Parklane Miniature & Small Works 2020 Exhibition Kicks off.

 The Parklane Gallery Miniature & Small Works 2020 Exhibition kicks off today (five days later than earlier stated), and I've sold two works on opening day. The following link will take you straight to my seven; four Miniatures & three Small Works:

See my works in the show here.

Click the above link to see them in the exhibition or to make one or more your own. I am also displaying them here as a reminder.

C1698

“Orange Moon Rising”

(Oregon High Desert)

 

Miniature Oil on Richeson Gesso Panel

Image: 3” x 5”

Outside Frame: 5.5” x 7.38”

$500

 

Camping and painting since April 1st in the Wild places of the Pacific Northwest, has allowed me to experience the rythms of Nature, among them cycles of the Moon. The atmosphere determines the colour of each rising; here a storm passed away to the east, and the Moon rose orange through the remnant vapours, as the sun set behind me.

 

*****

C1699

“The Long Shadows of Evening”

(Oregon High Desert)

 

Miniature Oil on Richeson Gesso Panel

Image: 3” x 5”

Outside Frame: 5” x 7”

$600

 

There are certain campsites that are not particularly spectacular of themselves, but which will reward you, if you keep an eye out through the hours of the day. This was one such place, where the rewards came in the various lightings of the landscape that occurred, such as here as afternoon showers give way to the long shadows of evening.

 

*****

C1700

 

“Early Morning Reverie”

(Reflection Lakes, Mt. Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Miniature Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 6.13” x 8.13”

$650

 

Breakfasting here in the pre-dawn, while awaiting for reflections to appear, gave way to a different experience of cloud and mist arising in the dawn light. And while watching the subtle light show a Grey Jay landed on my foot, stretched out upon a rock, and had a conversation with me.

 

*****

C1701

 

“Slot Canyon Afternoon”

(Mount Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Miniature Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 6.5” x 8.5”

Sold

 

Slot Canyon is reminiscent of a millrace, in its straightness, and width ... of course its depth is quite a bit more! Not only is this natural phenomenon highly accessible ( the road passes over it), but one may see Mount Adams to the south from here, and a stroll of a few yards to the north brings one to this great view of Mount Rainier.

 

*****

C1703

 

“Last Light on the Mountain & New Moon”

(Mount Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Small Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 5.5” x 7.5”

Sold

 

A wonderful evening stroll, up near Sunrise Visitors Center, brought me this wonderful experience ... worth getting back to camp after dark.

 

*****

C1659

“Voices of the Ancients ”

(Hovenweep National Monument, Utah)

 

Small Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 5” x 7”

Outside Frame: 8” x 10”

$425

 

Hovenweep, is worth a visit, for the interesting set of 800 year old structures built by an outlying community of nearby Mesa Verde. The main unit features a two mile circular walk, with many interesting ruins.The keen, such as I, should visit every unit of the extended Monument.

 

*****

C1665

“Evening Gold in the Valley of the Gods”

(Utah)

 

Small Oil on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

Image: 5” x 7”

Outside Frame: 8” x 10”

$350

 

One of several colourful sunsets experienced in the Valley of the Gods, Utah; on the horizon can be seen several of the monumental buttes at Monument Valley, 20 miles away in nearby Arizona.

*****

Enjoy!

All Seven Paintings accepted into the Parklane MiniSmall 2020 Exhibition.

My last post was three weeks ago, in which I mentioned framing Small and Miniature paintings. They were for the Parklane Gallery MiniSmall 2020 Exhibition up in Kirkland Washington, a satellite town or suburb (I don't know what they consider themselves as), of Seattle. At that point I had sorted frames for the seven paintings I was to submit, and temporarily placed them in their frames to photograph them for submission online. Normally with a Miniature Show, you send the originals in for submission, so they can be judged, but this is a Miniature & Small Works show, so, I guess that made it too difficult to accept the original Small Works. The problem I had was in the photography of the framed works, since the paintings were a bit washed out in colour, when including the frame. I ended up pulling an all-nighter, working on the images in Photoshop and getting them submitted before the deadline the next day, all the while hoping the images would be acceptable to the jury. Evidently they were, as all seven (the maximum allowed), were accepted into the Show, which kicks off on the 1st of November. Once they were accepted it took an inordinate amount of time to actually frame them and get them ready for shipping. Since then I've been working on another Miniature that I had intended to submit as well, but which remained at the drawing stage, by the time the submission deadline rolled around ... I cut it fine as it was. Thank goodness that no one else was camped at the picnic table site, even though it was hunting season, as I definitely needed that table for the framing!

