Table Rock, Boise, ID

During our recent trip to Boise to visit our friends Tim and Susan, documented in the next post, Tim and I walked from his house, situated in the southeast end of Boise, to the top of Table Rock, a distance of only two miles in each direction with a climb of 900 feet. After sitting in the car most of the previous day driving from Oregon to Idaho, I was pretty desperate to get out and get some exercise.

Just behind Tim and Susan's house in southeast Boise stands Table Rock, a mesa that stands 900 feet above the Boise River just below. Table Rock is a sandstone formation that was a sacred place to the Northern Shoshone who occupied this part of the world before we Americans displaced them.

Although the climates and lack of lush vegetation in Bend and Boise are similar, the terrain around Table Rock felt very unfamiliar to me. Coming from an area where all the rocks are volcanic, from granite to obsidian to cinders, the sedimentary sandstone in Boise is a marked change. And although from flying over at 10,000 feet, the arid scrub on the ground looks familiar, at three miles an hour at ground level, the flora is really different. Low, sturdy, drought tolerant Netleaf Hackberries replace our Western Junipers and Big Sagebrush replaces our Antelope Bitterbrush. While yellow is the most common bloom right now in both places, we surely don't have sunflowers in Bend nor do we have any appreciable amount of Yellow Rabbitbrush.

Atop the Table Rock prominence now stands a large illuminated cross which has been the subject of much controversy. The land around Table Rock is public property and the presence of a cross is sketchy at best for separation of church and state. In a bit of seemingly underhanded wheeling and dealing, a so-called "auction" in which the state rejected all bids except that of the Jaycees, a tiny parcel of land surrounding the cross was transferred to the Jaycees for $100, thus converting the land to private property. I'm pretty agnostic on the whole religious aspect, but I believe strongly in the Leave No Trace ethos and to me that means leaving our mountains alone and not defacing them. I'm looking at you, Mount Rushmore.

Cross or no, Tim and I had a good walk to the top and back on a wonderful delightfully overcast morning. To make that climb in the blazing sun would have been uncomfortable. I shot a lot of frames going up. Following are some of them in the order in which I shot them.

Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus, and Boise Downtown Skyline

Lewis' Flax, Linum lewisii

Dingy Cutworm Moth on Yellow Rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

Curlycup Gumweed, Grindelia squarrosa

Fruit of Netleaf Hackberry, Celtis reticulata

Sandstone Outcropping with Hackberry Trees

Western Goldentop, Euthamia occidentalis

So Many of Ann's Favorite, Sunflowers

It's Not Four and Twenty Blackbirds,
But Would You Settle for Ten Black-Billed Magpies in That Tree?

Boise. Albertson's Stadium at BSU, top left; Downtown, top right;
1879 Old Idaho Penitentiary Complex, foreground

Our Destination: Controversial Cross Atop Table Rock

Invasive and Naturalized Moth Mullein, Verbascum blattaria

Autumn Willowherb, Epilobium brachycarpum

Desert Still Life, Sunflowers and Big Sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata

Sandstone Atop Table Rock

Treeless Boise Foothills Northeast of Table Rock

Scourge of the West: Highly Invasive Tumbleweed aka
Prickly Russian Thistle, Kali Tragus

Alfalfa, Medicago sativa

Crested Wheat Grass, Agropyron cristatum

Finally, the Sun Comes Over Table Rock

Rush Skeletonweed, Chondrilla juncea

Atop a Rock, a Say's Phoebe with Mouthful of Bug
A New Species for Me

For Annie, a Perfect Sunflower

An Unusually Silent Rock Wren

Compare the Hips on the Ubiquitous California Wild Rose, Rosa californica

...to the Hips on the Woods' Rose, Rosa woodsii

An Escaped Pyracantha Loaded with Berries

Hoary Tansyaster, Dieteria canascens

Black Bean Tostadas with Poached Eggs

Huevos Rancheros, rancher-style eggs, makes a wonderful breakfast and, in my book, an even better dinner. It's a dish that Americans love and have adopted and modified (or corrupted, depending on your punto de vista) and taken (or stolen) as their own. The original dish was probably lightly fried tortillas topped with eggs and pico de gallo (salsa fresca), but has evolved beyond that, especially in the States where it almost always includes beans and cheese. Following is another loose variation on the theme, black bean tostadas with poached eggs, from a dinner last week.

