Dust contrails and other desert weirdness.

[DemoTex]

The land yachts on the dusty roads in Ft. Rock valley pull contrails that look like a Boeing 737 at 35,000 feet or a smokin’ F-4C in after-burner trying to outrun a pair of MiGs in Route Pack 1. The dust billows behind a car or truck on the FS-18 road south of the Deschutes National Forest, and on a calm day the tail might stretch a mile or so behind the vehicle.

Sometimes a slipstream swirl or eddy behind the land yacht spawns a fantastic dust devil in the oblivious driver’s wake. Jim Cantore and the Weather Channel should film some of these desert dust devils. I’ve seen the mini-twisters form on the surface at Christmas Valley (3000 feet?) and build to the cloud base at 12,000 feet!


A northbound land yacht on the FS-18 road (15 miles away).


A Christmas Valley vehicle pulls a tail about 20 miles south of me.


This jet contrail hung around for a couple of hours (solidarity with the wannabees in the desert?).


A small dust devil in The Devil's Garden.

My thanks to EarlG for allowing me to post these dispatches in DU's GD Forum!

[Arctic Dave]

1. Beyond cool. These pics look like a scene from a movie.

Keep them comin, I lovin your post.

[DemoTex]

6. I'm thinking "Vanishing Point."

That 18-wheeler would have eaten Kowalski's (Barry Newman) dust on these roads!


Kowalski

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

2. I love this state.

[DemoTex]

3. I'm at the middle of the "R" in Oregon on your map.

I love Oregon too. I'm going to be in trouble when my tour of duty ends in October and I have to return to BoJo-Land (Greenville, SC, home of Bob Jones "University").


Night before last over the Paulina Mountains (Newberry Cauldera)

[merh]

4. that photo is gorgeous

what a summer job!

:hi:

[DemoTex]

12. 10-4!

[TahitiNut]

7. I lived up there in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick, Pasco) for 5 years ...

... and did whitewater on the Deschutes to the north of you and the Rogue to the west of you and spent time in Eugene quite often. It's LOVELY country. The west ain't at all like the east.

[DemoTex]

11. I'm kayaking flat water Deschutes on Monday ..

Fly fishing with a guide on Tuesday. Now that my house guests are gone, I can spend a little of this USFS overtime I'm getting! I might even check out in a glider at Sun River (I ran a gliderport in the early 1970s - I have a commercial glider pilot, glider CFI license).

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

19. Odd coincidence

I'm headed to the Greenville area next month (Tryon, NC actually) to visit my folks. The considerably older and more human-worn mountains of the area are beautiful in their own right, but in my humble experience nothing has surpassed Oregon for natural beauty.

If you have to go, DemoTex, you can always be certain that you will be welcomed on your return.

[DemoTex]

20. Tryon is wonderful! Enjoy your time there.

The Appalachian Mountains are as old as the hills (pardon the pun). The French Broad River, which winds down out of the mountains around Balsam Grove in Transylvania county, through Asheville, and on to the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the oldest rivers in the world.


Transylvania County, NC, in October.

[Wilms]

5. Thanks for all you're teaching us. n/t

[DemoTex]

8. Hey, man .. I'm just passing it on as fast I get it. I'm in awe of this place!

BTW: Dr. D. is in your neck-of-the-woods tonight. She reports a fine night in LA.

[Canuckistanian]

9. I'm having difficulties understanding the landscape there

It seems to be dense forest, but it's also a desert?

It looks like the forest ends and the desert begins on the edge.

Is that right?

[DemoTex]

10. Not quite right, but allow me to attempt an explanation.

First, what looks like desert in my photos is desert. But my little southeast corner of the Deschutes NF, over the eastern flank of the Newberry Cauldera, is desert too. The forest around me, with Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines, is a desert forest. There is no water east of the Newberry Cauldera. Period. Dry as a bone. No streams. No springs. The lakes dried up 700 million years ago!

Those photos are of the desert area to the south. Here are some photos taken in the last couple of days looking east. Again, more open range and pure desert.


Mahogany Butte, on the edge of the serious desert to the east of me. All of my area of operation is desert, but most of it has Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine trees (but no water).


The east view.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Interesting, thanks

I just assumed that it was your standard forested area.

Now I understand why you're so vigilant about any tiny puff of smoke. The whole place almost sounds like a tinderbox.

[Speck Tater]

13. West of the Cascade Range Oregon is wet and heavily forested. East is high desert. nt

[DemoTex]

14. Basically, yes .. but!

The US-97 corridor (The Gut) is on the eastern slope of the Cascade crest. High desert with water. The Deschutes River and many, many lakes. East of the Newberry Rim .. nothing!

[bridgit]

16. My husband loves it up there...

He lived in Bend for years when I showed him your pics the other day he said, "Broken Top"


When he seen your friends hiked Smith Rock he said, "Monkey Face"


I'm augering for a trip up through there at season's end - take care & thanks for posting :)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. K&R thanks for posting.

[spanone]

18. k&r....

[Greyskye]

21. I lived in Prineville for 7 years as a kid

My dad worked for the BLM, and years later was fire chief on some out-of-state blazes. Beautiful country, and important work you're doing. :toast: