March 2021 Deschutes Canyon Currents: Earth Day Cleanup | Spring Guided Hikes

Deschutes Canyon Currents

Fradulent gold mine at Foley Waters on Middle Deschutes River / Eric Hansen

Join a FANs Spring Guided Hike!
Cindy Murray, Hiking Coordinator

Spring is a great season to enjoy our local trails! All guided hikes are free. To help reduce damage to the trail, minimize social impacts on other visitors, and protect wildlife habitat, group size is limited to a total of 8 hikers and pets are not allowed. Registration opens one month before each hike. If the hike is full, sign up on the wait list, and you will be notified if a space becomes available. If you have to cancel, send us an email at fansofdeschutes@gmail.com. This will open up the space for another hiker. Standard COVID precautions will be in effect. Maintain 6 feet of distance from other participants and bring a face mask to wear if temporary physical spacing requires it.

Big Falls Ridge Hike
Tuesday, April 20, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Rating: Moderate, 4 miles off trail
Guide: Jeff Scheetz
This trip is a good chance to practice navigation skills due to the rolling trail-less terrain. We will adapt the training to the needs of the participants, but will target the USGS benchmark (Big Falls) as a destination (USGS quad map is Steelhead Falls). Hikers should bring relevant maps, compasses, and GPS receivers to enhance the learning environment. Generic topographic maps will be provided. There will be some fences to negotiate since this public land was once grazed.
Learn more and sign up for this hike.

Foley Waters Hike
Wednesday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Rating: Moderate, 2.5-mile loop
Guide: Eric Hanson
We will follow lesser known paths with a bit of cross country travel. Our adventure will include spring “greenies and growies,” a touch of local history (who the heck is Foley Waters?), a fraudulent gold mine, Deschutes River access, some local geology and a really pleasant hike with elevation change of 100 feet.
Learn more and sign up for this hike.

Tam-a-lau Trail Hike
Thursday, April 29, 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Rating: Moderate, 7-mile loop
Guide: Cindy Murray
This outing will offer spectacular views of Lake Billy Chinook and the entire Cascade range. The trail begins at the Upper Deschutes day use area located in the Cove Palisades State Park. We will climb up the canyon on a switch-back trail with elevation gain of 600 feet.
Learn more and sign up for this hike.

View from Tam-a-lau Trail. Photo: Marilynne Keyser

FANs Launches Adopt-A-Nest Box Project for
Youth and Their Families

Robin Galloway, FANs Board Member

FANs purchased 30 nest boxes from Richard Tipton of Sisters. They are kits ready to assemble, and special thanks goes to Richard for creating attractive, functional, and easy-to-assemble nest boxes for nuthatches, bluebirds, and American kestrels.

Local youth and their families are invited to adopt a nest box this nesting season. Youth will become involved in citizen science, where they observe nesting activity in their adopted nest box and keep basic records on what they see. Each child will be given an observation sheet where they will note dates related to birds building a nest, eggs laid, chicks hatched, and the number of chicks that fledge from the nest. When fledglings have left the nest, the box will be cleaned out so that it can be used again.

There are still kits available for families to assemble and put up on a tree this season. There are also assembled boxes ready to put up with younger children. In April, the balance of the nest boxes will be installed, but families can still get involved in the observation process in the late spring and early summer. If you are interested in adopting a nest box, please send an email to Robin Galloway at rgal@peak.org. Also, please help spread the word by sharing this information with families that you think may be interested in this fun hands-on project.

Citizen scientist Amelia installs her adopted bluebird house.
Photo: Robin Galloway

A father and son install an American kestrel nest box.
Photo: Penny Radtke

Here is a recording of our
March Lens on Learning Presentation:

The Deschutes River
Needs Our Help

Presentation by Tod Heisler
Introduction by Marilynne Keyser

Presenter Tod Heisler

Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
is proud to be a part of
Friends Grassroots Network
and
Central Oregon Conservation Network

Board Meeting Schedule

Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area board meetings are usually held on the second Sunday each month. Copies of the agenda are available before the meetings. Public comments are welcome at the end of board meetings.

Our next board meeting will be April 11, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. Please email fansofdeschutes@gmail.com if you would like to participate in this board meeting.

FANs Board of Directors

Our all-volunteer Board of Directors focuses on our mission: Preserve and restore the wild landscapes of the middle Deschutes and lower Crooked Rivers and lower Whychus Creek through advocacy, stewardship and education.

You can read more about our Board of Directors and Leadership Team by clicking here.