 

In times past Parklane Gallery has held their exclusively Miniature show in the Spring, but that pesky virus has had an effect on just about everything. Thus the gallery combined the Miniatures with the Small Works show this year. They also reserve the right to change the category of a work, from Miniature to a Small Work, for example. So, you may find that the categories I have listed below have changed when viewing the exhibition.

 

The exhibition may be viewed online at: ParkLaneGallery.org

 

*****

 

Here follows the photographs of the framed works I submitted to the show.

C1698

“Orange Moon Rising”

(Oregon High Desert)

 

Miniature Oil on Richeson Gesso Panel

Image: 3” x 5”

Outside Frame: 5.5” x 7.38”

$500

 

Camping and painting since April 1st in the Wild places of the Pacific Northwest, has allowed me to experience the rythms of Nature, among them cycles of the Moon. The atmosphere determines the colour of each rising; here a storm passed away to the east, and the Moon rose orange through the remnant vapours, as the sun set behind me.

 

*****

C1699

“The Long Shadows of Evening”

(Oregon High Desert)

 

Miniature Oil on Richeson Gesso Panel

Image: 3” x 5”

Outside Frame: 5” x 7”

$600

 

There are certain campsites that are not particularly spectacular of themselves, but which will reward you, if you keep an eye out through the hours of the day. This was one such place, where the rewards came in the various lightings of the landscape that occurred, such as here as afternoon showers give way to the long shadows of evening.

 

*****

C1700

 

“Early Morning Reverie”

(Reflection Lakes, Mt. Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Miniature Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 6.13” x 8.13”

$650

 

Breakfasting here in the pre-dawn, while awaiting for reflections to appear, gave way to a different experience of cloud and mist arising in the dawn light. And while watching the subtle light show a Grey Jay landed on my foot, stretched out upon a rock, and had a conversation with me.

 

*****

C1701

 

“Slot Canyon Afternoon”

(Mount Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Miniature Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 6.5” x 8.5”

$700

 

Slot Canyon is reminiscent of a millrace, in its straightness, and width ... of course its depth is quite a bit more! Not only is this natural phenomenon highly accessible ( the road passes over it), but one may see Mount Adams to the south from here, and a stroll of a few yards to the north brings one to this great view of Mount Rainier.

 

*****

C1703

 

“Last Light on the Mountain & New Moon”

(Mount Rainier NP, Washington Cascades)

 

Small Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 4” x 6”

Outside Frame: 5.5” x 7.5”

$500

 

A wonderful evening stroll, up near Sunrise Visitors Center, brought me this wonderful experience ... worth getting back to camp after dark.

*****

 

C1659

“Voices of the Ancients ”

(Hovenweep National Monument, Utah)

 

Small Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

Image: 5” x 7”

Outside Frame: 8” x 10”

$425

Hovenweep, is worth a visit, for the interesting set of 800 year old structures built by an outlying community of nearby Mesa Verde. The main unit features a two mile circular walk, with many interesting ruins.The keen, such as I, should visit every unit of the extended Monument.

 

*****

C1665

“Evening Gold in the Valley of the Gods”

(Utah)

 

Small Oil on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

Image: 5” x 7”

Outside Frame: 8” x 10”

$350

 

One of several colourful sunsets experienced in the Valley of the Gods, Utah; on the horizon can be seen several of the monumental buttes at Monument Valley, 20 miles away in nearby Arizona.

*****

Regular readers will have seen the last two before, but before framing. They were presented in this blog back in 2018 on my year long journey from Minnesota to Oregon through the Southwest. Evening Gold is signed with my monogram rather than my “S.T.Johanneson” signature.

Again, the exhibition may be viewed online at:  ParkLaneGallery.org

The Watching of Weather.

