6B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020
Man threatened by
wife’s calls with ex
PINNACLES
Continued from Page 1B
The lookout, which sits
atop an 82-foot wooden
tower built in 1952, is
closed to the public this
year due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
But the amiable fi re-
watcher, Jeffrey A. Schwilk,
hollered down an invitation
to climb the tower to just
below the lofty perch where
he lives, sleeps and works.
Our son, Max, who’s 9,
was satisfi ed with making
it up 20-some steps to the
fi rst level.
My knees started
trembling about halfway
up, but Lisa, who normally
has no particular affi nity
for heights, kept climbing.
When she got to the fi nal
landing, Schwilk not only
answered her questions
about what it’s like to sleep
82 feet above the ground
in a tower that sometimes
sways in the wind, but
he also handed down a
calendar graced by his own
beautiful photographs of
birds, some of which he took
from the lookout.
As is the case with most
fi re lookout sites, the view
from Johnson Rock is
expansive even without the
artifi cial aid of a manmade
tower. We were especially
intrigued by a new perspec-
tive of the Elkhorns, dusted
with the season’s fi rst snow.
After lunch we drove up
Road 5125, which branches
off the 51 Road about 13
miles south of Highway
244. Road 5125 runs east,
following the upper Grande
Ronde River for several
miles and connecting to the
Ladd Canyon Road, No. 43.
About 4.1 miles from the
51 Road junction, look to
the left (north) side of the
road. When you see the pin-
nacles, fi nd a pullout (there
are a few nearby) and park.
The forest here, which
includes scattered old-
growth ponderosa pines
around 100 feet tall, largely
obscures the Woodley Rocks
except from the vantage
point of the road. Given the
absence of marked trails
— the Wallowa-Whitman’s
website describes this with
the curious term “self-
discovery adventure” — we
found it easier to walk
below the pinnacles and
then scramble up the slope,
made slippery in places by
a thick layer of ponderosa
needles, to see the forma-
tions from above.
DEAR ABBY: My
husband, “Daryl,” gets
furious every time I talk
DEAR ABBY
to my ex, my two oldest
kids’ father. The only
thing we discuss is my
kids’ issues, but Daryl loses it completely. He starts calling me
names and says I don’t respect him even though I do. I keep
assuring him that there’s nothing inappropriate being talked
about (he is present during all the conversations since we talk
over the phone and live in different states).
I don’t know what to do anymore. My kids are 14- and
13-year-old girls, who are going through all these crazy teenage
issues, which obviously, as their parents, my ex and I have
to sometimes talk about, and it’s not even that many calls.
I’m wondering if this is normal because I’ve only been in two
relationships in my life. I’m 33, and I feel like a goofball for not
knowing what to do.
— TOUGH SITUATION IN TEXAS
DEAR TOUGH SITUATION: No, it is not normal. Your
husband’s jealousy and insecurity are over the top. You have
a responsibility as the mother of two teenage daughters to
see them through this time of great transition, and if you feel
their father is in a better position to provide input than your
husband, you have a right to seek it.
It’s time to talk about this with a licensed marriage and
family therapist because Daryl’s behavior is abusive. If it
isn’t stopped, it may escalate. Do it now because if the verbal
abuse continues and your daughters witness it, they will grow
up thinking it’s normal behavior, and it will negatively affect
their relationships with men later in life.
DEAR ABBY: I have been diagnosed with PTSD by my
doctor. I thought only people who have been in military combat
would receive a PTSD diagnosis.
I have had a lifetime of verbal abuse from my mother. Once
she had broken my spirit with rants of “dummy,” “stupid” and
“I wish you had never been born,” I was easy prey for my older
brother. To get laughs, he never misses a chance to make fun of
me in public.
On second thought, I guess I HAVE been through combat.
Abby, do you have any ideas how to make life somewhat bear-
able?
— CONSTANTLY HURTING
DEAR CONSTANTLY: I sure do! Ask your doctor for a
referral to a psychotherapist with expertise in family dysfunc-
tion and PTSD. Then make it a practice to AVOID abusive
people who seek attention by ridiculing and belittling others.
If you do, your life will improve immeasurably. Trust me on
that.
DEAR ABBY: What do you think about people having drive-
by baby showers? I was recently invited to one, only to arrive
and fi nd the front yard fi lled with people, cake and balloons.
But I had been instructed to just drop my gift and go on.
