OUTDOORS & REC
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2020
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
SNOWSHOE
GIFTS
Continued from Page 1B
Continued from Page 1B
We didn’t start hiking until
just after 6 o’clock, a time when
we’re usually sitting down for
dinner, and it was a curious sen-
sation to just be starting out into
the woods when the sun is low in
the western sky.
But queer sensations aside, it
was a glorious evening to be in
the high mountains.
The air had the crystalline
quality unique to the alpine
environment, the granitic bulk
of Gunsight Butte and Lees
Peak and the Lakes Lookout
standing so sharply against the
denim blue background that they
seemed almost two-dimensional,
like the scrolling mountains in a
Road Runner cartoon.
It was chilly — the dashboard
thermometer showed 37 when
we parked.
But the wind was gentle and
the slanting sunlight held a
bit of warmth and there was
something jolly about seeing
our breath condense into fog, as
though we were getting in some
exercise before Thanksgiving din-
ner, or searching for a Christmas
tree.
The lodgepole pines and sub-
alpine fi rs had shed most of their
snow burden from the previous
day’s storm but their branches
still dripped constantly, and
the westering sun transformed
Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
thickets into a glittering light
Snow still covers sections of the tributary of Antone Creek that fl ows from Black Lake.
show, like waterfalls illuminated
from within.
Water, indeed, dominated the
scene.
who never truly settles in. Here the sizzling July afternoon feels
Snowmelt freshets gurgled beneath the drifts in places that
ephemeral and you can sense, even as the sweat beads on your
come August will be dusty.
forehead, that the frost-spangled grouse huckleberries is not
The pocket meadows were inundated and even the granitic
far in the future, that the descending clouds of the fi rst autumn
boulders beside the trail sweated and dripped and in places
storm are as likely to bring snow as rain.
were festooned with icicles.
We turned around at the northern shore of Black Lake. The
I was reminded, as I frequently am, of how the mountains
tarn occupies a glacial gouge at the eastern base of Gunsight
are such monumental sponges, the inverted reservoirs without and here, behind one of the mountain’s craggy shoulders, the
which our valleys, already quite arid in some cases, would be
sun had already gone.
ever closer to true desert.
The temperature had dropped and a crust was beginning to
There is ever a strangeness when seasons don’t so much
form on the snow, clattering with each step of our plastic MSR
overlap as collide. I have long since adjusted to the imminence of snowshoes.
summer, have banished long pants to their drawers in favor of
The sky was mainly clear.
shorts. My down jacket has taken up its long residence hanging
And with the moon only a few days into its waning, its cold
from a post on our lodgepole bed frame.
light would have brightened the forest considerably.
And yet it occurred to me as we crunched through the snow,
But we hustled back the mile or so to the parking lot to beat
some as fresh as salmon from the sea and some having lingered the dusk, which felt more like a winter’s twilight with each pass-
here since November, that this wintry scene is more common
ing minute, the dark arriving with the suddenness that happens
here than any other.
only in the forest.
Snow defi nes the Elkhorns as much as gray-white stone and
I turned on the headlights and we chased their twin beams
the dark green of the subalpine fi r and the softer shade of the
through the gloaming back down the mountains, back toward
whitebark pine. Here summer is the interloper, the brief guest
the valley and back toward summer.
Make sure you buy the size he wants and with
the desired features.
KNIVES
(Whoa, this could be a whole list by itself since
we use so many different knives)
• Knives of Alaska Pronghorn, Elk Hunter, Cub
Bear or Legacy.
• Spyderco folding knives, Native Chief, Endura,
Endela.
• Stones, Smith’s Consumer Products makes
the best. Fine Diamond stones, Tri-hone stone etc.
They also offer a lot of folding knives and a boning
knife.
FISHING GEAR
(You can buy a lot of small inexpensive items
here)
• Lures, fl ies, weights, fi shing line, jig heads,
plastics, Pautzke Crappie Fireballs, Field &
Stream fi shing rods.
• Dip net
• Fly vest
• Polarized sunglasses
CAMPING
• Tents — I’ve got a few Alps Mountaineering
tents.
• Lodge Dutch oven
• Camp Chef backpacking stove
• Grizzly makes some great coolers. They’re
durable, bear-rated and hold a lot of food.
• Cook set. If you’re on a tight budget, go to
Goodwill and put together a cooking set. Pots,
pans, plates, silverware, glasses etc. and put in a
large Tupperware container.
• MyTopoMaps makes the best maps on the
market.
• For fun around camp get him a Daisy P51
slingshot or a throwing knife or hatchet.
• SneakyHunter BootLamps for hikers. These
are like headlamps for your feet.
HUNTING
• Get him a Umarex air rifl e. He’d have a blast
plinking.
• Ruger 10/22. I love these little rifl es. They are
the most popular .22 on the market.
• Brick of Federal or some CCI .22 ammo.
• Riton Optics scopes and binoculars
• Swab-Its makes some cool gun cleaning swabs.
• NRA magazine subscription
• SneakyHunter BootLamps. They have three
light options, one of which is a blood tracking light.
• Targets. He’d love the Birchwood Casey Shoot-
NC targets.
SIMPLE GIFTS
• Tell him you don’t have much but you’ll go
fi shing/hiking/camping/hunting with him. I love
it when my wife or daughters go with me. That
means more to me than any gift in the world. That
way I’m doing what I love and with the people I
love the most!
Some state parks on the Oregon coast to remain closed
(south coast)
• Arizona Beach State Park group
Though state parks and camp-
camp (south coast)
grounds on the Oregon coast have
• Cape Blanco State Park (south
started to reopen, some will remain coast)
closed through summer.
• Carl G. Washburne Memorial
The Oregon Parks and Recre-
State Park campground (central
ation Department announced the
coast)
long-term closure of all or part of six
• Devils Lake State Park camp-
state park sites on the Oregon coast ground (central coast)
Thursday, most of which will remain
Closed through July 31
closed through Labor Day:
• Beachside State Recreation Site
Closed through Labor Day
(central coast)
• Alfred A. Loeb State Park
The parks department said the
By Jamie Hale
The Oregonian/OregonLive
news “will disappoint many visi-
tors and campers and we sincerely
understand how this decision affects
you,” in its announcement on Twit-
ter. “We apologize for the disruption
and will continue to evaluate our
situation throughout the summer.”
All campground reservations
made for dates during the extended
closure will be automatically can-
celed. The parks department will
issue full refunds within 10 days of
notifying people of the cancellations,
offi cials said.
Social distance, sanitizer and
surfers at reopened Oregon
coast parks
The continued closures are the
result of an estimated $22 million
budget shortfall at the state parks
department, caused by the corona-
virus pandemic that resulted in an
economic crisis and forced the parks
department to shut down all park
sites March 23. The department
is not funded by taxpayers, but by
Oregon Lottery proceeds, camping
and day use fees, and RV registra-
tion fees.
On June 2, the department
announced that it will lay off 47
full-time employees by the end
of the month, in addition to the
338 seasonal staff that will not be
rehired this year.
Park offi cials have warned that
some reopened parks will have
limited facilities, and that visitors
should not rely on having drink-
ing water, clean restrooms or trash
service.
The six coastal parks are the only
places where extended closures
have been announced.
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