road clearing in the snow

Rick wanted to check on some of the units that they still needed to plant since it had snowed in the coast range last night.  So we took a drive over to see what it was like.  There was snow anywhere from a skiff to a couple inches depending on the site.  There turned out to be quite a few trees that had fallen in the road that we had to remove. There was alder, cascara, fir, cherry at different intervals along the way which we had to cut out.  I wasn't prepared for logging in the snow!   The first place we stopped at my fingers hurt so bad, by the third place I had finally worked up enough heat to get myself partially warm.  At least we were able to throw some chunks of wood into the back of the pickup for future firewood, which always makes me happy.

Devil's Club

When you're falling down the mountain make sure you don't grab this!!

Wine Day

It was the first 'springlike' day of the season. Sunny and 50 degrees. Gives us hope that spring is just around the corner. We met Erin, Graham & Ollie in Newberg for breakfast and then headed to Owen Roe for a tour and tasting. The most interesting offerings were the 2007 wines from last year still in barrel. We first sampled the Pinot Gris under their O'Reilly label which almost had a sparkling "spritz" to it. It was then contrasted with the Pinot Gris under the Owen Roe label which was very good. I don't normally care for too many pinot gris's but this one was luscious. The last barrel sample we had was a merlot. It was quite different than any other merlots I have tried. I got a smoked meat aroma. Rick & Graham rattled off others, but I'm not so refined. The finish of this wine was amazingly long. I'm going to need a bottle of this! Next it was off to DDO for their 'valentine' bash. We tried their wines along with their french counterparts from their parent company 'Joseph Drouhin'. I think my favorite of those tried was the DDO Willamette Valley 2006. The place was packed and the only saving grace was the beautiful day as the doors were open & we could step out on the terrace and take in the breathtaking view of the valley and Mt. Hood. Then we were off to Scott Paul in Carlton were we tasted some amazing burgundies. Emily & Kelly were there and Scott & Martha showed up and chatted for a few minutes. The people there are amazing as are the wines. We then stopped at Carlton Winemakers' Studio to pick up our shipment of wine from Andrew Rich. He was there so we stopped and chatted with him for a few minutes. We finished up at the Dark Horse Wine Bar in Newberg. We tasted a Sineann wine and some Ferraro wines. It was a really fun day. Oliver quite enjoyed seeing everyone and flirting. He's on his way to becoming a winemaker!!

Snowy Sunday

We woke up this am at 6:20 and looked out the window and it was just starting to snow. It's now a little after noon and it's starting to lighten up a little. We probably have around 8 inches. A nice afternoon to sit by the fire & drink some port.

Steep & Frozen

Back to work on the Swiss Needle Cast (SNC) Project. Today we drove to some plots near Grand Ronde. The ground at both plots was frozen solid. Very hard walking on steep ground when you can't dig in your heels. However, we made it without any falling. We're in Netarts tonight. They say there could possibly be some snow tomorrow. That could make for very cold toes!!

Snow on Snow!

Another day in the woods. This was our view the last week - from our Liligren Progeny Site re-measurement project for Starker Forests. Yup, it was pretty chilly!

Dec 7, 2007 Netarts adventure

We checked on our trailer on Tuesday. Boy, that was an adventure. The drive was pretty good most of the way there. A lot of downed trees & high water along side the road and some high water on the road in a couple places. However, the last few miles to Netarts was a bit hair raising. We take a road off hwy.101 along the Tillamook river and that was under water in 4-5 places with a current. We made it through and came to the netarts hwy. Traffic was backed up and I got out and looked and there were 3 vehicles in the road cutting out trees that had fallen into the road. We waited a bit and then decided to go into town to see if we could find lunch/bathroom. We found our favorite mexican restaurant open so we had lunch. When we were done, we were trying to decide if it was worth trying to go back. Across the street from the restaurant is the county courthouse. A large tree and fallen down & a work crew with a deputy was working to cut it up. We walked over and asked the deputy if he knew if there was any road open to Netarts, he radioed to the dispatcher and she first said no, but then just as we were about to cross the street back to our car, she replied that it was open. So we drove to Netarts. All along the way, trees and limbs were into the power lines. Power poles were snapped off, wires were hanging all along the sides of the roads. In a place or 2, trees were laying on the wires which were hanging over the road. We made our way to the campground and found the campground handymen working on cutting a tree out of the road right next to our trailer. They said our awning had come open and torn a bit. Sure enough, it was torn about 1 1/2 feet on one end and the supports had come apart. Rick got it put back together and up. It was amazing that it could have come undone in the first place. They said the wind sounded like a freight train. Luckily the fridge in our trailer also runs on propane so our food was still good. They still don't have power there and yesterday I heard it could take a week. Luckily we have work to do just west of Philomath where we have been working this week.