....A bird in the bush

A spotted towhee, no less. And deep in a bush.

The day started with the bird fest in the back yard in which the western scrub jays got bolder and came closer.

 Strange wingless birds at dawn.

Red naped woodpecker

An Oregon junco

and then we went on a hike to Fay Canyon which has the advantage of being awesome from pretty much the very beginning.

 I am intrigued by the way plants, small trees even find places to grow in what seems an impossible environment.

 It is also interesting how lush the floor of the canyon is
apparantly enough water is funneled into it
to provide for lots of life.

It's only a mile in with relatively little climbing until the official trail ends. Then it gets steep and rough leading back to a couple of dead ends, but dead ends with a view.

 Occasionally there are interesting patterns in the rock from when it was a beach 280 million years ago and the tide went out.

 This is an arch of sorts not your typical arch

 More patterns

And all this was done with out the help of glaciers.