Goose Lake, Oregon

Saturday, July 7
We're working our way north, and decided to stop at a campground we haven't visited for many years.

Goose Lake State Recreation Area has a very nice campground, with large spaces and a lot of open area. On our first trip around the campground, browsing the sites, he host recommended we find a shady one, as the day time temperatures are in the high 80's-90's. We settled on site #27, under a huge willow tree. I think we did alright in the shade department!

The site is deep, so we set up our new screen room at the back. There are a few mosquitoes here, so we thought it a good chance to practice, as we'd never assembled it before. Piece of cake! Storing it was just as easy.

Behind our site, and off to one side, is a huge plot of lupine, surrounding a bat house! We only saw a few bats, but almost every evening a mule deer came to feed on the grasses that are mixed in with the flowers. The flowers give of a lovely soft fragrance, and attracted butterflies and dragon flies all day long.

The pups enjoyed the shade - bat house and lupine in the background.

On the map, and in some of the campground literature, Goose Lake is described as a "dry lake", and we have been here in the past when there was little but mud. Not so this year! It's clearly a real lake now. The campground hostess said it had been four years without any water in it, and this spring turned the drought around.

The grasses and wildflowers around the lake are lush, and the birds are thriving on the seeds. Every morning and evening the air is filled with birds zig zagging across the water, or soaring through the air catching bugs.

Cow parsnip, squirrel tail grass, a purple flowering grass
I've never seen before, and lupine at the base of the bat house

In the evening we take the dogs down by the lake to play, and watch the flocks of double crested cormorants soar over the water. They are such funny looking birds - like someone modeled them of playdough, then stretched their necks and beaks out. During the day the quail families dart across the roads, all their little puffy children scurrying along behind them.

The campground is only a few miles south of Lakeview, so we  went to town on Monday for a few groceries. Lakeview is a small town, and very western in flavor. A huge cowboy adorns the Safeway sign, and there is ranching and farming equipment everywhere you look. While shopping for groceries we got the feeling that everyone it the store knew each other. And when I said out loud to Steve, "I need to find the relish", two people instantly pointed me in the right direction. Such friendly folks!

Before heading home we took a short side trip to see the Old Perpetual Geyser. It seems it's only sort of perpetual.

Due to the drought that dried up the lake and nearby geothermal development it had quit spouting, but it started up again in 2016 and with all the water this spring it seems to be back in business. It's not a natural geyser. It's the result of a well drilled into a geothermal layer, but it's fun to watch anyway! It's right next to a hot springs resort, but can be seen from Geyser View Road. Here's the Wikipedia article on the springs and the geyser.

The dogs had a great time here, and it's a very dog-friendly park. There's a large mowed area set aside as an off-leash dog park, so every evening after dinner they had a good run chasing the ball and then playing in the watery reeds at the edge of the lake.

The trails around the edge of camp are badly overgrown, but they are working to clear them out. We did find a few sections that made good short walks during the day. One very inviting section section, close to camp, runs alongside a creek, and you can step down to the creek, right by the railroad overpass.

All in all this was a very nice three days.

We'll head further north, to La Pine State Park for a couple of days, then move to North Davis Creek campground, one of our all time favorite spots.