I did expect a few people to be there with the expectant mom
to greet me and receive the gift, but after traveling 25 miles
only to fi nd a full-blown party going on that I wasn’t allowed
to join seems very rude to me. I think if that was the plan,
she should have just had a shower for these A-list guests and
forgone the drive-by part. What are your thoughts on this?
— TURNED OFF IN TENNESSEE
DEAR TURNED OFF: You may not have been singled out
to be slighted. Those at the party may have “crashed” the lawn
from their cars. What a foolish, risky thing to subject the ex-
pectant mother to. If the revelers weren’t masked, the honoree
and her baby were at risk of catching COVID!
weather
career with the geology
agency. He is among the
geologists who deduced
much of the history of the
area that includes Woodley
Rocks.
Mark told me the pin-
nacles are the result of a
volcanic eruption around
30 million years ago (and
possibly several million
years earlier). This eruption
was part of a series of events
that would, millions of
years later, culminate in the
creation of what geologists
call the Tower Mountain
caldera. A caldera is a large
depression created when a
volcano’s magma chamber
empties. The most famous
example in Oregon is
Crater Lake, which formed
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group in the caldera that Mount
A pinnacle at Woodley Rocks capped by a chunk of
Mazama created during a
erosion-resistant dacite, a type of volcanic rock.
cataclysmic eruption about
7,700 years ago.
It is a strange
Mark said the Tower
place.
Mountain eruption left
Rock outcrops
a deposit that included a
are to be expected
jumbled mixture of ash, silt,
in the moun-
sand, mud and rock. The ash
tains, of course
and other softer stuff would
— mountains,
of course be much more
generally speak-
prone to erosion from water
ing, being made of
and wind than the harder,
rocks.
denser rocks that were to
But the spires
this geologic recipe what
of the Woodley
chunks of meat and potatoes
Rocks are quite
are to a hearty stew.
different from the
These rocks, some of them
usual formations,
capstones perched precari-
more reminiscent
ously at the tip of a pinnacle,
of Utah’s Bryce
are dacite, Mark told me.
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group That’s a type of volcanic rock
Canyon than of
the Blue Moun-
that has a higher concentra-
tains.
Industries. This yielded
tion of silica than basalt or
You needn’t be a geologist documents that, though
andesite, but a bit lower
to grasp the basic forces
rendered in what appeared than rhyolite (which, in
that created the pinnacles. to be English, meant little
certain circumstances, forms
They are composed of a mix- more to me than an essay
glassy black obsidian.)
ture of fi st-size stones held in Sanskrit. Phrases such
Smaller pieces of dacite
together by what resembles as “clast-supported dacite-
mixed with the softer stuff
poorly mixed mortar. In
porphyry clast” and “crystal- have acted rather like
places you can pluck chunks lithic, hornblende-bearing
bricks in a chimney, holding
of this stuff loose with your tuffaceous breccia” leave me the mortar between them
fi ngers.
confused and, like as not,
together, while the sur-
But several of the pinna- with an incipient headache. rounding material, lacking
cles are capped by boulders
Fortunately the docu-
solid stone, long ago washed
that are obviously made of ments also frequently
away.
sterner stuff. It’s clear that included a last name
erosion has stripped away
that, unlike the geologic
the more fragile material,
jargon, was quite famil-
OPEN!
leaving vertical strips pro-
iar to me: Ferns.
tected by the harder stone.
That’s Mark Ferns.
Where: Corner of Booth Lane and
Lower Cove Road
Being curious by nature,
He’s a retired geologist
When: Friday and Saturday:
though, I sought a more,
for the state agency who
9am-6pm
Sunday: 10am-4pm
well, educated explanation many times has guided
Monday-Thursday: By appointment
for this place that I found
me, a scientifi c neophyte,
:KDW\RXZLOO¿QG
Small corn maze, several
fascinating — the more so
through the immense
varieties of pumpkins and gourds,
straw bales, corn stalks.
because I had somehow
span of geologic time
If you would like to schedule a
managed to remain igno-
with a patience for my
VFKRRO¿HOGWULSRURWKHUHYHQW
please call the number listed below.
rant of it for a few decades
confusion and bungled
Like us on Facebook at
despite knocking around
pronunciations that can
www.facebook.com/
PickNPatchFarm
the general vicinity pretty
only be described as
farmkidsatoregonwireless.net
often.
saintly.
