BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
Oregon seeing ‘light at
the end of the tunnel’
of COVID-19 surge
less than Thursday. There
were 176 COVID-19 patients
Oregon hospitalizations
in intensive care unit beds, up
for COVID-19 will peak at
seven from the day before.
a much lower level than ex-
Oregon Health & Science
pected as state officials see
University issued a new fore-
the steep spike driven by the cast Friday showing that
omicron variant showing
hospitalizations would peak
strong signs of waning.
lower but later than projec-
Oregon is seeing “the light tions last week.
at the end of the tunnel” with
Hospital patients with
infection rates dropping in
COVID-19 will likely top out
Portland and other areas of
at 1,200 on Feb. 6, according
the state.
to the forecast presented by
“The potential beginning Dr. Peter Graven, the OHSU
of a decrease is real,” Dr.
top statistical analyst.
Dean Sidelinger, the state’s
That’s far below the 3,000
health officer and top infec- cases OHSU forecast at one
tious disease expert, told re- point early in the year, and
porters Friday, Jan. 28.
below the 1,533 projected last
The health authority re-
week. The lower plateau has
ported 7,222 new COVID-19 pushed the peak five days be-
cases, down 649 cases from
yond the Feb. 1 mark forecast
Thursday’s report. The state last week.
reported 19 new deaths on
The current numbers have
Friday.
hospitals “near the breaking
Hospitals reported 1,125
point,” Sidelinger said.
patients with COVID-19, five
Hospital beds will be in
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
short supply for weeks as
each point on the back side of
the spike is equally dangerous
as the same levels going up.
“Hospitals have very little
space right now to handle
new cases of COVID-19 on
top of what they’re already
dealing with,” Graven said
in the OHSU forecast. “Our
hospitals and health care
workers remain under se-
vere strain.”
Sidelinger said the Port-
land metro area was ahead of
much of the rest of the state
in a drop in infections be-
cause it was hit earlier in the
omicron wave and also has a
very high level of vaccination.
But the drop would even-
tually extend to the whole
state over the next few weeks.
He said it would likely hold
despite Oregon neighboring
Idaho, which is currently go-
ing through a belated spike
in cases.
Hatchet
Continued from A1
He left around 11:30 a.m.
Before they started down
to the water, Noah, John and
Isaac managed to kindle a
fire that they used to cook
some flank steak from the
elk — probably the freshest
meat any of them had ever
enjoyed.
But they didn’t have a
lighter or even matches to get
a blaze going on the cold and
blustery January day.
They had a hatchet. And
a chunk of flint that came
with it.
The hatchet, Noah said,
was a gift this past Christ-
mas to John from their sis-
ter, Abbigail.
They were able to coax
enough sparks from the flint
to catch some dry tinder.
Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo
“It’s difficult,” was Noah’s
Snow blows across Brownlee Reservoir during the rescue of three
succinct description of start- stranded hunters on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022.
ing a fire the old-fashioned
when John said he heard an
way, with no assistance from
the boat to Moonshine Mine
butane or some other petro-
engine.
park.
leum accelerant.
But at first they couldn’t
Another group of search
The elk meat tasted fine,
see any lights.
and rescue volunteers was on
though, to the trio who had
They thought it might be
standby in case the trio had
only had bagels and coffee
an airplane.
hiked back up the mountain
for breakfast.
Noah threw back the
rather than wait on the shore.
Noah, a student at East-
hood of his coat and saw a
Ash said the boat trip on
ern Oregon University in
white glow.
the black water was one of
La Grande, John, who lives
It was the light bar on a
the more harrowing in his
in Eugene, and Isaac, who’s
Baker County Sheriff ’s Of-
experience.
from Prineville, wrapped
fice boat.
Brownlee is about 32 feet
the elk hide around the meat
Inside the vessel were
below full, and at that level
and maneuvered it, which
Sheriff Travis Ash and Ma-
rocks, normally well below
is to say rolled it as best they
rine Deputy Wayne Paxton.
the surface, pose a danger to
could, down through the
They had braved eight
boats, Ash said.
sage and the rock outcrops,
miles of icy whitecaps and
“We were running at about
to Brownlee.
blowing snow from the boat 7 mph,” he said.
They arrived at water’s
ramp at Moonshine Mine
Fortunately, they were able
edge around 1:30 p.m.,
park, owned by Idaho Power to establish a GPS track to
Noah said.
Company near Swede’s
follow back to the park, so
When they got to the
Landing on Brownlee.
they could run a bit faster on
river they sparked a second
“Thank goodness,” was
the return.
blaze — every bit as chal-
Noah’s reaction. “It was so
“Without GPS, navigation
lenging as the first — to
nice to see.”
would have been really diffi-
warm their frigid feet while
Neil Sr. had indeed
cult,” Ash said.
they waited for the elder
brought his boat from
The Chaneys were re-
Chaney to arrive by boat.
