Fairy Falls

Top 6 pix from Clarence.

Having helped Karen gather and crush her walnut crop, Barbara brought us bags of walnuts. Even Laurie showed up. Kudos to Karen and Barbara. Next year we should schedule a fun work day helping with the harvest.

But with sun on our minds, we left Barbara to her dental extraction appointment (lucky lady) and headed down to Spenceville to do the first of our winter walks there. Lovely weather, lots of water...what more could we ask for? Two large birds of prey called and soared over us a few times. We thought they were eagles or a redtailed hawk but after looking at a few bird books, I think they were harriers. After admiring the falls, we headed up into the (former?) pastures shimmied under barbed wire fences and finally settled on a hilltop with a great view of the valley, including the Sutter Buttes in the haze. We relaxed and baked in the sun. After walking down the hill, Clarence and John looked at their GPS's and took a turn away from the cars to extend the hike. We did a large circle as part of a figure 8, ending at the main dirt road. We had hiked somewhat over 7.5 miles.

The recent storm led to some exciting stories: Many of us lost power for an extended period of time, turning our houses cold and dark, and eliminating our water supply. We also lost many broadleaf trees. Akiko lost power for 6 days and she and Selma still don't have phone service.

Next week will be the Gray Lodge bird sanctuary. It is a short hike but lots of birds in the flooded rice fields. We hope that Karen will be able to join us.