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Saturday, November 28, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Strolling The Shore Of A Shrunken Reservoir
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
This image, taken from a drone fl ying about 200 feet above Phillips Reservoir near Baker City, shows Mason Dam. Most of the snow-covered area at right is usually underwa-
ter but has been exposed as the reservoir, due to demand for irrigation water and a drought, has receded. It is holding about 8% of its capacity.
T EMPORARY T RAILS
I
like to walk where, on a majority
of days in any given year, I would
splash.
Or swim.
It is the nature of reservoirs to recede
seasonally.
And reservoirs in our arid region can
shrink as dramatically as a wool sweater
washed in hot water, especially when
drought and heavy demand for irrigation
water coincide.
Which is to say, summer.
A proximate example of the phenom-
enon, and one I visit often, is Phillips
Reservoir.
The reservoir, which sprawls across
2,400 acres when full, impounds the
Powder River at the eastern end of the
Sumpter Valley, about 15 miles south-
west of Baker City.
Phillips is not full now.
Indeed it is far closer to empty, holding
about 8% of its capacity.
The reservoir’s recession has revealed
a swath of land that typically is sub-
merged.
I am forever intrigued by the chance to
go to places that are normally off limits,
to hike what are in effect temporary
trails.
A whole lot of trails, in this case.
Albeit trails that follow precisely the
same route and are separated by just a
few inches.
As reservoirs slowly subside — and
Phillips, being rather larger than, say,
a bathtub, doesn’t empty rapidly — the
waves erode the shoreline and create a
series of sinuous benches that resemble,
from a distance, the bleachers in a foot-
ON THE TRAIL
JAYSON JACOBY
ball stadium, albeit curved rather than
straight.
Altitude as well as distance accentu-
ates this effect, something I was pleased to
experience on a recent Sunday excursion to
the reservoir.
I brought a new toy.
Except the Mavic Mini drone is some-
what more sophisticated than that word,
toy, implies.
Toys, at least the ones that I have been
acquainted with, can’t fly 400 feet above the
ground and figure out how to return to their
takeoff spot if the operator gets confused.
(As I often do even when I have but two
dimensions to deal with — relaxing on a
sofa, for instance.)
I’ve scarcely begun to tap the drone’s
prodigious capabilities.
Like as not I never will delve much
beyond the basic operations. But I’m
satisfi ed simply fl ying the thing around
and marveling at the new perspective it
affords on familiar places.
(Its gimbal-mounted camera takes
videos as well as photographs.)
Once the drone was safely back in its
case — or as safe as my acquisitions can
be; I’ve proved quite capable of damag-
ing items even when they’re perfectly
still — we started hiking west along the
reservoir’s south shore.
My wife, Lisa, and our son, Max, and
daughter, Olivia, found a stump that
had been transformed by hoarfrost into
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
A wide swath of shoreline has been exposed as Phillips
Reservoir dropped during the summer and early fall.
Hoar frost decorates an old stump
recently revealed by receding Phillips
The south shore is the
Reservoir.
better side to explore the res-
tions, is from the reservoir
quite imposing, with the pyra-
ervoir’s rarely revealed shore, midal shape that reminds me
I think. The slopes are a bit
of the mountain silhouettes
a fetching, whimsical sculpture.
that form the backdrop of
It occurred to me that this stump, its steeper and the resulting
topography more interesting, Roadrunner cartoons.
base just a few inches above the water,
smooth and sandy stretches
The easiest way to get
probably has been submerged very
nearly constantly since Mason Dam was interrupted by boulder fi elds. to the shoreline is to drive
As I walk along I wonder
across Mason Dam and park
fi nished in 1967 and the Powder’s water
what the Powder River can-
on the south side. Drive High-
began fi lling the valley.
The reservoir has dropped as low as it yon looked like before it was way 7 south from Baker City
and turn left onto the Black
is now in fewer than 10 autumns since it inundated.
