Port Orford, Oregon, Dolly Harbor

Linda and I have been visiting the southern Oregon coast for a week.  We rented a house at the beach in Gold Beach and used it as a base to explore the surrounding area.

  Since then, we have visited the small fishing harbor at Port Orford several times.

 We had two wonderful seafood dinners, enjoyed spectacular ocean views, and even photographed California gray whales, but what interested me most was the unique harbor.

Port Orford harbor is one of just six dolly ports in the world.  The port has no bar to cross, which allows boats to go out to sea more often than boats in other ports, but also means there isn’t a safe place to dock.  So the boats are hoisted out of the water with huge cranes and placed on dollies for storage on the pier.  How do they get the boats onto the pier?

A crane lifts the boat out of the water,

It swings the boat toward the home-made dolly.

Men line it up with the dolly using ropes.

The boat is lowered carefully.

The 25 ton capacity crane is unhooked.

A little pickup is hooked up to tow the boat to its parking place on the pier.

These boats are used to catch crab, rock fish, cod, salmon, sea urchin, and more.  I’ll bet some of their catch went to Griff’s restaurant right there on the pier.  Wonderful fresh seafood!

Remember, my photos are copyrighted and cannot be used without my permission.

Spring Transition

A change is coming to the Idaho high country.  Spring, also known as mud season, is starting in the Bear Lake Valley and the surrounding high country.  We have had a lot of snow and when it melts we put up with mud until the run-off subsides.

Just a few days ago the hills east of Montpelier still had snow, and I photographed this small herd of elk from our deck.  Now most of the snow is gone and the elk have left for the back country.

A young moose in neighboring Star Valley, Wyoming was content to rest in willows near the Salt River and let us take pictures.  Once in a while she nibbled a twig as we watched.

As the snow melts and bare ground appears, migrating sandhill cranes and Canada Geese look for food in fields where cattle are being fed.  These were seen between Montpelier and Ovid, Idaho.

Photographers, grab a long lens and come to the Bear Lake Valley to look for wildlife!