C1689 

“Evening Storm Passing Away”

(Oregon High Desert)

Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

8” x 16”

Click here to make this your Own

One of the interesting things about the Oregon High Desert in Springtime is the variation in the weather.  For several days there might be clear cold or days, and then a sudden front comes through with snow or rain … or both. There might be a warm southerly wind which brings in a day or two of promise of Summer to come, and your base layers need to come off, followed by a drop in temperature, necessitating your base layers to come back on. You could say that is true most places in temperate climes, but out in the wilds you are aware of it more, especially in those landscapes with wide open spaces, such as the Oregon High Desert. Of course I'm well aware that this is not unique to the High Desert, but it is here that I am, and where I was last year at this time, watching storms marching along in the distance and occasionally over me. Late last Spring there was just such a day, and the last storm of the day, Zeus (or was it Thor?), flung a few lightning bolts around, making it doubly interesting. And the lowering Sun behind had broken through and bathed the landscape in this magical light.  Today, as I write, the showers are marching past, although no sign of lightning, and  even with the Sun breaking through, I don't expect the magical light this time … the storms seem to be ending earlier in the day today.

The Imprimatura & Block-in.

This is both the Imprimatura and the Block-in for the painting … I suppose you could say it's also the Drawing.  When I was painting Watercolours, almost exclusively, I usually laid down a fairly comprehensive under-drawing. The comprehensiveness depended on the subject and the amount of detail within my normally highly detailed Watercolours. With Oils it's a different matter. I draw with the brush in pigment, as opposed to drawing with a graphite pencil. Then the painting is normally blocked-in, and subsequent layers include modelling and detailing. This is the method used for what I am calling ‘Studio Paintings.’ For the quicker Sketches and Studies, I usually lay in an Imprimatura layer, then a quick drawing, and go straight into the painting whether the Imprimatura has dried thoroughly or not. If I was painting architecture in a Super-realist or Surrealist manner, I would probably do a detailed drawing with sharpened charcoal, and over draw that with India Ink, before continuing with paint. Why charcoal and not graphite? Graphite can show through subsequent paint layers.

The Pigments used in the painting are:

Imprimatura & Drawing: W&N Venetian Red;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt & French Ultramarine Blues, Cadmiums Yellow Pale & Orange, Venetian Red, Cremnitz White;

Rublev: French Red Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum;

Gamblin: Permanent Magenta.

“All Trees are Heroes.”

C1687

“Ode to an Ancient”

(Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon)

Oil Painting on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

6” x 8”

Click here to make this your Own

I thought about calling this painting “Ode to an Ancient Hero.” I have referred to trees as heros, before, and they are. They offer a place to rest in the shade from Summer Suns, and provide fuel to keep us warm in the cool of the night ... and Winter. They provide the means to build shelter from the storm, and a home in which to reside, and keep ourselves and our belongings safe from those wild things that would do us harm. Trees provide oxygen, and thus we breathe. Many give us sustenance, both for our bodies and aesthetically for our minds ... trees are beautiful ... in short ... trees are Heroes. 

The Drawing

The Block-in

This Ancient Hero is at the place I camped last July, 17 miles down the road from the south entrance to Crater Lake National Park. I was aware of this old stump, mouldering away on the forest floor, as I gradually become familiar with so many things in each of my camps, especially the longer I spend in any one of them. Because of the advanced state of decay, I do not know for sure whether it was a natural fall, or a victim of the logger's saw. I suspect the latter, as there did not seem to be the remnants of the fallen log. I was aware of it, but it was not until this late afternoon shaft of light threw it into high relief, from the darkened forest beyond. I took many reference photos,  and began what I thought would be a sketch, but somewhere in the process, it became, what I would call, a studio painting ... but done outdoors. Sometimes the painting just takes over from your original intent.

And this led to me concentrating on a few studio paintings, including a commission, worked on throughout the Summer and Autumn, and why my blog postings have been sadly lacking. I am continuing work on this type of painting this year, but I hope to more regularly post to the old blog. Blog ... blog ... what a funny word ... where did it come from? ... ‘Oo do Oi get in touch wiv, mate? ... I expect I could find out if I was really desperate. I digress. My intentions for the forthcoming few postings are to fill you in a bit on my travels, since July. Not a blow by blow account as per my year long 2017/2018 Minnesota to Oregon journey, but more on thoughts and observations made while ‘out there.’  I didn't travel all that much, since the order of the day was to get ensconced into a secluded camp and paint away. I did, however, get as far south as Lake Tahoe, and spent a concentrated 40 hours on photo-recon. Beautiful colours, especially Emerald Bay, although not as astonishing as Crater Lake's amazing deep blue.

