Banner Creek Idyll

 

The next morning, Liz and I decided to walk up the fishing trail along Banner Creek so I could take pretty pictures.  Suddenly I saw splashing and movement in a pool up the little creek--what was it?  As I got closer, and through my telephoto lens, I saw two three-foot long fish splashing in the shallow water, slipping over a small waterfall to an upper pool and splashing more over there--they looped up-and-down for several minutes while I photographed them.   We continued on, and saw more of the creek until the trail became too difficult, then we turned back and retraced our steps.  As we got to the area where we had seen the spawning salmon (for that is what they were), we saw they were still building the nest and in spawning behavior.  We returned for Helen and took her back to see this wonderful event.

Later, Liz and Helen talked to a ranger that confirmed they were salmon (Chinook) which had traveled up the Columbia River to the Snake River to the Salmon River and to their own little Banner Creek where they had been born.  The following pictures are closeups that I captured when I returned to wade in the creek and creek closer to the pair. 

Aswe sat around later that afternoon, we were visited by several chipmunks, but one ("Jumper" was a particular favorite).  He was unafraid, and checked every inch of my trailer, our chairs (empty and occupied), our clothes, our camp stove, the old camp fire, my ladders--climbing up everything he could to check things out.  He was so fearless, he would climb into your lap if you did not shoo him away.

First he came slowly sneaking up:

Then, he checked us out and decided we were harmless:

The following sequence shows just some of the antics after that:

He checks out Liz' foot:

He decides the foot is pretty good.

If the foot is good, so is the leg and the lap (Liz' as well as Helen's, shown):

An empty chair--where is everybody?

And thias plate--it's empty too!

Maybe there is something under it?

Maybe there is a lot more inside the camper--won't you let me in?

Please let me in?

Maybe I'll just watch from a tree!

After another wonderful night on the creek, we got up early and headed down the mountain, west toward Oregon, and ultimately John Day.to show Helen the Fossil Beds.  That blog will wait until another day...