You may have seen previous postings of the view from the Lodge overlooking Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. It looked like this today, as you look east from the Lodge :

View across the marsh

Today was a beautiful day, so I went for a drive around 30 Mile Land, past the Wood River Wetlands and ended up at Agency Lake. Here’s the view looking back to the west, toward Crystalwood Lodge across Agency Lake.

Agency Lake and Cascades with Sky Lakes Wilderness

As you can see, the Sky Lakes Wilderness and the high country atop the Cascades are still snow-bound. In a year with a normal winter, that situation would continue perhaps even into July, but this year, I’m guessing the trails will open earlier than normal due to the light winter we had. Right now we’re having very mild spring days, so stay tuned for the hiking updates!

Last but not least, you can’t talk about spring around here without talking about birds. Hearing birds, seeing birds. Everywhere. The cliff swallows that grace the sides of the lodge and delight our guests are back as usual, and busy nesting and eating the emerging bug population. I tried to catch a few shots of them near sunset, as they congregate before calling it a day:

Flock of cliff swallows at Crystalwood Lodge

Flock of cliff swallows near Crystalwood Lodge nests

So there you have it. Birds, fishing, snow remnants, budding trees, marsh greening up, beautiful days…spring and summer are a very special fleeting time around here! Hope you have the chance to get away and enjoy it with us!!

Don’t forget…for a complete calendar of all there is to see and do around Crystalwood Lodge, make sure to check out our new local visitor website, Things To Do Near Crater Lake. An outgrowth of our award-winning local visitor newspaper, the website is a tremendous resource for the myriad of recreational opportunities and services in our area. More about that in an upcoming post!

Twice each summer the tiny, quiet western hamlet of Fort Klamath is suddenly filled with a parade of motorhomes pulling multi-horse trailers, pickup trucks loaded with horse paraphernalia, and more people than anybody seems to be able to count. Business picks up at the local general store, all of the lodging in the area is booked full, and the postmaster handles a Christmas season’s worth of mail. This can only mean one thing: it’s cutting time! Fort Klamath hosts two cutting meets annually, this year running from July 7-12 and August 20-30 at Mebane Ranch.

Historically, the only way to separate single cows from a herd was for horse and rider to isolate the target and hold it away from the others until it was immobilized. Today only a few cattlemen depend on “cutting” the cows for vaccinating, sorting, branding, and castrating, but the challenge of teamwork between horse and rider lives on in the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). The NCHA has over 16,000 members and represents one of the fastest growing equine sports in the world, with contestants competing for more than $3.7 million at the 2006 NCHA Futurity.

Competitors start arriving in Fort Klamath about a week before the festival. RVs are set up in a pasture just outside of town, a patchwork of temporary homes complete with Astroturf and potted plants. Rows of vendors complete the picture, offering food and the latest in tack and horse accessories. Young riders spend hours grooming and exercising their treasured horses. These small yet expensive, powerful and athletic horses are bred especially for their cutting mentality. In the days leading up to the competition, riders must continue to discipline themselves and fine-tune their relationship with the horse for that crucial 2 ½ minutes in the ring. Each member of a cutting team is fueled by their own personal passion for improving the skill of each member and developing the talent of horse.

At the signal, horse and rider enter the ring. They slowly walk toward the herd and seek a “hot cow”, one that will challenge and showcase the horse’s skill, strength, quickness, and training. Once the target is identified, horse and rider must focus in on its position and then slowly move in to isolate it. After the separation is complete, the rider must loosen or drop the reins and allow the horse to work independently. At this point, the horse controls the contest, using its lightning fast starts and turns to prevent the cow from rejoining the herd. The quicker the horse moves the cow, the more points are awarded. The goal is to keep the cow and horse nose to nose and to keep the cow moving. If a cow fails to give the horse a good fight, the rider may return to the herd and select another. When the cow turns away or doesn’t try to return to the herd, the rider may lift the reins, signaling the horse to “quit the cow.”

The upcoming July event is an open show, including all levels of cutting. The August event is limited to horses from 3 to 6 years old and is the first futurity of the year in the cutting circuit. A typical day show cases 80 – 100 works, over 600 horses, and a small city of owners, trainers, riders, and support personnel.

Curious onlookers may be surprised to find limited seating at the arena and that cutting, unlike many rodeo events, is a relatively quiet activity that is not necessarily meant to be a spectator sport. Nonetheless, visitors will enjoy hustle and bustle of Fort Klamath and the intensity of the cutting events at Mebane Ranch and may be lucky to learn a bit about a sport that has not quite made it to the mainstream. Cutting runs from early morning until dusk, making it an easy event to schedule into a busy vacation weekend at Crater Lake. If you would like more information on summer cutting at Mebane Ranch please call 923.3586 or visit www.nhcutting.com

The Crystalwood Lodge is located 18 miles from the southern entrance to Crater Lake, and approximently 15-20 minutes from Mebane Ranch. If you would like more information on Crystalwood Lodge or other area great Crater Lake area activities, please call 541.381.2322 or visit the activities page on our website.