And as I write, I am ‘out there' ... in the Oregon High Desert, practicing social distancing by about 40 miles! I am tucked into the edge of the Ponderosa Pines, and looking out over miles of Sagebrush & Antelope Bitterbrush, and as usual ... drinking in Nature. Last night's full Moon was so large and so bright that Some colours were actually, although dimly, discernible ... very grey green of the Ponderosa needles, and many of their trunks showed distinctly reddish.

I will forego the comprehensive list of pigments used in the above painting, this time, other than to say the usual suspects. I will mention that the greens are mixed greens. I do have green pigments, but I’ve  almost never use them, in Oil, and only occasionally in Watercolour.

Having said that, I did use Schmincke Green Earth a lot in my Watercolour landscapes for my brighter foliage greens. Michael Wilcox, in his book on Watercolour Pigments, says of most of the Green Earth pigments, but especially Schmincke's, that it's gummy and nasty to work with, and all but impossible to lay a wash with. For me that was a plus, as wetting the foliage area first with water, and floating the colour in left a mottled area of colour, much like the foliage textures I was after ... upon this one could build.

Since I'm out in the Wilds, apologies for how this post, and any that follow, might look while using my phone to make these posts.

And A Happy New Year to You All!!!

"December Snowfall over the Ponderosas & Sage"

(Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch

5" x 7"

This Oil Sketch is from December 2014, and was posted on this blog [& sold], in early 2015.  Just to say I will be getting back to publishing more regular posts in the next few weeks, once I get out into the snowy wastes of the Oregon High Desert, and get some more works done.  Several commissions are almost complete, and a lot of other 'catching-up' work has been done since arriving back in Oregon in June ... and now the nights are drawing out, and the darkest day of the Winter has come and gone, and the lighter days mean more painting time!  All the best to you all for the coming year!!!

Winter Dawn amongst the Ponderosas

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1593

"Winter Dawn amongst the Ponderosas"

(near Hole-in-the-Ground, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Ampersand Gesso Panel

with additional coat of Rublev Lead Oil Ground

4" x 6"

Click here to make this your Own

The stars were out most of the night, and I watched the Dawn-light on the Ponderosas while having breakfast, and imprinting the light conditions in my mind.  I then painted the scene while that lighting was fresh in my mind.  The radio weather reported Winter storm warning until Noon the next day for the North Cascades … just what do they mean by the North Cascades?  I’m assuming that means at least as far south as the Willamette Pass.  The high point of the Willamette Pass is not much higher than my present altitude, so I reckon I will go that way back to the Valley.  It is interesting to realize that the Santiam Pass over the Cascade Range, north of Bend, Oregon, is also about the same altitude as I am now, but that I would be descending about 1500’ or more before I got there and have to regain that altitude to climb over the Pass, whereas going via the Willamette Pass there is no real change in altitude from here to there.  But that was yet to come.  Snow flurries now and again throughout the day, but not amounting to much, although flurries fell while preparing supper, but that seems to be de rigueur on this journey.  

I awoke the next morning to an inch of beautiful powdery snow on the SUV, and light snow falling throughout breakfast.  As I drove west towards La Pine the snow fell more heavily, continuing to fall as I visited an old friend where lives my other old friend, Tweetie, the finest, friendliest Lovebird in the whole wide world.  It’s been two years since I last had seen Tweetie, and by the way he kept looking at me, I knew enough time had passed that he wasn’t quite sure who I was anymore, even though he had been my bosom buddy for seven years … well, he is a bird, and his brain isn’t that large … either that or he was just being standoff-ish (I know … I don’t write, I don’t phone, and years pass between visits!). 