Baker City.
united around midnight.
But it wouldn’t start, said
Noah said his dad had fig-
Noah said he is extremely
Frances Chaney, Neil Sr.’s
ured he could get there by
grateful not only for the res-
wife and Noah and John’s
about 3 p.m., so it ought not
cue, but also for that hatchet
mother.
be a long wait.
and the flint that not only
Knowing the trio of hunt- kept the trio somewhat
But 3 p.m. passed.
ers was likely waiting to
And then 4 p.m.
warm, but also kept their
be picked up by boat, the
“We were sitting, waiting,
stomachs somewhat satisfied
Chaneys got word through
hoping that we would hear a
with flame-cooked venison.
a friend to Ash by way of a
boat eventually,” Noah said.
“Without that hatchet and
phone call at about 6:39 p.m. the fire, I have no doubt we
At the farthest edge of
Ash said that after hearing would have had some frost-
Oregon, at the bottom of a
the couple’s story, and know- bite,” Noah said. “Once it
canyon more than 2,000 feet
deep, the dark came fast. The ing that a snowstorm was
got dark our feet froze. We
moving in, he decided that
temperature dropped. The
had walked through knee-
a rescue operation couldn’t
wind rose.
deep snow, our socks were
They found an old dead
wait for the morning.
soaked. We had blisters. It
tree near a decrepit cabin.
He and Paxton brought
was miserable.”
They hauled the tree to
their makeshift camp on the
rocky, uncomfortable shore
and used the hatchet to chop
a pile of firewood.
Then they sliced some
backstrap from the elk and
had another meal.
By this point, Noah said,
• Lumber
the group concluded that
•
Plywood
their dad wasn’t going to
• Building Materials
show up with the boat.
They hunkered down for
• Hardware
what they expected would be
• Paint
a chilly and unpleasant night.
• Plumbing
But first they retrieved the
elk hide.
• Electrical
They came up with a
And much more!
schedule — one would wrap
up in the hide and try to
sleep for an hour while the
3205 10th Street
two others stayed close to
Baker City
the fire.
541-523-4422
They’d swap the hide ev-
ery hour.
Mon-Fri 7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Isaac was just coming to
Saturday 8 am - 5 pm
the end of his second hour
2390 Broadway, Baker City
Closed Sun
in the hide, about 9:55 p.m.,
Winter is here!
Cold weather can
mean icy spots in
shaded areas!
541-523-5223
COVID
Continued from A1
The rate for other counties:
• Grant, 29,358 per 100,000
(highest in Oregon)
• Malheur, 16,571 per
100,000
• Umatilla, 16,033 per
100,000
• Wallowa, 11,802 per
100,000
• Union, 12,204 per 100,000
• Morrow, 17,486 per
100,000
Relatively few children
who contract COVID-19 are
hospitalized, according to
OHA.
Just 0.6% of pediatric cases
have been hospitalized. The
hospitalization status of 58.1%
of pediatric cases is not known,
and 41.3% were not hospital-
ized, according to the agency.
There have been just three
COVID-19-related deaths
among Oregonians 17 and
younger.
N.E. Oregon Snowpack Report
Elevation
Measuring Site
Aneroid Lake
Anthony Lake
Beaver Reservoir
Bourne
County Line
Eilertson Meadow
Gold Center
High Ridge
Little Alps
Little Antone
Moss Springs
Mount Howard
Schneider Meadow
Taylor Green
Tipton
Wolf Creek
AVERAGE
7,300
7,125
5,150
5,800
4,530
5,440
5,340
4,980
6,200
4,560
5,850
7,910
5,400
5,740
5,150
5,630
Snow Water Equivalent (inches)
Now
Average
% of avg.
Last year
Snow
Depth
9.2
14.8
6.7
9.8
4.4
8.6
7.5
15.8
7.0
6.6
13.6
7.9
17.3
10.3
7.7
6.0
12.4
15.8
6.7
9.8
3.3
7.6
7.2
16.6
7.8
6.8
15.2
9.2
18.6
13.2
7.6
10.2
86
94
100
100
133
113
104
85
90
97
89
86
93
78
101
59
94
7.2
13.0
5.9
8.6
2.2
8.1
8.5
15.5
6.6
6.4
12.3
5.8
21.0
14.1
9.0
8.3
26
44
26
26
15
26
14
45
24
21
40
26
54
30
28
32
Source: U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service
Snowpack
January. But by the end of the
month the water content was
Continued from A1
7% below average.