Black Bean Tostadas with Poached Eggs

While I love to fry tortillas in oil for the rancheros, it's better on my waistline if I bake them between two baking sheets so they become tostadas. About 25 minutes in a moderate oven with a couple of turns will do it. Baking them between two sheet trays keeps them relatively flat.

Tortillas Baked Between Two Sheet Trays

Left over in the fridge, I had a little salsa colorada (dried red chiles, chile soaking liquid, garlic, Mexican oregano, and salt, all blended and fried in oil, then thickened with a little masa harina). So I put a bit of that on top of the tostadas before spooning on frijoles refritos (see below). The salsa helps start softening the tostadas so they become more like the lightly fried traditional tortillas.

Salsa Colorada

While the tostadas were in the oven, I made some quick refried black beans, cheating by starting with two cans of precooked black beans. I start by cooking very finely minced onion with minced garlic and minced cilantro stems in oil (lard, traditionally) until the onions are translucent. Then in go the beans and some liquid (bean cooking liquid, stock, water, whatever). You wouldn't hate me if I said that a finely minced chipotle may have fallen by accident into the pan as well?

Next, as the beans start to come up to a gentle boil, I introduce them to my bean masher, Sra. Machadora, my antique maple bean masher. After working them over for a few minutes until they are smooth, but not too smooth, I reduce the liquid to the consistency I want and then season them. Don't salt them before reducing the liquid or you risk oversalting them. 

Introducing the Beans to the Machadora (Bean Masher)

To complete the dish, we need some salsa fresca aka pico de gallo. I wasn't looking for anything fancy here, just a rough condiment of tomato, onion, serrano, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. It could not be any simpler, or better for that matter. 

Salsa Fresca/Pico de Gallo

The plate-up is trivial. Schmear the tostadas with salsa colorada, spoon over the frijoles, and add a poached egg. Most versions use fried eggs, but I love poached eggs. They are way sexier than fried eggs, plus I can cook six at a time versus only three fried eggs. I prefer to serve everyone at the same time. On top of the eggs, a spoonful of salsa colorada and another of pico de gallo with a sprinkle of grated cotija cheese finish the dish. ¡Buen provecho!

Shevlin Park

I've read about a glorious park we have on the northwest side of town, but until now, had never visited to see what the fuss was all about. Called Shevlin Park, after a lumberman-playboy-football player who donated the nearly 1000 acres to the city back just after the conclusion of World War I, the park comprises a roughly three-mile stretch of Tumalo Creek and the property on both banks. The photos below are in the order that I took them as I walked 6-7 miles through the park.

Upstream to the south and then west, the creek heads to Tumalo Falls and thence into the hills west of Bend where the creek system arises, fed primarily by snowmelt. Shortly downstream of the park, the creek pours into the Deschutes River just south of the town of Tumalo. The southern and western boundaries of the park abut the Deschutes National Forest.

The park contains miles and miles of well-marked and well-used trails, the principal ones being the Shevlin Loop Trail that runs the length of the park on top of the canyon walls and the Tumalo Creek Trail that runs creekside on the west bank. The Tumalo Creek Trail continues south and then west via the Mrazek Trail, primarily a mountain-biking trail, to Tumalo Falls and points west in the Three Sisters Wilderness. The park also extends north along the creek beyond Shevlin Park Road, but for this trip, I limited my exploration to the section between the road and the start of the Mrazek Trail.

From the parking lot just off Shevlin Park Road, I took the first trail I could find and headed for the water, the idea to head upstream with the creek on my left and then cross the creek and return downstream via the loop trail running along the canyon rim, the creek continually on my left. The trail led through a large stand of aspen before coming to a footbridge across the creek. I guess there are no beavers on this section of creek or there wouldn't be this lush stand of willow and aspen, beaver treats both.

Tumalo Creek is Shallow and Just a Few Feet Wide

Canyon Walls Beyond the Creek, Roughly 70-90 Feet High

As I walked the creek upstream, I could clearly see that the trail demarcates two different zones, a riparian zone along the creek and a typical Ponderosa Pine savannah just off the creek. The riparian zone has the usual cast of characters in its creekside thickets, dominated by Western Spirea, Red Osier Dogwood, Woods' Roses, Snowberries, and Chokecherries. In these thickets, I saw dozens of noisy and tiny Mountain Chickadees and Pacific Wrens. By contrast, just feet away, the open savannah is sparsely covered by Idaho Fescue, Wax Currants, and the odd Greenleaf Manzanita.

