Over the last couple of months, my wife, Sue—a long-time member of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and student of the beauty and ecology of butterflies—has conducted several butterfly counts in the region. She counts them because their numbers are vital to knowing what’s going on in our world, and she loves to teach […]
Oregon Explored
Posted inOutside
Go Here 8/10-8/17
Relay for Love Wedding Chapel This popular event invites friends and families to celebrate life and joy with a fun day of running, walking and ceremonies to honor cancer victims, survivors and caregivers. This year’s participants will experience an extra dose of joy and fun with a different kind of ceremony: one that involves a […]
Posted inOutside
Fire in the Sky
Where to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower
Throughout this month, the sky might look brighter than usual, thanks to the Perseid Meteor Shower. The annual astral event is caused by the Earth’s passage through the debris stream of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Thanks to a little extra gravity from Jupiter pulling on the comet, this year’s meteor shower is expected to be one […]
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The Alligator Lizard: A Creature by Many Names
This alligator lizard shown at right was serious about living up to its name as it tried to eat Caleb’s finger. They met while we were exploring the Lava Beds National Monument back in the 1980s when my wife Sue and our kids were pursuing and tagging Monarch butterflies on the northern part of the […]
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Go Here 8/3-8/10
Haulin’ Aspen Twenty-six-point-two miles seem too far to run? Start off with 13.1 miles—just half the distance a the regular marathon. Thanks to the Oregon Half Marathon Series, there are plenty of opportunities afoot for both experienced and beginner runners. In fact, one of the most popular races in the series, Haulin’ Aspen, is Saturday, […]
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Keeping the Machine Running
Physical therapy helps with injuries, performance
Serena Gordon was coming up to the halfway point of the Cascades High 100 bike race when she crashed. “I was on pace to beat my time from last year,” she said. “I don’t remember crashing at all, but from what I can piece together, I probably washed my tire out in a loose corner […]
Posted inCulture
The Only Local Nature Guide You Need
Bend author’s new book covers the spectrum of local nature, with humor, facts and stunning photography
Let’s say you’d like to know more about the Central Oregon outdoors. Before you head out on your next adventure, you might drop a field guide for birds into your backpack. Plus one or two for wildflowers. Then one more for mammals, and another for trees and shrubs. Or you could take just one book. […]
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The World Beneath Bend
Wanderlust’s cave tours packed
with science, adventure
This summer, intrepid explorers can add one more environment to their local bucket list: Bend’s underground. Wanderlust Tours is offering lava tube cave tours, taking visitors deep beneath the high desert to explore a cavernous world. Tourists can visit Skeleton Cave or Boyd Cave, two distinct caverns that exemplify the common features of lava caves. […]
Posted inOutside
Quite Possibly the Creepiest Bug You’ve Ever Seen
Right here in our very own backyard —quite literally—is the strangest insect we will ever see: The Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus fuscus). However, to begin with, it’s not a cricket, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Jerusalem. (How it got that name is as baffling as how it got here.) It really belongs in a […]
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The Plight of the Western Pond Turtle
In this helter-skelter age it comes as a shock (to me) when suddenly someone says, “Hey, when was the last time you saw, this—or that—animal?” And that was the case when my herpetologist pal, Jesse Short from Central Oregon Community College, sent me photos of a western pond turtle, all excited about spotting it on […]