Oregon is home to more than two dozen species of lizards and snakes — many found in our high desert. These reptiles range from legless to four-legged with five toes. Most lay eggs, yet some give birth to live young. Some eat insects and small animals, but others love plants. Many can swim in water, […]
Scott Bowler
Posted inOutside
A Truly Adaptable Fish
Lahontan cutthroat trout are a paragon of adaptation and legacy of the Pleistocene
Cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii ssp., is the most widespread species of the Salmonidae family in western North America. Populations occur from southern Alaska to northern California, on both sides of the Continental Divide and throughout the Great Basin — an area close to 210,000 square miles and one of the driest, yet most diverse, landscapes […]
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Rubber Rabbits and Cornbread
The many uses and attributes of an overlooked high desert plant
My head is crooked upward more often in autumn, my eye drawn toward vibrant trees. But when I venture to look down, I see beautiful crunchy fallen leaves and one of the most abundant and obvious plants blooming throughout Oregon’s high desert in fall: the rubber, or gray, rabbitbrush. Gray rabbitbrush, or Ericameria nauseosa, is […]
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Where to See Wildflowers in Spring Basin
Find color in one of the least-visited treasures of Oregon
How about a spring adventure in a gorgeous place you haven’t yet been, to find some wildflowers you don’t yet know? Spring Basin Wilderness is such a place: A small, protected wilderness area abounding in sweeping vistas, home to abundant varieties of animals and packed with rare desert wildflowers waiting to be found. One of […]
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Where to Follow Wildlife Tracks
Winter rain and snowfall make for wildlife stories worth investigating
“Oh wow – what’s that print?” I have this same reaction numerous times over when encountering animal tracks in the high desert. The “what is it?” aspect is the first and most obvious question to ask upon seeing tracks in dirt, mud or snow. But it’s especially interesting to investigate “why is that here?” and […]
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Where to Find Desert Wildflowers
Head east of Bend anytime between early spring into high summer to see Oregon’s high desert painted in color
I‘m often asked, “Where can I go to find wildflowers?” If I’m feeling snarky, I might reply, “Seriously!? Pretty much anywhere!” But truthfully, while there are abundant locations in which to find beautiful flowers, several sites in Oregon’s high desert really stand out. Those areas are listed below in bloom order, beginning in early spring […]
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An Awesome Lizard
Venture into the high desert to see side-blotched lizards strut and hunt
Lizards are awesome, right? Colorful and interesting. Like snakes, but faster and with legs. Many of the resident lizards in Oregon’s high desert have interesting and evocative names, such as the long-nosed leopard lizard or desert horned lizard or western whiptail. And then there’s the one that might benefit from a PR review: the ubiquitous […]
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A Dozen Desert Wonders
A short list of reasons to visit year-round
Oregon’s high desert – that vast expanse of sagebrush between Bend and Boise, Idaho, – is a truly spectacular place with wonders that reveal themselves through frequent visits and close, quiet observation. While many people confine their desert visits to the spring and fall to avoid summer’s heat and winter’s cold, the desert is enjoyable […]
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A Complicated Tree
The ubiquitous Western juniper warrants a closer look
If it seems to you like juniper are everywhere, well, they are. Western junipers are among the most common trees in Oregon — in some areas, essentially the only tree. Once thought to be all one species, recent scientific work has shown that there are actually two species of Western juniper, although the one you […]