Hope all is well for you all and you have enjoyed some summer. Not so much here yet.
Oregon has seen a very wet and cool spring so far - and we are all jonesing for some SUN! Lucky for us, central oregon gets some sun breaks - the west side of Oregon has not been as lucky. Joe and I were recently in Jawbone - where it has been VERY wet.
Salmon Falls, Little North Fork - wall to wall water.
Opal Creek - looking downstream from the bridge toward Opal Pool - the rock you can normally see is far below water.
Joe and I took advantage of a sunny day on Saturday and hiked into Alder Springs.
Squaw Creek was super high - normally this is just a small stream you can hop across without getting too wet.
Sweet, sweet central O
In other news - we are buying a house! in Bend! We are very excited. It is located on the west side of town (where we are now), 5 blocks from the river and downtown. We have been enjoying the conveniences of in town living and the biking. So this is great. Here are a few pics of our new home.
Well it certainly has been a while - almost a full year since this blog was last updated. 2009 went by in a blur of personal and professional transitions, and updating this fell by the way side. I thought it was time for an update. You may notice the blog title changed to Life in the Bone and Beyond. Joe and I moved on from Jawbone Flats in the fall of 09 and settled in Bend. We have truly been enjoying being back on the east side of the Cascades, among the Sage Brush and Ponderosas with the mountains in our back yard.
Joe now works in building maintenance for Mt Bachelor - a year round gig with a sweet view - can't really complain. Plus, a free ski pass for me is one of the perks. I have spent more time on the mountain this season than I have in years. And it has been awesome.
Jackie and I - our first day of the season
A beautiful day on the back side of Bachelor
Connor moved out to Bend in January to attend COCC and do some skiing. He has been living with us while he gets settled and enjoying central Oregon too.
Connor and Jackie ready to ski off the summit of Bachelor
I took on the Executive Director job with Opal Creek in October. It is great to still be able to go to the magnificent forest that provides such a contrast to our high desert surroundings. I feel very fortunate to still be working on behalf of such important programming and have been learning so much in the last 6 months. My brain is a bit over taxed some days, but happy.
We held our 3rd annual Thanksgiving in the Bone festivities again this year. Nothing like giving thanks under the tall trees.
Sara and I on Sacred Rock Thanksgiving morning
Murphy is excited he still gets to visit Jawbone and all his friends there. He gets excited when we turn on the North Fork Road - he just knows he is going back to dog paradise.
We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a hike in Shevlin Park - the park we got married in.
Hoss came to visit in January for Connor's birthday.
Hoss and Connor in Dry River Canyon
Life is good - we are working hard, playing outside often, taking advantage of all this beautiful landscape has to offer.
Jackie and Connor dog walking on the Deschutes River Trail
We miss you all and hope to see you soon. I will update this more frequently again, now that life has returned to some sort of normal - at least for now. Hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods. Come visit us anytime!!! Much love, Katie, Joe, and Murphy.
Wow time flies - and it has been over 2 months since this was updated! Crazy. Things have been busy as usual in our lives. Our friend, and fellow Jawbonite, Adam moved on in April after 6 years in Jawbone. We threw him a big party in mid-March, complete with crazy weather and lots of crazy folks...a'int no party like a jawbone party...things won't be the same around here with out Mims goofy laugh.
Adam and Kaola take the first load out
Winter staff enjoy a sunny day in the fort
I went back to NY for a visit at the end of March. It was great to see the family and meet the newest Ryan - Tessa. My Mom and I made it to Boston to visit my Aunt and Uncle who are moving to Atlanta in June.
Dinner with Mom and Aunts and Uncles in Cambridge Baby Tessa
Duncan - the spitting image of my brother Tim.
When I returned to Oregon, the season was here. Seasonal staff moved in and the population of Jawbone doubled overnight. Before long, kids were back in the forest and the tree frogs were chirping - sure signs of spring. Joe has taken on the Facilities Director job here and is doing a great job organizing and steering the department. The Nellie's rebuild project is behind schedule, but progressing. It takes a lot to get building supplies back here!