The south side also affords Mountain Road, No. 1145,
fi rst fi lled.
expansive views, across the
just beyond Milepost 35. The
It was a fi ne day for a hike, sunny
water, of the Elkhorn Moun- dam is just a few hundred
with a breeze that was brisk but not
tains, including the range’s
yards from the highway.
frigid. The reservoir, not yet frozen into its
This route might not be ac-
customary winter gray, showed off its range apex, Rock Creek Butte. The
cessible if logging crews aren’t
of colors — nearly green from some angles 9,106-foot peak, which can
plowing the Black Mountain
but a deep cobalt from the elevated van- seem a relatively modest
summit from certain direc-
Road.
tage point of the drone.
Turkey stew, and an inspiring magazine still going strong
As a grade school kid I’d read
the “Fur-Fish-Game” magazine
and dream of being a mountain
man. No, read probably isn’t the
right word. Devour would be the
correct word. I’d read the ar-
ticles about the old trappers up in
Canada and of their lifestyles. In
summer they’d go out in the woods,
build a cabin, pack in supplies, cut a
winter’s worth of fi rewood and then
when the winter snows hit, they’d
slap on a pair of snowshoes and set
a trapline. They’d trap all winter
and come out in the spring and sell
their hides which they’d scraped
and stretched on the long winter
nights in the cabin.
In junior high with my paper
route earnings I bought some of
the old A.R. Harding books that
were advertised in FFG. In some
of the books the old timers would
talk about processing their moose,
which would provide their meat for
BASE CAMP
TOM CLAYCOMB
the upcoming winter. But, they
also made a big deal out of saving
the bones which they’d boil down
to make a broths and stews. You
can visualize how they made their
stew. At daylight before they took
off to run their traplines they’d
load up a Dutch oven with moose
bones, canned vegetables and snow
and put it on the fi replace. After
running their trapline all day they’d
come home at dusk to a hot pot of
stew.
Then, nine or 10 years ago, I
was helping a store up in Haines,
Alaska, during the Canadian
Thanksgiving spree. One day a
young lady pulled up to the back of
the store and asked if we could cut
up her moose bones for her to make
stew. We shrugged our shoulders
and said sure. She opened her van
and there was a whole moose car-
cass in back laying on a tarp. She
took all of the cut-up bones back to
her cabin to make stews and broths
for the winter.
So, I guess these backdrops are
what prompted me to save the
bones/fat off of our Thanksgiving
turkey and try to make a stew. Boy,
am I glad that I did. Turkey stew
has now come to be almost as enjoy-
able as eating the actual turkey
itself. Plus, it’s super easy to make.
INGREDIENTS
Ever since I’ve been making tur-
key stew, but I doubt that I’ve ever
used the same recipe. I’ll list the
general ingredients that I use but
feel free to improvise to your fam-
ily’s liking. I suppose that you can
throw in pretty much anything on
up to the proverbial kitchen sink.
Here’s how I make it. I’ll throw
in the turkey bones/fat, sliced
potatoes, squash, tomato, onion and
for sure cilantro. Cilantro is a key
ingredient. I also slice up one or
two jalapenos to add a little spice
and then garlic, salt and pepper. I
go light on the salt and let everyone
add what they prefer when served.
There’s nothing sacred about fol-
lowing my exact recipe. Tweak it to
what sounds good to you or what
ingredients that you have handy.
Cook until the vegetables are done.
You won’t believe how good it is.
Maybe I’m too much of a moun-
tain man/cowboy but it tastes best
when cooked in a Lodge Dutch
oven. For cooking at home, I use a
Dutch oven without legs. They’re
easier to use on the stove top or in
the oven without legs.
I know you’re thinking that there
has to be more to it than this. Nope,
it’s that simple.
So, this Thanksgiving when you
carve up your turkey don’t throw
away the bones and fat. Bag them
up and freeze them so you can later
make some turkey stew. Even on a
smaller turkey you’ll have enough
scraps to make two batches and
can stretch it out to three or four
batches on a large bird.
Take a moment to give thanks
for all of your many blessings. It
always improves my outlook on life
when I focus on all the blessings
I have instead of the one or two
things that I don’t have.
SIDE NOTE
FFG is still going strong. In fact,
I have an article in the November
issue which is currently on the
shelves. If you want to check out
some of the old A.R. Harding books
contact FFG or look on pages 40
and 44 in the current issue.