COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021
Single woman fears she may never be a wife and mother
because no one has ever wanted
to marry me. I have wanted kids
my entire life and thought I would
have three before I was 30. Now I
cry every day thinking how I may
never be in a relationship with
anyone who will love me enough
to marry me, or have kids with me
because marriage never happened.
I have a college fund set up for
my “future” children and have
done everything in my life to pre-
pare to be a mom. I paid off my
student loans early, got a car that
was perfect for car seats and a dog
that’s a good breed for kids. I just
don’t know where to turn next. —
Yearns To Be Wife/Mom
Dear Abby: I am a 31-year-old
woman who has been in many
relationships since high school.
No engagements, however,
although four of the men men-
tioned they wanted to marry me. I
lived with three of them.
I’m a former model, have
almost completed my second mas-
ter’s degree and hold a steady
government job. I don’t under-
stand why I feel so depressed just
CADDIS
Continued from Page B1
turned up around 1922. Little did
Troth know that his caddis pat-
tern would go on to imitate virtu-
ally any species of caddis, as well
as some stonefl ies. A truly revolu-
tionary fl y.
Dry-fl y fi shing — fi shing fl ies
on the water surface — is thought
to be the pinnacle of trout angling.
Norman McClean’s “A River
Runs Through It,” centered in
Missoula, Montana, sensational-
ized fl y-fi shing, invigorating the
GREENHORNS
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
A glorious pool prime for drifting a
fl uff y, high-fl oating caddis for wild
trout.
Dear Yearns: You seem to be
a nice, accomplished woman with
traditional values. Could it be
possible that you are so focused
on getting married that you have
chased away your suitors? From
what you have written, you may
have put the cart before the horse.
Allow a relationship to play out
naturally before focusing on a
rush to the altar.
Although you yearn for mar-
riage before maternity, it’s
important you don’t forget there
may be other options. Marriage
isn’t in the cards for everyone.
Some single women focus on their
careers and/or adopt children who
need loving homes. You could be
one of them if you expand your
horizons.
Dear Abby: I am currently
struggling with a diffi cult parent.
Actually, I have struggled with
this relationship as far back as I
can remember. My parent can be
extremely hurtful and nasty at
times, and when it happens, I feel
stripped naked. I become almost
paralyzed with pain and can
barely stomach being in the same
room with this person. Please help
me fi nd a way to handle these epi-
sodes appropriately with some
level of functionality. I’m in my
50s now and in menopause, which
is making everything more diffi -
cult. — Sad Beyond Words
Dear Sad: This isn’t a new
problem; it’s a very old one. Ask
yourself what this person has to
off er you other than more abuse.
Warn your parent that you will
no longer tolerate being treated
the way you have been, and the
moment it starts, leave the prem-
ises or hang up the phone. Repeat
your message if/when it hap-
pens again, and do not go back
for more abuse. This is called
drawing the line (better late than
never) and protecting yourself. If
apologies are off ered, fi ne. If not,
you are free.
fi shing world to take up the sport.
McClean’s wit suggested purity
in fi shing dry fl ies through bib-
lical reference, saying “Our father
was a Presbyterian minister and
a fl y-fi sherman who tied his own
fl ies and taught others. He told
us about Christ’s disciples being
fi shermen, and we were left to
assume, as my brother and I did,
that all fi rst-class fi shermen on the
Sea of Galilee were fl y-fi shermen
and that John, the favorite, was a
dry-fl y fi sherman.”
While anyone can fi sh dry-
fl ies, sans the pretention, there
are arguably few other fl ies or fl y-
fi shing methods that compare to
charming wild trout with an elk
hair caddis.
A creamy puff of elk rump
bobs on a dead-drift, cascading
into the head of a mountain
stream pool. Unable to resist the
temptation, a muscly rainbow
with a cotton-candy pink lat-
eral stripe rockets to the sur-
face, engulfi ng the fl y in an eager
splash as it drifts over the emerald
depths. A quick fl ip of the wrist
sets the hook, and the fi ght
ensures.
Admiring the remarkable
hues of salmonid perfection from
the clear, cold cascades is what
dreams are made of. Dreams that
can be reality for anyone willing
to chase them with an elk hair
caddis, July being a fi ne month on
streams like the Wallowa River,
Umatilla and Walla Walla.
———
Brad Trumbo is a fi sh and wild-
life biologist and outdoor writer
in Waitsburg, Washington, where
he also actively serves the Walla
Walla-based Blue Mountain
Pheasants Forever chapter. For
tips and tales of outdoor pur-
suits and conservation, visit www.
bradtrumbo.com.
Continued from Page B1
Start by driving Highway 7 south of Baker City for 49 miles to the Middle
Fork John Day Road (Grant County Road 20), turning right at a sign for
Bates State Park. Drive west on Road 20 for a little more than eight miles,
then turn right on Forest Service Road 4550 (there’s a black mailbox on the
left side of Road 20 at the intersection).
