Tumalo Creek Trail

I have been thinking about hiking from Tumalo Falls to Shevlin Park, or vice-versa, for some time. Currently, access to the section of the Deschutes River Trail that I normally walk is closed for fuels mitigation work. So, I decided to go to Shevlin Park and take a short jaunt up the creek towards the falls. I would turn around after two hours or five miles, whichever came first because I did not want to dedicate an entire day to walking.

The first part of the walk went quickly, 2.5 miles in just over 40 minutes. I left the park on the Mrazek Trail, which is primarily a mountain biking trail. Those trails I do not care to hike on because I have to be constantly alert for bikers (and vice-versa). Quickly I was off of that trail at the intersection of NF-4606, the old Brooks-Scanlon logging road, and then onto the Tumalo Creek Trail once again. Immediately it started climbing to just below the cap rock of the creek canyon.

Here my pace really slowed picking through in places what amounts to a rock scramble at the foot of the cliffs adorned with fixed climbing gear. As I walked, scores of Violet-green Swallows swooped after bugs and took them to feed their broods in crevices in the rocks. Several Canyon Wrens added their distinctive calls to their mix, standing out above the rush of the whitewater 100 or more feet below. I saw several but they would not hold still long enough to focus the camera.

I heard at one point a couple of Ravens bitching at something and hoping to find them harassing a raptor (or like two weeks ago, a bobcat), I went to investigate and saw behavior I had never witnessed before. They were trying to drive off a Turkey Vulture that was soaring on the thermals above the canyon. I always thought that there was an unspoken truce between those two species, but live and learn.

This trail is clearly the road less traveled and I met just one other person who passed me on the return as I stopped to take photographs. I will continue to explore along Tumalo Creek this summer, especially before the high country starts opening in July.

This Cobalt Color is My Favorite Shade of Flax
Lewis Flax, Linum lewisii

Cheerful Steppe Agoseris, Agoseris parviflora

As Deep Purple Rocky Mountain Iris as I Have Seen, Iris missouriensis

I Rarely See Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus
in Central Oregon Except Along Tumalo Creek

Heartleaf Arnica, Arnica cordifolia
Unusually, the Entire Patch Had 6-Petal Blossoms

Carey's Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza careyana
Silhouetted Against Rock, Trees, and Sky

Sprouting Top of a Tiny Grand Fir, Abies grandis

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, Leaf Rising Like a Cobra

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel at Full Attention
Bitching at Something I Could Not See

Handsome Plumed False Solomon's Seal
Maianthemum racemosum  

"Mountain Driftwood," Bleached Greenleaf Manzanita
Arctostaphylos patula 

Mountain Cottontail Thinking if It Holds Still, I Cannot See It

Interplay of Carey's Balsamroot and Dead Greenleaf Manzanita

Masses of Penstemons All Along Trail
Bush Penstemon, Penstemon fruticosus

Huge Crop of Manzanita ("Little Apple") Fruit This Season

Beetle on a Wooly Groundsel, Packera cana

One of Dozens of Western Fence Lizards

Masses of Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium
All Along the Exposed and Very Dry South-Facing Hills

Nature's Own Sculpture

There's a Trail in Here Somewhere

Massed Penstemons Above a Rare Creek View Below

Female Western Tanager Gathering Nest Material

In a Land of Dark Basalt, Beautiful Juxtaposition of Unusually
Colored Rock and Roundleaf Alumroot, Heuchera cylindrica
Many of These Coral Bell Relatives Growing on Vertical Surfaces

More Douglas Firs, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Here Than Expected

Fuzzy Bloom of Booth's Willow, Salix boothii

Memorial Day 2025: Glen Manor Vineyards

Many months ago, when we learned that Ellie was getting married on Memorial Day weekend, we let Jeff and Kelly know that we were going to be in the area. Although we text now and again, we had not seen them in the flesh in coming up on 8 years.

Gorgeous Memorial Day at Glen Manor Tasting Room

Our plan was always to return to Northern Virginia after the wedding in spite of the vast amounts of Memorial Day traffic. In our last minute preparations, Kelly let us know that the tasting room would be open (it's generally closed on Mondays) for a members-only event and that we would get together after the tasting room closed.

From Richmond, we drove to the winery arriving in early afternoon after having taken back roads from Richmond to avoid all the traffic on I-95 and I-66. Although it was a gloomy day for most of the drive, as we neared Front Royal, the clouds fled the scene and it became a gloriously beautiful day. The clear skies would prove to be fleeting, but for one afternoon, the weather was perfect.