5 trucks make 17 trips with concrete trailers - crazy day in the bone
2009 Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center Staff
Hoss, Jill, and Liam flew out for a week at Easter. They stayed in Cabin 7 and had a "grand" time as Hoss would say. We saw three seasons that week - winter, spring, and summer - sleet, rain, snow, and sunshine...springtime in the Oregon cascades.
Liam and Connor put in a gray water system for the temporary laundry room Hoss and Connor kicking it in the sunshine getting ready to go for a hike Family portrait on the old truck...what tourists...
Life is good. Opal Creek has been challenged by our current economic times, like many organizations and companies. Thanks to some smart planning, long term investments, and a solid board of directors, we are out of the woods for the time being and on our way to success.
Joe and I learned at the last board meeting that the board voted to approve my transistioning into the Executive Director position with Opal Creek. A transition plan will be crafted and voted on in July, and Joe and I will move from Jawbone at the end of the season in November. I feel so fortunate to continue to be able to work on behalf of the programs that are my heart and the forest that feeds my soul. I see big things for Opal Creek and am excited to embark on this next adventure.
We have missed central Oregon since we left 4 years ago. This opportunity allows us to return to the Bend area. It is as close to Jawbone Flats as Portland and represents a new market the organization hasn't had contact with. So, the next chapter begins.
Hope you are all well and weathering the stormy world smiling.
And check back again soon - I promise I will update more often!
Haven't written much since the crazy Christmas storm. Kaola and Connor returned to Jawbone on 1/5 - we were still snowed in, so they did have to walk 9 miles in the rain and snow. About a week later our contractors plowed the road, and vehicle access was restored mid January.
Not too much to tell at this time - work on the Nellie's project (our new utility building) has slowly gained momentum the last two weeks. It was stalled due to weather.
The 5 winter residents of Jawbone are enjoying the quiet, and getting ready for the upcoming season, arriving in 6 short weeks.
Joe and I have been getting out and visiting friends. We treated ourselves to two nights at a hot spring resort in the Columbia Gorge after our three weeks of Christmas hell. Our bodies and minds were worked, and the quiet days soaking in hot water were wonderful. We were also able to watch Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on TV since were were out and about. What a day.
Connor, Joe, and I were in Bend last week for some skiing and visiting and Connor and I skiied another more local mountain earlier this week. It is nice to have road access and be able to get out and enjoy some other parts of Oregon. Hope you are all well!
Much love until we see you again - Katie and Joe
A few pics of the last few weeks...
Connor starts off for Jawbone
Jawbone Sunset Watching the sunset Caretakers - taking care of business - clearing trees on the road Some friends come to visit - and midnight basketball ensues
...and Jawbone was screwed. We have had quite the adventure leading up to Christmas Day here in Jawbone.
We returned to Jawbone on 12/14 from a 5 day vacation in Bend. Connor and Kaola were leaving for their 3 week holiday break on 12/15 – so it was our last chance to get out and see some friends before the winter really set in. And set in it did. Right away, Adam was concerned about the flume freezing. Temperatures in the single digits were expected – and for a few days in a row. We drained camp, gathered as much water as we could, and capped the flume line. We settled in, relaxed that we had thought about everything ahead of time, and felt pretty good about it all. The ONAN (our back up propane generator) was working, and we enjoyed 4 hours of power at night, and a few in the morning. This was pretty close to our normal existence, except the outhouse was getting a lot more use.
A few days later the temperatures had warmed and we thought we could turn the water back on. We headed up to the top to take the cap off and send water down and had no reason to think all wasn’t going to go smoothly. At the top, it was discovered that the cap had leaked and had sent water down the pipe anyway, our good intentions and thinking ahead thwarted by a faulty cap. Temperatures were supposed to drop again, and we didn’t want to send water down and risk it freezing in the pipe over the next few days. So the leaky cap was placed back on, and the pipe taken out of the barrel so water couldn’t travel past that point.