Drive Road 4550, which passes beneath cliff s of a conglomerate formation,
for 1.6 miles to a junction, where Road 4550 heads left and crosses Granite
Boulder Creek. Continue straight on Road 4559 for 1.9 miles. Just before
the road crosses the creek, there’s a pullout on the left, and a green gate
with a sign noting that the route is closed to motor vehicles.
Yet though the Green-
horns lack the sort of sig-
nature precipitous peak
or limpid lake that distin-
guishes other parts of the
Blues, the range is, at least
to my eye, not so dissimilar
from its nearest neighbor,
the Elkhorns.
The area around Vinegar
Hill, for instance, with its
slopes of fl eecefl ower and
sage, its clumps of white-
bark pines and subalpine
fi rs, could adequately fi ll in
for places in the Elkhorns
as the backdrop for a fi lm.
The Greenhorns are geo-
logic siblings to the Elk-
horns as well, a mixture of
ancient sedimentary rocks
and granitic outcrops. In
both ranges the boundary
between these strata were
prime places to dig for gold,
and the Greenhorns, like
the Elkhorns, were scoured
thoroughly by miners.
One exception to this
kinship of stone is also the
source of the Greenhorns’
name.
Serpentine, a rock with a
distinctive green shade and
smooth, almost greasy, tex-
ture, is rare in the Elkhorns
but prevalent in the east
part of the Greenhorns.
A prominent knob made
mostly of serpentine — a
feature just east of Vin-
egar Hill that 19th cen-
tury miners christened as
the Green Horn — lent
its name both to the sur-
rounding mountains and to
its largest mining commu-
nity, Greenhorn.
My wife, Lisa and I,
accompanied by our kids,
Olivia and Max, spent the
weekend of July 10 and
11 camped at Deerhorn
campground, on the banks
of the Middle Fork about
fi ve miles downriver from
Highway 7.
On Sunday morning,
July 11, we hiked a route
I’ve wanted to try for more
than 30 years, since I fi rst
read about it in William L.
Sullivan’s classic “Listening
For Coyote,” the account of
his 1,300-mile solo back-
pack trip across Oregon in
1985.
In the book, Sullivan
describes ascending the
Greenhorns by way of the
Tempest mine. He writes
about the 4,000 feet of ele-
vation he gained — a chal-
lenge that tapped his daily
allotment of 15 pieces of
hard candy — but we sam-
pled only a 2.5-mile sec-
tion that doesn’t include
the steep grades Sullivan
climbed.
The “trail” is in fact the
remnants of the road that
leads to the Tempest mine,
following Granite Boulder
Creek most of the way.
We started hiking
around 10 a.m., in deference
to the infernal heat that
has marked this summer.
Although major wildfi res
denuded much of the for-
ests on the southern slopes
of the Greenhorns over
the past quarter century or
so, the canyon of Granite
Boulder Creek is unscathed.
weather
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feet around. I can scarcely
imagine the toil involved
in felling them, and then
hacking out the notches,
all without gas-powered
equipment.
Just beyond the cabin
the road crosses Granite
Boulder Creek on a bridge.
Or, rather, the remnants
of a bridge. There are two
logs, butting against each
other, and one has been
cut fl at to make for surer
footing.
We continued up the
canyon, on slightly steeper
grades, for about half a
mile to the crossing of
Blackeye Creek, another
chilly stream about the
The mature forest of
ponderosa pine, tamarack,
Douglas-fi r, lodgepole pine
and Engelmann spruce cast
shade across the road, and it
was pleasantly cool.
It’s a relatively easy
hike. Besides being much
wider than a typical trail
— four people could walk
abreast in most places —
it’s also well-maintained.
We walked between the
cut ends of several freshly
sawed logs that, had
they been intact, would
have posed considerable
obstacles.
About half a mile from
the trailhead — actually
it’s just a wide spot in the
access road — the road
crosses Lemon Creek.
There’s no bridge, but
we had no trouble get-
ting across the diminutive
stream with dry feet.
(Keeping our feet out
of the piles of fresh cattle
dung was a bit more of a
challenge.)
Our main goal was
Lemon Cabin, about 1.9
miles from the trailhead.
It’s a typical miners shack,
although rather larger than
most I’ve seen, with two
connected sections, one
slightly lower than the
other.