Because we could not check in until 3:00 and could not get in touch with the B&B owner to see if it were possible to check in early, we decided to go by the winery and just hang out until 3:00. After that, we would get situated in our room and then return for the after party around 5:30.

Enthusiastic Greeting from Kelly

Recovering From a Long Wedding Weekend

One of the things that we always seem to end up doing after hours is blind tasting and this visit was no exception. Once we arrived, Jeff, newly showered after a hard day in the vineyard, pulled out a bagged white that proved to be a Fiano, a wine that stumped everyone. We were tasting it as the last few customers left the tasting room.

One of the last customers to leave was a mutual friend, Jason Bise, who was one of my most valued wine reps in the restaurant business. We caught up for a few minutes and I found out that he is now manager of the Purcellville Knead Wine (pizza and wine) store, an offshoot of the original store in Middleburg. He brought a wine for Jeff to taste and left it for us, bagged, on the counter.

Jeff's palate has always been better than mine and he nailed the light-bodied, high acid, lower tannin, lightly extracted red as Nerello Mascalese, a grape I have tasted only a few times in four decades. It proved to be an Etna Rosso (90% Nerello Mascalese, 10% Nerello Cappuccio). I could only say that it was an Old World wine and not Nebbiolo and not Pinot Noir. Nerello reminds me of Pinot Noir in many respects but also of Frappato, lightly colored and fruity, with good acid. The fruits are on the lighter spectrum: cherry, cranberry, and strawberry.

A little later, Jeff returned with a bagged red with tons of cherry fruit that I recognized as Nebbiolo, but not a classic Langhe. Unbagging showed it to be a Valtellina Superiore from Lombardia. Valtellina is the northernmost winegrowing region in Italy and there Nebbiolo does not reach its potential as it does further south in the Piemonte.

Drinking other expressions of Nebbiolo has made me realize how special the wines from Piemonte are. And drinking lots of Piemonte Nebbiolo, my favorite wine over the past five years, has made me realize how much I prefer the more delicate Barbaresco and Langhe Nebbiolo to the more robust and powerful Barolo.

Kelly's Spread

She Also Made Chocolate-Pistachio Bars

Kelly, bless her, brought out a vast tray of noshes that we were not expecting; she always goes overboard. We all migrated outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Once customers left, we got to catch up with our friend Keri, who now lives with her husband in the Silicon Valley, and who had come in for the long weekend. Keri and her father were customers at my restaurant and she also worked the tasting room at Glen Manor.

As we sat around outside shooting the breeze until 8:30, the rabbits came out to eat on the lawn and the sun and clouds made great shadows on the vineyards and Shenandoah National Park behind the vineyards. Towards sunset, the sun shone like a spotlight on the vineyards, a magical sight. It was getting dark as we left, a full hour earlier than in Oregon, something that should not have surprised me, but did.

 

Song Sparrow Serenaded Constantly

Keri and Denise

Telling Another Dumb Joke!

Once Again in One of My Happy Places

Ellie's Wedding: Sunday Brunch

Friday night was a meet and greet for the two immediate families who would be the only invitees to the ceremony on Saturday. Sunday, Jolshua and Ellie planned a brunch to which they would invite more of their friends and other family members.

Beautiful Wedding Cake

Because we took Ellie and Jolshua to get the catering at a barbeque restaurant, we arrived at Marianne's a lot earlier than the other guests who would trickle in and come and go throughout the afternoon.

Barbeque Spread

Pulled Pork, Cole Slaw, Mac and Cheese, Hush Puppies

In the mid-afternoon, the newlyweds cut their beautiful wedding cake. They also had beautiful cupcakes to share with guests. Unfortunately, I did not get to taste the cake; too busy shooting pictures and socializing I guess.

In the late afternoon as most of the guests had gone, Ann and I also said our goodbyes. We met a couple at our B&B who were getting married at a local wine bar and we wanted to drop by and wish them well. Lillie's friend Sarah and her date Phil agreed to join us. I thought that Stephanie and Lillie were coming too, but they jetted for their home in North Carolina, ostensibly to get ahead of traffic, but I imagine they were exhausted too. And Lillie had to be in the Cardiac ICU on Tuesday morning. I wasn't sure if Jolshua and Ellie were coming (they did not) but I knew that we would see them again on Monday morning before they returned to Philly. Ellie was also due in the ICU on Tuesday morning. Busy lives these kids lead.