Sunday, September 20, 2009

Walk on the Wild Side?

Today I climbed up a hillside to a cave along the Dry River Canyon trail 17 miles east of Bend, Oregon, and snapped this picture. I was hoping to find petroglyphs, but unfortunately there were only odd patterns of mineral deposits made from dripping water. After my descent back down to the trail, which followed an ancient river bed, I walked for two miles through a desolate landscape of rock and juniper, with towering canyon walls on both sides of me. It occurred to me that mountain lions inhabited these parts so I began to listen closely and look around. If I had seen one from a distance, I probably would have tried to take its picture!

7 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What an interesting looking place, Lee! Amazing the very different landscapes you find in Oregon. I remember being really surprised just how different when I went from Portland to a town on the Deschutes, where I went white water rafting. Amazing! and wonderful!

Enjoy!

Sylvia

Small City Scenes said...

And what would you have done if you saw one close up??? Smile--say cheese!!! MB

Jim said...

Thanks for your comments on my blog Lee. That Ned Kelly movie with Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts is not brilliant but not bad.
I did send you a response, way back then, on your question about the Aussie player in the American baseball league. He's not very well known in Australia because baseball isn't a big sport here. Our big summer sport is cricket which is played in many Commonwealth countries and there are many cricket tours throught the year involving Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh etc.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

B SQUARED said...

Getting their picture is easy, getting them to smile that is the hard part.

Lowell said...

Hmmm...were you armed? Mountain lions are not to be petted. Do not scratch behind the ears! It is probably best not to take their picture. And watch your back, 'cause they never come at you from the front...

Now, I'm going to worry about you!

tapirgal said...

What a gorgeous red-rock foreground! Are you sure the kitty wasn't behind you in this cave? I remember being places and suddenly thinking that mountain lions live here, too. It adds a bit of an edge to the rest of the trip. The mineral deposits sound intriguing. Did you get photos of them?

Raksha said...

That's a very striking picture. I wish you had found petroglyphs, though--and NO mountain lions! Although it's probably better to find a mountain lion before he finds you.