A lot can happen in just a couple days! We have had two days full of fun, engaging events here in Wallowa County. First of all, before I really get started I would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! John Bliss, one of our instructors and Nils Christoffersen spent the day with us instead of their own children, so they deserve a Happy Father’s Day.
Yesterday started off at the beautiful bunkhouse owned by the Krebs. We were very well taken care of and had a great night. The view of the stars was amazing at night. Out here in the middle of a large open plain with not another building in sight, you could see so many more stars! (I tried to take pictures, but it didn’t do it justice!)
In the morning we set off up the hill from the bunkhouse along a little gravel road. We were told by Clint Krebs to count how many different species of flower we found on our way up the hill. We wanted to make sure we kept track of them, so we picked one of each new species we encountered to try to make sure we weren’t double counting. How many do you think we got (I’ll give you a few pictures to give you some time to think!):
Got a guess? We picked and counted 30 unique wildflower species! We thought that was pretty good for only a little hike up the hillside, but when we got to the top Clint informed us that there are 172 different species out there (at that we didn’t feel quite as accomplished). We gave our Wallowa County bouquet to Ayumi Sensei.
Along the trek up the hill, Clint pulled up in his gator and gave a few of us a ride the rest of the way to the top, which was pretty fun too!
When we got to the top of the hill, we got to learn about how Clint grazes his cattle on the native grasses. Many of the grasses on his land can have up to 3000 ft of roots. He explained to us about how the biodiversity within the prairie allows the plants to share nutrients and grow better. Clint considered his property to be overgrazed if any one of his plants gets bitten more than once. If they are bitten once, they are challenged and feel the need to grow more, but if they are eaten down too far, they lose their ability to photosynthesize and die. in order to keep this from happening, he moves his cattle once every 5 days.
We then went down the other side of the hill to the Krebs’ main house and took his Hummer around his property and some surrounding area. We got to see some beautiful views, and learn about some of the new water systems that Clint is putting in.
Out on this section of his property, Clint had just finished installing a 290,000 gallon reservoir, and was planning on installing many miles worth of underground pipes to transport the water to his cattle.
After leaving this section of his property, we drove through some of the surrounding landscape owned by neighbors and the Nature Conservancy. Clint does rent some grassland from the conservancy to graze his cattle on. Along the way we talked a lot about the local wildlife including elk and wolves within the county. We also saw mule deer and a coyote.
Next we went to an area where Clint was working on another water resource project. He received a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to help with his project. He had buried a 1500 gallon tank, and water collecting boxes that gather the natural seep of water in the soil instead of allowing it to continue running underground down to the river. The water that he is gathering is enough to water 150 head of cattle each day, from an area that looks pretty dry. He then uses solar panels to power a pump that moves the water up a hill to his water trough.
Following this eventful morning we then went into Joseph and went to the farmer’s market. We got some lunch and had the opportunity to talk to some locals.
One of the people we talked to was selling goat milk soap:
After exploring the Joseph for a little while, we went to Enterprise for the Mountain High Broncs and Bulls Rodeo. We had a lot of fun and it was a cool introduction to some community and social values of rural communities. It was interesting to see the Japanese students seeing this type of event for the first time.
We then came to the Wallowa Lake Camp where we will be staying for the next week and had a wonderful dinner.
After dinner we had a great group discussion, and went over our notes, and questions that people had throughout the last couple of days. As it got later, we of course got a little bit goofy and also had a little fun! 🙂
Wow, you really make me want to get out and find more flowers!