Fireweed, Chamaenerion angustifolium, Going to Seed

Very Dull Butterfly, A Fritillary of Some Ilk

I Saw Just One Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Ponderosa Pine Bark

Stones on the Creek Bottom

Unusual Geology: Is This Pyroclastic Flow?

A Snowberry, Symphoricarpos sp.

It's the Season for Rubber Rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa 

Gorgeous Lewis' Flax, Linum lewisii

Woodland Pinedrops, Pterospora andromedea

As I headed further upstream, the scenery changed a bit first entering an area of a couple of acres that has just burned over in recent years. A few manzanitas are starting to pop up, but they are very small. It amazes me how adapted to fire Ponderosa Pines are. They all have blackened bark at their bases, but it doesn't seem to have affected them. I note that immediately after a fire, they may shed a lot of needles, but they bounce back the next spring.

Burned Over Area

A Burnt Snag

Purple Ray Flower, Could be an Aster, Could be an Erigeron

After the burned over area, there is a really nice meadow surrounded by tall Ponderosas, a pretty perfect place to camp with easy access to water. Once I had wandered through the meadow, I came upon the sign below naming the meadow as Frémont Meadow, a place where John Frémont and his crew camped on what I believe was his second exploration expedition. A colorful guy, he would ultimately settle in California and become filthy rich off gold found on his holdings in the Sierra and then would go to Washington as a Senator.

Shortly after this, I found two plants that I was not expecting and have not encountered elsewhere in this area. The first, a new species to me, is the Blue Elderberry, a western species that is quite uncommon on this side of the Cascades. Out here, I see a lot of Red Elderberries and back east, you could find Black Elderberries everywhere. Note the very dusky blue berries that differ greatly in color from the other species. The other plant, which is extremely common elsewhere, is the Thimbleberry. This is the first time that I have seen it in the Bend area.

Very Scarce in this Area, Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus

Towards the upper (southern) end of the park, the ubiquitous Ponderosa Pines give way to much denser conifers including quite a lot of Douglas Firs, Western Larch, and Mountain Hemlock. I rarely see this concentration of Doug Firs east of the Cascades, while larches are fairly uncommon at these low elevations as well. Note to self to go back in October and photograph the gorgeous golden needles of the larches before they drop. At this point, I found myself at the southern end of the park where it abuts the Deschutes National Forest. While the trail continues on onto public forest lands, this was my point to do a 180 and take the loop trail back along the canyon rim to my truck.

Southern End of Shevlin Park
The Tumalo Creek Trail Meets the Mrazek Trail in the DNF

Ponderosa Pine, Backlit

Red Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea, in the Creek Bottom

Creek Partially Dammed by Fallen Douglas Fir

Usually Timid, a Curious Douglas' Squirrel

Mountain Chickadee in a Ponderosa Pine

Rubber Rabbitbrush, Handsome Even After Blooming

After crossing the creek, I headed back north via the Shevlin Loop Trail which climbs from the creek bottom to the canyon rim, becoming ever dustier and drier as it climbs, until it comes out on the plateau above the canyon. This plateau is typical open east-side scrub: tall ponderosas undergrown predominately by Antelope Bitterbrush, Greenleaf Manzanita, and Snowbrush, all brightened here and there by vibrant yellow Rubber Rabbitbrush.

This scrub is perfect for California Quail and at one point, as I was standing on the trail taking a photo of the canyon below, a couple of quail starting really making a fuss at me. It's pretty unusual behavior in that will often call softly to each other to warn about intruders, but they were fussing directly and loudly at me like I was a threat. I imagine that there were a bunch of babies up under the manzanitas; I left quickly so as not to put them under any more stress.

Manzanita Fruit, Showing Red in the Fall

Flicker Nest Cavity in Ponderosa Snag

Coming Back Down Creekside

Back Again at the Start in a Thicket of Willows and Aspens

Shevlin Park is definitely worth a walk. It's not hiking material, being largely flat, but it is a nice place to escape town and get out in the woods for a walk. I really do want to get back after the larches have changed.