B
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Observer & Baker City Herald
RECREATION
REPORT
Van Patten Lake In The Elkhorn Mountains
FREE FISHING IN
OREGON TODAY,
SATURDAY
The Friday and
Saturday after
Thanksgiving, Nov.
29 and 30, are Free
Fishing Days in
Oregon — days you
don’t need a license
or tag to fi sh, crab or
clam anywhere in the
state open to fi shing/
crabbing/clamming.
All other rules and
regulations, such as
bag and size limits,
still apply.
ROCK SWAP SET
FOR DEC. 8 AT
BAKER CITY
Baker Rockhounds,
a group of local rock
and outdoor enthusi-
asts, will host a rock
swap on Dec. 8 from
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in
the main gallery at
the Baker Heritage
Museum, 2480 Grove
St.
There will be rock
specimens to buy
and swap. Rocks will
also be given away
to encourage people
to take up rock col-
lecting. Everyone is
welcome to attend,
and there is no entry
fee. Please enter
through the Muse-
um’s main entrance.
The rock swap
will be in lieu of the
Baker Rockhounds’
regular monthly
meeting, which takes
place the second
Sunday of each
month at 2 p.m. in
the lapidary room at
the Museum.
NEW BIG GAME,
FISHING RULES
ARE AVAILABLE
SALEM — The
2020 Sport Fish-
ing and Big Game
Hunting Regulations
are now available in
stores, ODFW offi ces
and online at http://
www.eregulations.
com/
Changes from
2019 are listed in
the “What’s New”
section under the
table of contents
and are identifi ed by
yellow highlighted
text throughout the
regulations.
This year more
than ever, hunters
who apply for con-
trolled hunts need to
carefully check their
hunt number. Many
controlled hunts have
been consolidated
into larger areas and/
or have longer sea-
sons and boundaries
of many controlled
hunts were expanded
or made simpler.
Maps for these hunts
will be available on
MyODFW.com in
2020.
Hunters should
note that hunts that
were formally called
“centerfi re” sea-
sons or commonly
referred to as “rifl e”
seasons, are now
“Any Legal Weapon
Seasons.” This
change was made to
make it more clear to
hunters that they are
not limited to only
using a rifl e for these
hunts; it is legal for
hunters to use any
legal shotgun, bow,
muzzleloader, or
handgun.
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Van Patten Lake on Nov. 17.
A rare icy visit to a
favorite summer spot
The patch of ice looked to
me like orthopedic surgery.
Or at least it provoked my
imagination to conjure what
orthopedic surgery might
look like. Although I’ve never
wielded a scalpel or been in-
cised by one for the purposes
of structural repairs.
This particular piece of ice
was no great thing — perhaps
the dimensions of a desk chair
seat.
But besides lacking the
typical cushioning of a desk
chair seat, the ice, modestly
sized though it was, happened
to stretch clear across the trail
I was hiking with my wife,
Lisa, and our son, Max.
And the trail was the
only section of relatively fl at
ground in sight.
This is precisely the sort
of pitfall which ice excels at
creating.
Mud can make for some
precarious footing, to be sure.
So can rock, especially if it’s
pitched at a sharp angle and
damp besides.
But ice is uniquely slick
— at least in nature, where
laboratory concoctions such
as Tefl on rarely are slathered
across hiking trails — and so
uniquely troublesome.
Step wrong on a slab of
ice and it can send you on a
tumbling journey that likely
would be worthy of repeated
viewings on YouTube.
I wasn’t surprised, on Nov.
at the time of our
hike the tempera-
ON THE TRAIL
ture, even at that
JAYSON JACOBY
elevated place, was
in the mid 40s.
Having been pushed
17, to be confronted by ice on to the verge of hypothermia
the trail to Van Patten Lake, one time too many due to my
a treasure in the Elkhorn
poor choices in clothing, and
Mountains about three miles thus ever after suspicious of
east of Anthony Lakes.
the mountains, I was clad in
(Actually all the lakes in
multiple layers of fl eece and
the Elkhorns could fairly be
goose down. I was also sweat-
called treasures, but such is
ing like a man who has just
the nature of these moun-
stepped from a sauna.
tains, and the bodies of water
Max, meanwhile, was
that formed in some of their
pleading for permission
stony glacial gouges.)
to strip off his sweatshirt
Van Patten is truly an al-
because, he claimed, he was
pine lake, its surface just shy “burning up.”
of 7,400 feet elevation. This is
Anyway it felt too mild for
well above the snow level for ice to survive; slush, maybe,
a good part of the year at our but not this ice, which was
mid-latitude location.
