MOONLIGHT CANOEING THE WOOD RIVER WETLANDS

Nancy and I went moonlight canoeing into the Wood River Wetlands tonight with her brother and his wife Ann, and two other couples.

We left the staging area just at sunset, 9:00 PM, with a full moon just rising above the eastern horizon; a perfect evening. There was no wind, zero, the temperature was just right, at around 75˚.

Amongst the eight of us everyone except Nancy and I were in single Kayaks; Nancy and I were together in an aluminum canoe. In the still waters, with no wind, we seemed to do as well as the Kkyakers.

It soon got dark after our departure. Everyone had adorned himself or herself with, Cyalume, "Glow Sticks", prior to departure; it was stunning to see all of us weaving our ways through the wetlands channels flashing our ghostly, polychromatic, lights. The moonlight provided us with adequate light to navigate the channels.

As we navigate through the rushes one could hear the, "splash kerplunk", of beavers warning others of our approach. We also sent numerous Black Crowned Night Herons and several Great Egrets to flying away from their roosts. We all felt bad for disturbing them so soon after they had settled in for the night. Nancy and I had a beaver swimming right along beside our canoe for several seconds; Nancy had our big flashlight shinning right on it. We saw several River Otters too, but they were much shyer and would keep to a greater distance from us.
Our channel pathway through the wetlands was actually the main channel of the Wood River. It eventually opens into the northern end of Klamath Lake (AKA Agency Lake). We only went a few hundred feet out into the lake and turned around for our return and had a really difficult time finding our way back into the channel and the wetlands. Without the full moon I don’t think we would have ever found it!

We all made it safely, and dry, back to our departure point; our little foray lasted just a few minutes over two hours. The most amazing thing about the trip, I realized afterward, was there were no mosquitoes! We went the entire distance with no mosquito attacks!

HAIRSPRAY!

GO SEE IT!

IT'S A HOOT!

NATURE WATCHING
LKNWR
Today Melvyn Bruce and I went nature watching at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and spotted three magnificent bucks.

KLAMATH RIVER: AGAIN

Well, Dell, my neighbor, and I took to the wilds again along the south shore of the Klamath River. A few weeks ago we tackled the north shore for the same stretch of the river.

As before we lost the trail and did not get to our intended destination several miles distant. On the south shore, this time, we just barely made it past our furthermost point on the north shore, last time. We have vowed to try again in a couple of weeks.

On the north side we found the views and vistas just as spectacular as they were on the south side. We had the additional treat of coming upon the ruins and site of the old pioneer "Frain Ranch". The Frain Ranch is located down inside the Klamath River Canyon on a large flood plain of several hundred acres. We stopped at a hunter’s campground to rest, have lunch, and enjoy the wonderful views. Upon return to our quest we promptly got ourselves lost and found ourselves in Doris CA., in the opposite direction we had intended. In retrospect I find that we should have stayed in the bottom of the canyon to continue on to our destination.

The road along the canyon rim, and down along the river itself, is very treacherous, and requires a vehicle of some tenacity. Four wheel drive and high ground clearance is not enough. If one is worried about scratches, dents, dirt and dust, or even getting it out under its own power, then it is best not to start this adventure with it.

I’ll post the results of our next attempt, in the near future.

FLATLAND:
A JOURNEY INTO THE FOURTH DIMENSION.

I just received a complimentary DVD lecture from the Teaching Company to review; it’s an audition for a prospective Professor: Thomas Banchoff, the lecture is titled: Flatland, and is based on the concepts of the novel, Flatland, written by Edwin Abbot Abbot, in 1884.

I had run across Flatland once before and was fascinated by its originality, for its time. This lecture was very cleaver as it first made the absurdly sounding concept of an alternate three dimensional universe seem believable (Flatland) and then segued into making another alternate universe, a five dimensional universe, seem equally feasible. Both the three and five dimensional universes in the lecture are viewed from the perspective of the four dimensional universe that we all seem to perceive.

I liked the audition very much and gave it a five out of five review. I have no idea what genre the lecture series that this particular lecture would be part of but it will be interesting to find out if and when it is published.

If anyone is interested in reading more about Flatland, here is a link to it: Flatland