I woke up to a cold grey morning, with spitting snow. The breakfast at the Rodeway Inn here in Medford is equal to that in any Best Western I’ve stayed at, where a night’s stay would cost half-again more. For my money, I’ll stay here whenever I’m passing through Medford!
It was snowing lightly but steadily as
I began my drive north on I-5, and the snow was beginning to fall a bit more
heavily. Then I heard on Jefferson Public Radio that the Interstate was closed at Roseburg! I was just coming up on the Old Highway 99
exit, so pulled off, figuring that I could drive through Dillard and over the Camas
Mountain Summit on Oregon Hwy 42 to Coos Bay and avoid the closed road.
When I pulled off the freeway, there
was a two-wheel drive pickup spun-out across the exit ramp underpass. There were several cars attempting to get on
the freeway southbound, and the northbound folks were attempting to get off the
Interstate. So, some of us drivers got
out to straighten the driver out and get her aligned to get on the freeway and
escape to the south. I followed a group
of cars and pickups past a dozen cars that were in the ditch, and around a
half-dozen trees that had fallen into the road, as far as Dillard, where most
of the folks pulled off.
I continued on to Highway 42, blazing
the route through about 4-to-6 inches of snow on the road. As I drove, I listened to the radio,
discovering that the Interstate was closed at Roseburg - for 115 miles!! As I continued up the highway, I passed
another half-dozen or more cars in the ditch, and another dozen trees that had
come down into the road. It was only me
and a 4x4 pickup following me that pushed on over the elevation 1,448 feet Summit. The drive down the Coquille River drainage
was uneventful, except for two or three places where there had been mudslides
into the road. I had to wait once for
the road to be cleared. Finally, the
snow was gone by the time I got to Myrtle Point, although the valley was quite
flooded.
I made it to Coos Bay, gassed up, and got
a late lunch at the Safeway Deli. Then, I
drove north on Highway 101 enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather.
I stopped south of Newport, at Ona
Beach State Park, where I’d read that a Magnolia Warbler had been seen last
month. I didn't find the warbler, but the 'usual suspects' were there.
 |
| "Sooty" Fox Sparrow |
There had been a bit of blowdown
from the winter storms, but the trail to the beach was open. The creek was high, and there was standing
water in parts of the park.
I started
back to the parking lot, then heard a familiar ‘chip’ note from the dune grass
to the north, and found a Black Phoebe actively foraging.
 |
| Is that a bird on the stump? |
The eBird program flagged this species as ‘rare’
for the site, but I took a few poor, distant photos to go with my description
on the checklist.
 |
| Yep! That's a Black Phoebe . . . |
I continued north on the Coast Highway
to Lincoln City, listening to the radio to judge what the road conditions were,
and decided to drive back on Oregon Highway 18 to Interstate 5, and north through
Portland into Washington State. I stopped
at Woodland for ‘supper’ at the Burgerville, which has pretty good
locally-sourced burgers with Tillamook Cheese, and complemented the meal with truffle shoestring fries. Then, it was a straight shot home, where I arrived
at 8:30 p.m. It was good to be in my own
bed after three weeks!
Ona Beach State Park eBird Checklist is Here
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