Written by Kaitlin Clark, FOMR Crane’s Nest Nature Center & Store Manager
Friends gathered at the Barnes Springs Trail in Frenchglen, Oregon for a 2.5 hour stroll the last Saturday of September, the penultimate event in our September Wildlife Walks Series coinciding with National Public Lands Day. Led by new FOMR volunteers, Janet and Nicole, and organized by FOMR’s Store Manager, Kaitlin, these walks were a pilot program developed to engage the local community in our work and educate folks interested in all things wild, natural, cultural, and historical at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
We admired outstanding scenery, smelled big sagebrush and rabbitbrush in bloom, and sought out as many historic structures as we could find: CCC-era fenceposts, a shed constructed from mud and volcanic rock, and the foundation of the Barnes family homestead, complete with a rusted basketball hoop. One of our walk leaders, Janet, reminded us to leave any artifacts we find in their place, as this area is sacred to the Burns Paiute Tribe and has been occupied for thousands of years.
As the sun warmed the Earth, insects and reptiles began to stir. We stepped carefully though tall grasses and startled a large gopher snake, which slithered off the trail and disappeared under grasses. Additional walk highlights included a family of Townsend’s solitaires flitting and calling from Juniper branches, munching the trees’ berries above the trail’s namesake warm springs, a red-naped sapsucker drilling shallow holes used to trap insects in sap, a lifer (first time observed) for some in our group, and an encore show to end our walk, more than 100 American white pelicans (image featured above) and two sandhill cranes soaring through clear blue skies, dancing with the wind.
Could this day get any better? Yes! We recouped our energy with tamales from a local vender and lattes from the Blitzen Coffeehouse, then wandered through the “World’s Tiniest Trade Show”, admiring handmade goods and art from makers throughout SE Oregon. Shout out to one of our longtime volunteers, Marcia Huntley, who keeps up with local events and informed us that we absolutely must check out the art show – she was right! It was one of those days in the present, surrounded by relics of the past, that we knew one day we’d reflect upon in the future as a beautiful memory we’ll all cherish for years to come.
The before and after pictures (above) say it all; by the end of our walk with Friends, we were all wearing a few less layers and even bigger smiles. Community outreach and educational programs like these walks are made possible by memberships, donations, and ticket sales to our events; a huge thank you goes out to our community for supporting Malheur NWR through our Friends group.
Join us in Bend, Oregon on October 10th for more fun at our annual Auction, where we will gather to celebrate all we accomplished this year as a community, enjoy delicious food and drinks, purchase gorgeous art from local artists, and bid on exciting offerings, including a multi-night stay at the Historic Frenchglen Hotel. We can’t wait to see you there!