Adam and I returned to camp later that night, the last night we could drive, the back up generator had quit. So now we were without power entirely. The snow continued, and Adam was scheduled to leave for Michigan leaving Joe and I here until the 3rd solo. Joe and I had gotten ready for this stint and were actually looking forward to a quiet Christmas and 5 year anniversary with Jawbone to our selves. With the complication of water coming down the pipe through the leaky cap, Adam pushed his ticket home back to Christmas Day. He was worried that the ice in the pipe may cause a water hammer, and a break in the pipe which takes at least 3 people to fix.
On 12/20, we tried water again down the line. We couldn’t hold pressure – but it would come all the way up and then drop. We assumed that it was ice making its way through the pipe. On the Solstice, Jawbone was getting buried, and we were trying to keep up with the shoveling as well as trying to get the water back on. It had been 7 days without running water and a hot shower was sounding nice to all of us. Adam and I got ready to head up the line, breaking trail the whole way through pretty deep snow. When we got to the trucks in the meadow, the snow in front was melted and there was water running across the road. I thought this was simply a good sign that things were warming up. Adam, with his years of caretaker knowledge, knew better and explained this was a bad sign. Indeed as we got closer, we saw water spurting out of the ground, right about where the pipe would run. Our spirits dashed, and all thoughts of a hot shower put aside, Adam and I headed up to cap the line again.
We trudged through the snow, and at the top Adam volunteered to cap it so I didn’t need to take snow shoes off. The pressure in the line was so great, that as he tried to put the cap on, his finger was sucked into the pipe. He was knocked forward and lost the tip of his finger. He was in severe shock, and we were at the top of the line. He remained calm, I put snow on his finger, radioed Joe in camp to make his way toward us with first aid supplies, he used his capilene shirt as a compress, and I sent him down to meet up with Joe. Meanwhile, the pipe is still open without the screen on it, sucking everything through. Adam’s last words to me were to take the pipe out of the water to cap it, and to be careful. That meant taking the dam apart, and hefting the pipe out of the water. While I am pretty strong, and have gotten stronger and more confident in my time here, I wasn’t sure I had the physical strength to move the large rocks on top of the pipe nor the pipe full of water. It must have been adrenaline because in 5 minutes I had the dam apart and the cap on the line. I walked down to see what was up with Joe and Adam. Joe doctored his finger, we sent emails to our WMI friends for advice, and we were thankful for our WFRs. After Adam had come out of shock, a couple of hours later, we were able to get a better look at the finger and realized that he didn’t lose the tip. He was still pretty freaked out, and wanted to leave. At this point, this was a 12 mile snowshoe out, through an untracked 3 feet of snow. We realized all three of us would need to go. By the next day, he was feeling better, and we decided it was safer to stay and monitor the finger than risk the hike out.
Now we were down to 2 in regards to shoveling – and it was still intensely snowing outside. We had a break in the line, that was at least a foot and ½ underground, no running water, no power, etc. Things were getting ugly. We were running everything off the commissary batteries – and only turning them on a few times a day to check in with Tom. Through it all we struggled to keep up our positive attitudes, I cooked a big meal every night by headlamp – and the good food at the end of the day went a long way.
On 12/23 – there was a break in the weather and Tom sent in two of our contractors for the Nellie’s project. They had left their track hoe up here before the snow. They snowmobiled in, got the track hoe working and out of its spot, and dug up the broken pipe, which turned out to be 3 feet underground. They helped Joe and Adam replace the pipe, while I tried to keep up with the shoveling. The next day was Christmas Eve – we were starting to feel better about things. The pipe fix had gone smoothly – they gave us use of their track hoe before they snow mobiled out – and we thought we may have turned the corner. The contractors also brought in a tetanus booster that Tom had arranged – and I administered in to Adam that night by lantern light.
