Oregon's changing eco-systems

 On leaving Bend we went to the High Desert Museum where there was a butterfly exhibit and I could simply post photos of these magnificent creatures but we also walked around to check out the other exhibits. This whole trip we have failed to see a river otter so it was nice to watch this born-in -captivity lone otter but in the case of all the caged birds and mammals there was still the heaviness of their sentences.

 After leaving the Bend area we headed into the Cascades and stayed at Elk Lake where it had snowed the day before and snowed again during the night.

 In the morning we rolled over an unmarked road until we drifted lower and headed further west.

 Suddenly we were back in cedar, moss, lichen, and yellow maple. We had a great soak at McCready Hot Springs. We explored across the raging Salt Creek in our bathing suits to the hot pools on either side of the creek with the cold water over-topping our boots. It was just striking to have gone from high desert to winter snowy high country to almost coastal Oregon conditions in less than a day!