the proper consistency to chill
Quite often by the middle
a soft drink (albeit not up to
of November the trail’s ice
most hygienic standards).
patches are hard to fi nd —
I suspect this ice main-
but only because they’re be-
tained its solidity in part
neath several inches of snow. because it was in a relatively
And indeed, at the moment sheltered spot among the
we came upon the ice, I pined subalpine fi rs, tamaracks
for snow, which, though not
and whitebark pines, but also
the most stable substance, is because it bore a scattering
granitic compared with hard of tamarack needles, which
bare ice.
must have at least a minor
Which this ice certainly
insulating effect.
was, when I touched a tenta-
At the time, though, I was
tive toe to its surface.
more focused on getting past
This was more surprising
the ice without fractures than
than its presence.
pondering its survival in
The stretch of unseasonably balmy weather.
warm, dry weather was on
We found slightly better
that day in its third week, and going to the side of the trail,
stepped over a couple of fallen
logs and continued on our way
to the lake.
Where, I was pleased to
fi nd, a heavy wind was tum-
bling down from Van Patten
Butte, suddenly making my
layering scheme seem wise.
We lingered for only a few
minutes, in deference to the
chilly gusts.
But I enjoyed the brief visit,
largely because the scene
looked so different from what
I’m accustomed to.
I’ve hiked to Van Patten
Lake probably a couple dozen
times, all but a handful taking
place during late spring or
summer.
In summer the lake is a
rich azure, several shades
darker than the sky. But
the season’s palette is much
broader — bright white puffs
of cumulus sailing above, the
deep green of the trees and
the lighter hues of grouse
huckleberry and Labrador
tea, the speckled gray of the
granitic rocks that form the
lake’s bed.
But by late fall the scene
is much more stark, much
closer to black and white, the
lake leached of color.
The difference wasn’t quite
so dramatic the day of our
visit, mainly because there
was little snow about.
But the lake was frozen,
the ice making for a uniform
dull gray. It was also much
smaller than its summer self,
a considerable amount of its
volume having been diverted
to irrigate crops.
The lake was no less beau-
tiful for the differences, at
least to my eye.
I found the experience com-
pelling for its rarity — to see
Van Patten Lake in its winter
guise only without the deep
snow that defi nes the season
and that makes the hike, best
done with snowshoes, a much
more taxing undertaking.
As we retraced our steps —
including the sketchy detour
around the icy stretch — it
struck me that like as not the
next time I came this way I
would either have to plunge
through fresh snow or clam-
ber over the grainy drifts that
often persist near the lake
until late June.
Indeed just a few days later
the weather turned and when
I drove to work around dawn
the Elkhorns and the Wal-
lowas were freshly whitened.
(My commute, which hardly
deserves the term since it cov-
ers scarcely a mile, is doubly
enriched by views of both of
these great mountain ranges,
a much more pleasant sight
than a series of bumpers.)
As I drove I thought about
the trail, and the lake, and the
snow that had covered our
tracks, erasing any evidence
that we had ever been there
at all.
Christmas tree-cutting permits available
Permits for cutting a Christmas
tree on national forest land are avail-
able at Forest Service offi ces.
The $5 permit allows you to cut one
tree on the national forest — they’re
not valid for cutting on other federal,
state or private property.
Free Christmas tree permits are
also available to fourth-graders with
a valid paper pass from the “Every
Kid Outdoors” program. Fourth-grade
students can visit the Every Kid
Outdoors website to start their adven-
ture and get their pass. Free permits
can only be issued at Forest Service
offi ces, and fourth-grade students
must be present to pick up their free
permit.
Regulations
• Cut your tree at least 50 feet
away from a road and clean up any
trimmings or limbs.
• Leave stumps no higher than 10
inches. It is illegal to “top” a tree.
• Cut all green limbs from the
stump (they can be used for decorat-
ing).
• The maximum height of a tree
to be cut is 15 feet tall, with no larger
than a 6-inch stump diameter.
• Do not cut in active timber sale
areas or areas planted with new trees.
Do not cut on private land, in wilder-
ness areas, designated campgrounds,
or existing tree plantations.
• Do not cut trees in the follow-
ing areas: Baker City Watershed;
Anthony Lakes Campground or Ski
Area; Starkey Experimental Forest;
La Grande Watershed; Hurricane
Creek and Lostine drainages.
• Do not cut trees in posted Old
Growth Areas or within ¼ mile of
Wild and Scenic River corridors.
• Christmas tree cutting is also
prohibited within sight distance of
State Highways.