Please call
I called up the website
Mark, who lives in
541-786-2421
for the Oregon Department Baker City, retired in
of Geology and Mineral
2011 after a 30-year
PICK’N PATCH
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
54/65
Kennewick
54/64
St. Helens
53/68
TIllamook
52/75
50/68
Condon
48/79
55/69
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Clear
Sunny and
remaining warm
Sunlit and
pleasant
Sunny and very
warm
Sunny and very
warm
77 39
80 39
82 37
Eugene
10
8
8
48/75
76 45
80 43
82 41
10
8
8
Comfort Index™
La Grande
8
42 79 44
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
8
8
10
44 76 41
Comfort Index™
8
77 42
79 47
10
9
9
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 113°
Low: 17°
Wettest: 4.22”
85°
34°
76°
34°
82°
35°
0.00
0.00
0.02
2.99
7.66
0.00
0.00
0.03
13.39
11.61
0.00
0.00
0.04
26.04
15.97
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
25%
WNW at 6 to 12 mph
10.6
0.16
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
9% of capacity
21% of capacity
42% of capacity
45% of capacity
12% of capacity
6% of capacity
OREGON
Medford
Lakeview
High: 94°
Low: 31°
Wettest: none
On Oct. 3, 1979, Connecticut’s fi rst
recorded October tornado struck north of
Hartford. The twister killed three, injured
500 and caused over $200 million in dam-
age around Bradley International Airport.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
6:53 a.m.
6:28 p.m.
7:37 p.m.
8:30 a.m.
SUN.
6:55 a.m.
6:26 p.m.
8:00 p.m.
9:32 a.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
Thermal, Calif.
Walden, Colo.
Fort Pierce, Fla.
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Florence
53/75
743 cfs
17 cfs
26 cfs
46 cfs
73 cfs
23 cfs
Last
Oct 9
New
Oct 16
First
Oct 23
Full
Oct 31
42/76
Beaver Marsh
38/79
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
52/76
Coos Bay
52/77
Jordan Valley
46/81
Paisley
39/84
Frenchglen
49/86
Grand View
Arock
41/88
40/86
Fields
50/84
Klamath Falls
38/83
Lakeview
34/84
McDermitt
43/85
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
MON.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
65/55/pc 69/52/pc
80/45/s 78/47/s
84/52/pc 80/51/s
75/58/s 75/57/s
84/30/pc 81/38/s
65/51/pc 69/51/s
71/47/pc 74/47/s
80/44/s 79/43/s
78/45/s 76/46/s
75/50/pc 74/48/s
83/49/s 80/47/s
75/50/pc 79/49/s
81/45/s 78/45/s
80/46/s 79/49/s
75/41/s 71/42/s
84/48/s 80/48/s
83/38/pc 81/33/s
84/35/pc 82/36/s
Diamond
47/83
45/89
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Boise
52/84
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
42/87
Silver Lake
42/80
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
33/84
53/82
55/75
Ontario
41/83
Burns
41/82
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
45/77
47/80
Oakridge
42/80
45/82
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
51/80
44/81
Council
37/80
John Day
40/80
Sisters
53/65
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
43/83
Baker City
Redmond
50/64
53/64
Halfway
Granite
43/75
46/75
50/72
51/72
72 41
10
Corvallis
47/83
46/71
Newport
Enterprise
44/76
42/79
Monument
47/81
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
37 80 39
Elgin
41/78
La Grande
51/78
Maupin
Baker City
54/79
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
51/81
Hood River
50/82
51/64
Lewiston
Walla Walla
48/84
Vancouver
52/68
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
SUN.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
MON.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
81/51/s 76/50/s
64/54/pc 72/51/pc
78/42/s 75/44/s
84/50/pc 87/51/s
64/51/pc 65/51/s
66/50/pc 68/48/pc
83/44/pc 79/45/s
83/46/s 79/46/s
82/49/s 77/49/s
69/54/pc 74/53/s
75/52/pc 82/52/s
80/39/s 79/40/s
77/52/pc 80/51/s
72/51/pc 74/49/s
75/47/s 73/48/s
79/50/s 80/49/s
77/42/s 73/41/s
79/53/s 75/53/s
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Sunny and mild
Sunny and warm
59
38
77
42
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Sunny and nice
Sunny and warm
68
43
81
43
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Sunny and mild
Sunny and warm
65
33
73
40
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Sunny and warm
Plenty of sunshine
75
41
82
50
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Sunny and warm
Sunny and warm
80
39
79
44