On Thursday August 14 we took a ride up into the Blue Mountains. Our destination was the Elgin Station Bar and Grill in Elgin, Oregon for lunch but we always stop at various places along the way to look for birds or flowers or whatnot. It was a little cloudy but otherwise a beautiful day.
One of our favorite stops is a little snow fed pond called Quarry Pond that is only about 3 miles south of the highway right along Summit Road. It is about 5,000 feet in elevation and a wonderul high mountain location. This is an image of quarry pond taken on an earlier visit.
We parked by the water across the pond in the above image, and were looking for birds. We found a cooperative Hairy Woodpecker who was feeding on this aspen tree. The woodpecker was very quiet and stayed quite a while.
Looking back across the water we saw some dust rising and heard a lot of ruckus. We had seen a sign along the road on the way in that proclaimed "Sheep in the Area". Then we saw the sheep. It appears they decided it was time for a drink.
The sheep kept coming and were being moved around by several dogs of different shapes and sizes. There was one sheepherder on a quad track looking around but it certainly looked as if the dogs were in charge. Yes there were a lot of sheep.
There were lots of sheep. Fortunately they stayed on their side of the pond and we stayed on ours.
We mentioned the dogs. There were several of them herding the sheep. There was not a consistent species of dog rather a mixed bag. As we were leaving Quarry Pond driving along the road a large dog similar to the white one in this image was escorting 2 sheep along the road back into the flock. It certainly appeared the dogs had things all under control.
In addition to the sheep we also found some wildflowers at various locations. It is getting late in the season even at high elevations so many of the widflowers are spent and going to seed for this year.
Here is a small example of a wildflower called Fireweed. A very colorful flower that is a late bloomer and can be found in large patches.
We really enjoyed looking around and seeing all the sheep. They will most likely be in the high counttry until the weather starts turning.
Let us know if you have any questions
All the Best
George and Deanna