Upon leaving La Pine I drove south on Hwy 97 to Crescent, Oregon, where I cut over to Hwy 58 via 15 miles or so on Forest Road 1351, the snow increasing all the way; but it was beautiful; pine and fir limbs drooping towards the ground with the weight of the snow.  Once over the Willamette Pass and on the downward slope, I kept a football field’s length between me and the next vehicle and kept a weather eye on the big semi-trailer behind me, who seemed to be keeping a decent distance between us as well; I always worry about the guy behind me on snowy or icy roads.  A couple miles on the descent the traffic ahead came to an halt, and it did take me much of the distance I had left to safely and slowly come to a halt behind the car in front, and then I watched the truck behind slowly do the same …phew!  We were all halted for about 40 minutes or so, and I never did find out what caused the delay.  I turned the engine off and just sat back, ate lunch, and enjoyed the soft snowfall.  We were at the Salt Creek Falls turnoff, and I should have gone over there and parked, and seen the falls in Winter, and had I known we were to be halted for that long I would have done, but I knew I had to back to town with plenty of time to unload a lot of gear into my storage unit, before it closed.  It had taken roughly twice as long to come thus far through the snowfall than it would have under normal conditions, and … would there be snow in the valley?  That question was soon answered to the negative, for by 2000’ in altitude the snow had turned to drizzly rain, and by 1000’ it had all but disappeared from the ground.  Another 30 miles or so brought me out of the mountains and onto dry roads and bright late afternoon sunshine, with no clue that 50 miles east was a different snow covered world … until you looked that direction; miles away and high on the forested slopes you could discern the Winter Wonderland up there bathed in the brilliant sunshine and with the tops lost in the snowy cloud.  I enjoyed that view as I drove up the center of the wide Willamette Valley until it widened further and the Cascades receded further away.  And so I the Winter’s sojourn in the wild was over and the New Year soon to begin.  I have a lengthy double commission on which to continue painting.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt & French Ultramarine Blues, Venetian Red, and Cremnitz White.

On to Summer Lake and Hole in the Ground

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Coldest night thus far; down to around 0º F; toastie in my sleeping bags, however.  Because I was going to be driving soon, I wore my Sorel boots, but because I remained sedentary during my breakfast, my toes felt the cold; Sorels are best when active, and soon warmed up when I walked around taking photographs.  I retraced my path back down the Chewaukan River to Paisley, stopping to take photographs, inspecting tracks in the snow, and observing the odd bit of wildlife now and again; 2 deer, a startled coyote who dashed off up the slope with his very bushy tale waving behind, and several hawks.  I took care on the road as it was covered in old snow compacted to ice, and I made it down past the snow line without incident. 

Slush-Ice on the Chewaukan

On the Chewaukan

Chewaukan Pewter

I slowly drove around Paisley, before heading north on Hwy 31 to Summer Lake, with Winter Ridge looming 3000’ above along its entire western side.  Winter Ridge or Rim is another one of these fault escarpments that are to be found in this part of the Oregon High Desert.  These to features were named by the Fremont Expedition in the 1840’s.  The exploration party was struggling through along the heights of Winter Rim, when they came to the edge and saw the lake below, snow free.  I expect the names came readily to mind.  I drove about a mile up a forest road to an overlook at the south end of the lake and had lunch, and studied the vista, from Winter Rim to my left around the basin of Summer Lake and to the hills east of the lake, which included Diablo Peak, which I now saw from a different direction than seen during my lunch stop on the previous day.

Chewaukan Landscape

Valley of the Chewaukan

After this I slowly drove up the western side of Summer Lake and stopped at the Nature Reserve for a few minutes.  The circular drive was closed, but you were allowed to drive into the reserve on a day pass, and it probably would have been OK to spend the night in one of the campgrounds there.  Mostly it was duck hunters going into the reserve at this time of the year.  I filed away this information for future reference, and proceeded on my way.

Winter Rim and Summer Lake

Winter Rim and Summer Lake #2

I climbed out of the Summer Lake basin, passing Silver Lake (dry lake bed at present), and eventually passed the road to Fort Rock and Christmas Valley.  I checked out the entrance to several forest roads, but they were all closed from December 1^st – March 31^st to give the area’s wildlife a bit of a respite.  Eventually I found that the road to Hole-in-the-Ground (yes an actual place-name) was open, although snow covered, and I proceeded up about half a mile to spend the night in a clearing found there.  Hole in the Ground is a volcanic maar, about a mile across.  I camped there back in 2010 on Easter weekend.  Coyote deer and elk tracks in abundance in the clearing.  Tomorrow I shall see if I can squeeze out one last painting before heading back to civilization, just before the New Year.

