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Published: December 10th 2011
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Sumpter Valley Dredge
Kathy giving a tour of the dredge. It’s been a good long time since our last entry, but that doesn’t mean we've been sitting still. The last blog was in June 2010 and since then we haven’t been doing anything earth shattering or especially interesting so you haven’t missed a thing. We begin with last summer.
After a month of playing camp host at Catherine Creek state park, in Eastern Oregon and only 20 miles from Kathy’s family, we traveled deeper into the gold mining history of Oregon to a place called Sumpter. It’s a small town for sure….no stoplights, 2 restaurants, 1 general store and 1 gas station; perfect for us. This was one of the best jobs we have had since we started volunteering at the state parks. Our RV site sat just off the main road and behind the public library. We were within walking distance to everything and only drove the car once a week, when going into the larger city of Baker, about 30 minutes away for groceries.
Our time was spent working at the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge, built in 1934. While I gave tours of the dredge, Mike gave gold panning lessons. For most visitors it was
Cole River Fish Hatcher
One section of this very large hatchery. their first time seeing a dredge. It looks like a big house-boat with lots of iron-works (ours was about 5 stories high). The front has big earth scoop and a conveyer belt that digs up the bottom of the pond then dumps the earth onto the conveyor belt, which carries it inside the dredge where it is then washed and sorted for size. Any gold bits get separated from the dirt and rock which is then tossed out the back using a conveyor belt. Some dredges are built for dry land and some for floating on water. This one floated on a small pond. If you want to learn more about the dredge you can google: Sumpter Valley Dredge.
Fall/Winter 2010: We try to spend part of the year in northeastern Oregon for time with Kathy’s family and balance it with some time in southern Oregon near Mike’s family. Besides volunteering at state parks, there’s also BLM, Forestry Service, county and city parks and Fish and Wildlife. We found a sweet place at a fish hatchery about 30 minutes north of Medford, on the way to Crater Lake. Cole Rivers Fish Hatchery is one of the largest hatcheries in
Loaner Pet
Borrowed from a nearby home, she spent most of her time with us. Oregon with over 100 rearing ponds for the trout and salmon. Only Bonneville hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge rivals it. Hatcheries were established near dam locations to ensure river fish could swim upstream and reproduce.
There are about 6 houses on the hill behind the hatchery, for some of the employees, and a spot for an RV among the houses. There were quite a few things we liked about our 3 months at the hatchery. It was higher up in elevation, so we had several mornings of waking up to everything covered in snow. The staff was nice and the job completely different from what we do at the parks. Our primary job was to clean metal screens at the end of each pond and remove any dead fish; this kept us busy for most of the morning. The rest of our time was spent emptying the trash cans, filling the coin operated fish feeders and raking leaves or small maintenance projects. We also got to assist with processing of the spawning salmon and the removal of the eggs. It was a messy process, but very interesting and insured the population would grow.
Hat Rock SP
The pond at Hat Rock. Breeding ground for thousands of mosquitoes. Another bonus of the hatchery was our temporary pet. One of the families in the residential area had a young cat who liked to roam from house to house. About a week after we showed up she came to check us out, walked in like she owned the place and we were goners. She spent so much of her time at our place that we ended up stocking cat food and toys. Her name was Bella and she was a stray found at an isolated lake. She would come to the door and either meow or tap on the door with her paw. We both wondered what she was thinking as she watched her new home drive off at the end of our time.
This spring were spent at Champoeg State Heritage Area near Salem, Oregon. Both of us worked in the visitor center. Known for being one of the first settlements in Oregon, we would get a lot of school groups coming through on field trips. It sits in the Willamette Valley, full of farms and miles of green pastures. We spent May at a state park called Silver Falls, in central Oregon. Up in the mountains and
Humming Birds
We had a steady flow of Humming birds while at Catherine Creek SP. one of the largest parks in Oregon, it was full of hiking trails and beautiful waterfalls. Our job this time was to walk the trails, picking up trash and clearing away any brush. We would average about 4 miles a day, but it also decided to rain almost every day of the month. Yuck!
June was spent at Hat Rock State Park, located in Eastern Oregon on the Columbia River. A small park with a large pond and lots of ducks, our job was to empty the many trash cans and pick up litter. It was a very popular park for family picnics and because of this, there was always plenty of trash to pick up. A few downsides to the park were the thousands of mosquitoes and large quantities of duck poop; it was everywhere. We did see a large beaver one evening and a duck that had built its nest in a tree.
This summer was spent back at Sumpter and the gold dredge; we sure do like that place. October was at a park near Grants Pass, and Mike’s family. In November we arrived at our current place on the Oregon
Buckets on the Dredge
Each bucket weighs one ton. 72 buckets total on the dredge. coast. The park is called Beachside and is closed for the winter. We are providing security and keeping an eye on the place. We have the whole park to ourselves and miles of sandy beach to walk on. Very nice and very quiet.
Hopefully now that his is posted; we can finally get that China blog done.
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