That measurement was
The reservoir has fared
also below average at several
much better than many oth-
other sites in the Wallowas,
ers in the region during the
including Aneroid Lake (14%
drought.
below average), Moss Springs
As of Monday, Jan. 31, Unity (11% below), Taylor Green
Reservoir was at 27% of ca-
(22% below) and Mount
pacity.
Howard (14% below).
The situation is quite differ-
ent at the three-times-larger
What’s happening under
Phillips Reservoir, on the
the snow?
Powder River about 17 miles
Although water content is
southwest of Baker City.
an important statistic in pre-
The drought all but emp-
dicting spring and summer
tied Phillips last summer, and water supplies, it’s not the only
the reservoir, which supplies
factor, Morgan said.
irrigation water to more than
The condition of the soil can
30,000 acres in Baker Valley,
have a significant effect as well.
Last winter, for instance,
dropped to its lowest level
the snowpack was close to av-
since it first filled in 1968.
erage in most parts of North-
As of Jan. 31, the reservoir
eastern Oregon.
was at 2% of its capacity.
Yet the runoff was paltry, as
The key snowpack mea-
suring site for Phillips is near the rapidly receding Phillips
Reservoir illustrates.
Bourne, in the headwaters of
A main reason, both irri-
the Powder River basin.
gation district officials and
Despite the lack of snow
farmers and ranchers agreed,
since early January, the water
content in the snow at Bourne was that the ground was
still parched from the 2020
(the most relevant statistic;
snow depth doesn’t necessar- drought, so much of the melt-
ily reflect the amount of water ing snow soaked into the soil
since powdery snow has much rather than trickling into
streams and, eventually, into
less moisture than slush) re-
mained right at average on the reservoirs.
That problem might not be
final day of January.
so severe this spring.
The water content is a bit
Heavy rain fell across the re-
above average at a few mea-
gion last fall, before cold tem-
suring sites, including Ei-
peratures arrived and snow
lertson Meadow, along Rock
Creek in the Elkhorn Moun- began to accumulate.
And there’s evidence that
tains west of Haines. The wa-
ter content there is about 13% the soil is more damp now
than it was a year ago, which
above average.
That is down, however, from bodes well for a more robust
runoff in 2022.
earlier in the month, when
Jason Yencopal, Baker
the water content at Eilertson
Meadow was as much as 55% County’s emergency manage-
ment director, assisted with a
above average, on Jan. 8.
Higher in the Elkhorns, the manual snow survey at three
water content was slightly be- sites along the Anthony Lakes
low average at Anthony Lakes Highway on Jan. 26.
Unlike the automated sta-
and at Little Alps, a few miles
tions that measure snow at
to the east and about 800
most sites, the manual surveys
feet lower.
The tranquil January had a can yield information about
more noticeable effect in some soil moisture. Surveyors use
a hollow aluminum pole to
areas, including the Wallowa
collect a snow sample, and of-
Mountains.
ten the pole plunges into the
At Schneider Meadows
ground, bringing up a chunk
north of Halfway, for in-
stance, the water content was of soil as well as the snow.
Yencopal said these soil
as much as 26% above aver-
age after the blizzards of early samples were classified as
“damp,” as the soil stuck to-
gether when squeezed.
Morgan noted that al-
though little snow has fallen
over the past three weeks,
most of the snow from earlier
storms remains.
At lower elevations, the per-
sistent atmospheric inversion
kept temperatures near or be-
low freezing for much of the
month.
Higher in the mountains
temperatures were well above
freezing on many days, but
snow reflects solar radiation
effectively and although snow
depths dropped, water content
stayed relatively steady as the
snow become more dense.
An automated weather sta-
tion in a meadow just east of
Anthony Lake, for instance,
recorded temperatures as high
as 52 degrees, on Jan. 15, and
daytime highs above 40 de-
grees on 17 of the first 30 days
in January. The snow depth
dropped from 53 inches to 39
inches during the month.
(That station does not
measure water content, a sta-
tistic based on the weight of
the snow.)
At Schneider Meadows, de-
spite a drop in snow depth
from 69 inches on Jan. 8 to
53 inches on Jan. 31, the wa-
ter content there increased
slightly, from 16.7 inches to
17.3 inches.
Drought situation
The snowstorms of late
December and early Janu-
ary improved Baker County’s
drought ratings.
On Jan. 25, 58.5% of the
county, mostly in the cen-
ter, was in extreme drought,
the second-worst category,
below only exceptional
drought, in the five-level
drought rating system.
The remaining 41.5% of
the county was in severe
drought, which is one step
below extreme drought. The
areas in severe drought are at
the extreme western end of
the county, and roughly the
eastern one-thirds.
On Jan. 6, by contrast, 76.7%
of the county was rated in ex-
treme drought, and on Oct. 28,
2021, 81.4% of the county was
in that category.
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