WATER MAIN!

June 30 - July4

The water main to our house busted. I had to jack-hammer up a big section of my driveway, dig a ditch from water source to house, and re-plumb it all. Steve is in the middle of harvest (10+ hour work days) so Dad came up to help with all the hard-clay digg'en and plumb'en -- he kicked ass! as usual.
















Success!! water was turned back on at 3pm on Saturday (6/4).

After catching up with family and work, I'll be burying the line and doing some landscaping.

Friends - wedding & birthday celebrations

June 25-29

Honored to perform the wedding ceremony of dear friends Matt & Sandra D. at the Edgefield Brewery outside of Portland.

Then off I went up the Columbia River Gorge to find my dear girlfriend Elissa -- it was her birthday.

Food, fantastic company, and beautiful landscapes were the goals. Accomplished!

Lost Lake & Lost Lake Butte near Mnt Hood, OR. (June 27)










Sarah, Elissa & Pollyanna -- burly!! tee hee...



Sarah, Pollyanna, Elissa, Jon - Lost Lake Butte










June 28 - Trout Lake, Washington - at base of Mnt Adams.... bike riding, swimming, wild berry eating, walking, etc.








White Salmon River












Mnt Adams over Trout(less) Lake(less)....

June 29 -- yoga with E & J at Jon's house.

MFDJ Survey

June 23, 09
Not bad to be doing survey work in the beautiful mid/upper Middle Fork John Day River valley. Greenhorn mountains in the distance.


Pat McDowell on the Total Station

Solstice 09!!

Summer Solstice -- (6/20) the longest day of the year for us here in the Northern Hemisphere -- followed by the shortest night. And then, summer officially begins!

It is a bitter sweetness, this my favorite day of the year. In addition to being the longest day of the year, it also marks that each day after will be incrementally shorter --- until winter solstice.

Here in these high Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon, summer solstice was spectacular.



On my morning run along Granite Boulder Creek, the sound of Sand Hill Cranes flying over head echoed into the day's first dawn -- opening my soul.


We worked a long day on the Middle Fork John Day River.....except for setting survey points, much of the day was in the water.
Fast, large, shape-changing white clouds moved overhead in a deep-blue sky.

After dinner back at camp we drove up towards Indian Rock. At about 6,500 ft we stopped at an overlook for a "bird's eye" view of the sunset.

Polly, Didi & Pat.........Indian Rock Lookout Mountain

We stopped where a severely forest fire had taken the forest in 1996. Seedlings and a lush diverse ground-cover indicated a steady recovery. A bed of low flowers and edibles. We also ate chocolate.














I took in the year. A time of growth and discovery for me. Ever so grateful that I live in such a magnificent landscape. I filled my soul with the cold air I breathed in, the season's new growth at my feet, and a view so vast that distance seemed irrelevant.

Thunderstorms -

Oh yeh .... driving rain, lightening, thunder .......... pretty interesting outside working conditions.

Pat and Didi -- waiting out a hard rain under some big pines along the river.

It was a good day. Just enough sunny patches to keep us warm (enough) and dry (enough) between the rains. Waves of crazy low, dark, fast-moving clouds full of precipitation -- then 20 minutes later was splashes of sunshine, humidity and puffy clouds.
Expecting waves of thunderstorms like this through the night and tomorrow.

Happy for the waders today -- they are good rain gear and I had lots of river crossings. We set monuments (2ft reebar with caps) for river cross-sections that we will be surveying later. Also GPS'ed in a couple of our survey control points.

MFJD Butterflies -- Neil B?

Yesterday (6/18) was a sunny beautiful day here in the Middle Fork John Day River Valley.

Butterflies everywhere ......

These are photos for my friend Neil B ........ what type of butterflies are these?



There were heaps of this guy -- everywhere!

Back out on a RIVER!!

Middle Fork John Day River for summer field work.

Feeling Good to be working, living, eating, sleeping, being outside next to this river -- in this beautiful hidden valley of Northeastern Oregon. Yes, I get paid to be out here in these high mountains..... can't believe it!




River Rat attire -- vest, hip-waders, felt bottom boots -- fashion extraordinaire (aka -- dork-wear)!
June Field Crew: Pat, Didi and Pollyanna