The logs are large, too
— some better than two
IF YOU GO
FAMILY
OWNED
215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440
northwestfurnitureandmattress.com
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
53/67
Kennewick
53/78
St. Helens
56/83
Hood River
59/86
63/94
57/85
52/85
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
A thunderstorm
around
Mostly sunny
Sunny and nice
90 54
93 53
Baker City
51 98 55
Comfort Index™
La Grande
4
59 96 60
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
4
6
55 96 60
Comfort Index™
4
Eugene
91 61
90 56
89 55
5
6
8
89 55
93 53
5
3
5
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 119°
Low: 33°
Wettest: 3.36”
90°
54°
92°
68°
94°
53°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
0.00
Month to date
Trace
Normal month to date 0.36
Year to date
2.44
Normal year to date
6.07
0.00
0.00
0.40
5.93
9.74
0.00
0.29
0.41
15.27
14.08
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
20%
NNW at 6 to 12 mph
9.8
0.30
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
9% of capacity
58% of capacity
33% of capacity
66% of capacity
23% of capacity
39% of capacity
OREGON
High: 101°
Low: 41°
Wettest: Trace
Ontario
Sunriver
Astoria
Excessive rain hit north-central Pennsylva-
nia in the early morning hours of July 17,
1942. Smethport received 30.8 inches in
4.5 hours, a state record.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
SUN.
5:21 a.m. 5:22 a.m.
8:36 p.m. 8:35 p.m.
1:46 p.m. 3:03 p.m.
12:19 a.m. 12:43 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
Death Valley, Calif.
Leadville, Colo.
Manhattan, Kan.
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
52/79
583 cfs
115 cfs
92 cfs
41 cfs
163 cfs
26 cfs
First
Jul 17
Full
Jul 23
Last
Jul 31
New
Aug 8
50/95
Beaver Marsh
48/89
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
54/86
Coos Bay
57/90
Jordan Valley
59/99
Paisley
51/95
Frenchglen
57/100
Hi/Lo/W
68/56/s
93/56/pc
96/73/pc
63/51/s
92/58/pc
64/53/s
85/53/s
92/61/pc
90/59/pc
88/53/s
98/73/pc
88/65/s
98/68/pc
93/61/t
90/61/pc
97/71/pc
92/52/pc
89/54/pc
Grand View
Arock
57/102
62/107
61/103
Klamath Falls
50/94
Lakeview
48/94
McDermitt
58/99
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
67/52/pc
Bend
94/58/s
Boise
105/77/pc
Brookings
63/52/s
Burns
98/58/pc
Coos Bay
64/50/s
Corvallis
85/52/s
Council
102/66/pc
Elgin
97/57/pc
Eugene
89/52/s
Hermiston
98/70/s
Hood River
86/63/s
Imnaha
102/69/pc
John Day
100/64/pc
Joseph
97/62/pc
Kennewick
99/65/s
Klamath Falls 94/52/pc
Lakeview
94/53/pc
Diamond
57/99
Fields
63/98
MON.
Boise
70/105
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
59/104
Silver Lake
50/91
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
52/98
58/94
50/63
Ontario
68/106
Burns
50/96
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
52/96
55/94
Oakridge
Council
63/102
71/104
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
50/64
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.
56/100
53/94
52/83
90 62
58/98
51/98
John Day
52/97
Sisters
Florence
50/64
Halfway
Granite
52/89
Baker City
52/89
6
3
52/85
55/89
Redmond
94 50
4
4
Corvallis
57/100
53/85
Newport
Enterprise
55/96
59/96
Monument
58/91
Idanha
Salem
49/61
9
56/97
La Grande
58/89
Maupin
Hazy sun and
very warm
Elgin
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
67/100
66/97
61/95
50/68
Clear
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
64/99
Vancouver
56/84
TIllamook
TONIGHT
same size as Lemon Creek.
From Blackeye Creek
it’s another 3.5 miles or
so — and more than 1,500
feet of elevation — to the
Tempest mine.
We had neither the time
nor the energy to go that
far.
Which is not to say we
were in a rush.
We were quite happy to
stop occasionally to pick
huckleberries. Most had
yet to ripen, but in a few
weeks there should be a
bounty.
Which makes it possible
to take a Blue Mountains
hike in the Greenhorns
with purple fi ngers.
SUN.
MON.
City
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Lewiston
100/71/pc 96/72/pc
Longview
78/51/s 78/54/s
Meacham
94/57/pc 90/59/pc
Medford
98/64/s 94/62/pc
Newport
61/49/s 61/52/pc
Olympia
80/48/s 80/52/s
Ontario
106/75/pc 97/73/pc
Pasco
100/63/s 98/68/pc
Pendleton
95/65/s 92/68/pc
Portland
85/56/s 84/57/s
Powers
79/54/s 78/54/pc
Redmond
97/55/s 94/55/pc
Roseburg
90/57/s 89/57/s
Salem
89/54/s 87/55/s
Spokane
95/67/pc 93/69/pc
The Dalles
94/66/s 92/68/pc
Ukiah
91/53/pc 85/49/t
Walla Walla 97/70/pc 93/71/pc
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
Hazy sun
Hot with hazy sun
67
50
93
54
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Hazy sun
Hot with hazy sun
83
59
103
71
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Warm with hazy sun
Hazy sunshine
78
51
86
44
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Hazy sun and hot
Plenty of sunshine
97
62
94
65
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Hazy sun; very hot
Warm with hazy sun
98
55
96
60