Campsite on the Road to Hole-in-the-Ground

On to Paisley & the Chewaukan River

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

The day after Christmas; Boxing Day in England; and overcast, as it had been all night, and I headed out as I thought I needed to be back in civilization by the 30^th; wrongly as it turned out, and most unfortunate as I could have squeezed out a few more days in the wild to include the New Year.  Be that as it may I left the CCC Hut Campground, home for the past few days and part of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, and slowly crossed Warner Valley on a county road, between the dry lakes, stopping to take photographs now and then, and to study the map and identify distant features, eventually meeting the Hogback Road at a T-junction.

Floor of the Warner Valley

(Looking South with Hart Mountain on the left)

Hart Mountain from the West across the Warner Valley

(the CCC Hut Campground is at the base of the Mountain

below the dark diagonal slash at the center of the face of the mountainside)

Here one may turn south for Plush or north for Hwy 395, twenty miles away.  I turned for Hwy 395, and proceeded up between the Coyote Hills, to the south and on my left, and the Rabbit Hills north and on my right, seeing them close to, after having studied them from afar all week.  Seen from this road there are rocky buttes that rear up from the northern aspect of the Coyote Hills that look like they should be called the Coyote’s Teeth; whether they are or not, I do not know, but they should be.  A couple of miles before the junction with Hwy 395, there is a good view of Juniper Mountain and the northern extension of the Abert Rim; this latter is a fault escarpment, with its rim facing west and the plateau sloping east towards the now distant Coyote & Rabbit Hills, and the Warner Valley beyond.

The Coyote Hills from the Hogback Road

(a couple of the buttes I have called the Coyote's Teeth can be seen)

The Rabbit Hills

(Hart Mountain is beyond and across the Warner Valley from this view)

Juniper Mountain and the Northern Extension of the Abert Rim

(from the Hogback Road a couple miles before the Hwy 395 Junction)

From here I drove north for four miles to check out a rest area for future reference.  It had water pumps there, similar to the one at the CCC Hut Campground, but whether they were turned off for the Winter or just frozen, I do not know.  I retraced my path past the Hogback Road and dropped down towards Lake Abert, but before arriving I turned right onto another county road that would eventually take me to Paisley on Hwy 31.  If the road became to iffy, I could always come back to Hwy 395, but as a county road, I thought it would be OK; I wouldn’t take chances after my experience of the Mudfest of several weeks before; it was not as good a road as the Hogback Road, but was no real problem, partly because it was frozen for the first two-thirds of the drive, when I stopped to have lunch at a view north past the east edge of Wildcat Mountain, and Diablo Peak just poking its head up beyond, and with St. Patricks and Sheepshead Mountains a bit to their right.   It was turning out to be a photo-recon day; these days are too short to drive very far, stopping to take photos, and expect to get a painting in as well.

Lake Abert & the Abert Rim

(the latter on the left)

Abert Lake Homestead with the Abert Rim beyond

Wildcat Mountain

(with Diablo Peak just poking up beyond

and with St. Patrick's and Sheepshead Mountains a bit to their right;

here I had lunch)

Paisley, named after the town in Scotland, looks to be a pleasant village (hot in Summer, I expect), about the size of Lake Nebagamon, in northern Wisconsin, where I spent my first three years of grade school.  I topped up with petrol, and decided to check out the Chewaukan River, which flows through town.  I meandered up the river valley (county road 33), taking photos, and eventually decided to turn around about 10 miles up, the now icy and snowy road.  A few hundred yards back down the road I decided to spend the night at the Jones Crossing Campground, which although officially closed, was only closed as far as amenities were concerned.  Many tracks in the 3” of snow covering the ground … deer, coyotes, and what may have been cougar tracks; these latter were along the road where I had turned around.  I kept my bear spray canister close to hand while strolling around and preparing supper.  Studying the map I see that I’m now about 30, maybe 40, miles from the site of the now infamous Mudfest, but over some desperate and snowy roads, over the escarpment and mountains.

On the Chewaukan River #1

On the Chewaukan River #2