Christmas Eve started with us taking the new pelton wheel apart, and Joe and I headed up the line to un cap it. We sent water down, flushed the line, and I came back down to help Adam put the Pelton Wheel back together. Joe stayed at the top of the flume to send water down when we had the wheel back together. This time when we sent water down, we broke the rupture disk. This is designed to happen so that the pipe doesn't break, but still means a lot of work to fix. After a fire and some lunch, we were back at it. We replaced the rupture disk and Adam and I headed up with head lamps through the driving snow to try to send water down again. And this time IT WORKED! We restored power to camp about 9pm on Christmas Eve. Water would come on Christmas Day – and for Christmas we all got hot showers.
A few pictures of our adventures:
Adam and Joe smiling after the the finger incident.
Dr. Joe attending to Adam's finger.
Moving the generator, on a kayak, to attempt to charge in the batteries - the only source of power for about a week.
Sorry the story was so long – but it has been an incredible 10 days. We are now caught up with shoveling - thanks to Joe's huge efforts on the lodge yesterday. We lost the front porch to cabin 7, and our wood shed took a dig and will need to be replaced. But porches and woodsheds can be rebuilt and fingers heal. We were challenged both mentally and physically through the last 10 days – and we all reached points where we thought we couldn’t do it. But alas – things are getting back to normal here. Still no vehicle access, but we’ll see what the next 10 days of warm weather and rain do – if that’s what happens, could turn to snow.
Hope you are doing well – and that our paths cross soon. Winter in Jawbone, always an adventure, and not easily forgotten.
December has arrived in full force, showing us that Mother Nature was only kidding us with that unseasonably warm November. We have our first snow on the ground, and temperatures have been in the teens the past few nights. The Little North Fork has frozen in many spots, meaning that the smaller Flume Creek (our water and power source) is frozen for sure. Adam and Joe were wise - and drained camp ahead of time and removed the flume from the water. Jawbone is currently without running water and regular power. We are running the propane generator in the morning and evenings to keep computers and radios charged. It warmed up today and is snowing nicely outside. We are expecting over a foot of snow between tonight and tomorrow - winter is here and once again is beautiful in Jawbone.
Here's a few shots. Hope you are all well and that our paths cross soon!
Time is certainly flying by - November went by in a flash of end of season stuff, a wedding in Hilton Head, winter shopping, and a large Thanksgiving feast here in Jawbone.
Joe's little sister Sheena got married in Hilton Head in early November - so we made the journey to South Carolina to join in the festivities. Good times, great weather, and lots of good folks. We saw lots of great birds, dolphins and alligators!
Just married! Dolphins even showed up for the ceremony!
The view from the villa at sunset.
All dressed up...
We returned from Hilton Head for the last week of the season, wrapped up projects, and had our end of year celebrations. Another successful season in Jawbone Flats - great staff and great programs. Winter shopping, the supplying for 4 months of winter, took much of our time with many trips to the city. The fraud department from the bank kept calling on all the unusual charges - could have been the $1000 at the butcher that raised their eyebrows!
And before we knew it - Thanksgiving was here. We hosted 50 of our nearest and dearest here in Jawbone. Five birds in all - two smoked, two oven roasted, and one bacon infused oven roasted. In addition - 22 desserts, and more sides than you can imagine. It was a wonderful feast - full of great food, good friends, and lots of laughs. Our stomachs hurt for days from the laughing and the food!
Rob, Colleen, Jackie, Bouch, and Cindi hanging outside of Cabin 6 (our house).
The smoking birds
Connor, George, Meghan, and Kaola carrying the pies up for the feast.
Jackie and I - we love to laugh...and always find ourselves very amusing!
That's all for now. Winter is here, no snow yet - but the sun sets behind the ridge at 11am in Jawbone, a sure sign of the season. We are looking forward to a Jawbone Christmas this year - but will miss all of our friends and family back east. Next year...
Hope you are all well and enjoying the holiday season. We should have more time to update this more regularly now that the slower season is here, so check back in on us again soon.
In other news - we are buying a house! in Bend! We are very excited. It is located on the west side of town (where we are now), 5 blocks from the river and downtown. We have been enjoying the conveniences of in town living and the biking. So this is great. Here are a few pics of our new home.
