (well, sleeping bag!), hours spent by Jas fly fishing, lots of knitting and relaxing by me and watching him fish (I could do that for days and days and days), watching for and waving at the whitewater rafters as they went by,

lots of walks and scratches and cuddles in the tent for Dozer, who was a patient pooch while he waited for his boy, who was never farther than just around the corner:

ever faithful Dozer

We saw lots of wildlife ~ wild rabbits, strange birds,



crickets and grasshoppers, bats and the dreaded snakes I was warned about (no pictures of those ~ I froze when I saw them and didn't think to grab the camera) and signs that those snakes had been where I was:

do you think this was once home to a rattler?

I was in charge of dinner our last night at camp, which I thought was delicious (bbq'd flatiron steak, steamed broccoli and grilled white cheddar peppercorn cheese bread) but aftwards Jason teased me that he doesn't usually eat vegetables when he camps with the guys (stinker!).  We didn't head for home on our last day until late afternoon, and while we were breaking down camp, some whitewater kayakers put in the river at our site so we got to watch them as they goofed around before heading downriver for the rapids:

 

All in all, the trip was a success and we've been talking about where we might go next.  I can't imagine ending up in a more beautiful place than Maupin is.

Mount Hood, Oregon