We had followed this loop through the Wildlife Refuge and out to the highway and back to Othello without seeing any Sandhill Cranes and very little wildlife.
Back in Othello, the next step of the adventure started here:
"Why McDonald's?" you might ask. "Is that where the famous four foot tallred-heads were hanging out?"
No, we stopped for caffeine and the facilities. But when I headed out to the car I saw a group who were sporting binoculars, and what might a group of people in the midst of the Sandhill Crane migration wearing binoculars be looking for? So I approached them and took my map and was told to go look for them at the Marsh Unit 1 Viewpoint. Hubby had had a similar conversation inside while waiting for his soft drink, but was told to go to the Royal Lake Viewpoint. I had read in the guidebook that that was a good place, and we had just come back from the vicinity of Marsh Unit 1, so we headed out to the Wildlife Refuge again.
Look familiar? This time we went straight.
We saw sagebrush.
A lot of sagebrush.
After climbing a ways we stopped and looked back down into the valley from which we had come.
Before too long we found our turn.
Another section of Mid-Columbia region farmland.
A little windy.
Well, okay, a lot windy.
Okay, a whole lot windy.
But we found the Royal Lake Viewpoint.
Well, what do you see?
At this distance it's hard to say.
A Gaggle of Geese!
More later. Part 3 is here.
2 comments:
Love your vistas as your search for the cranes! No pun intended on my Odd Shot - just fumble fingers. Actually it first read "add hot" and I changed the "a", but did not notice I was missing an "s". Your sign reminded me of one we saw in Colorado years ago. I wanted to take the "scenic highway" on our way back to Colorado Springs. The map showed that it went by the western side of Pike's Peak. So I turned off of Rt 50 on to a nicely paved road heading for the mountains. Around the bend it became a dirt road - lots of RVs and campers along the way. Then it became one laned dirt road, with tunnels and low guardrail bridges. Then came the sign "Unimproved road, proceed at your own risk". Marianne was definitely NOT amused! Long ago this was the old narrow gauge railroad that hauled supplies to Cripple Creek and returned with a load of gold. As we neared Cripple Creek we found a nice paved road and a great view of the Peak.
Oh please tell me you found them!
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