On May 1, we packed a picnic lunch and took off adventuring in the national forest.  Headed upriver, then northeast up Steamboat Creek.  Finally we turned west onto Cedar Creek Road.  We were having a great time checking out red-flowering currant, dogwood blooms, hummingbirds, when we came upon . . . 

By the Fourth of July, we were ready for another adventure.  For years, we've wanted to stand on the flanks of Thunder Mountain, directly across the river from us, and look back at our neighborhood.  But we've always headed that direction in spring and each time were foiled by snow drifts.  On the Fourth of July, we figured we should have no such problem!

It took a while, but we finally found a spot with a clear view.  Clearcuts have at least one good feature.
 

Nancy photographing our ridge.

Here's the picture she got. The purple arrow points to Tampi, the towering rock visible from Long Shadows. The Castle is to the right and our neighbor's quarries below that.  The yellow arrow points to the clearing where our other neighbors have horses.  Long Shadows is somewhere in between.  If you figure out where, let us know.  We can't!

Dianne brought her tripod and telephoto lens for closer shots.

Our ridge again, through  Dianne's telephoto.  We think Long Shadows is off the bottom of this picture. We're glad we can't see the clearcuts from our house!

Follow the crest of Mt. Scott to the right, just past where the photo's color changes.
Drop halfway down the photo.  The North Umpqua River appears from behind the near ridge.  It looks silvery.  Follow the river diagonally down to the right.  The light blob is houses near the old Frontier Store and the Dogwood Motel, two miles west of our road.

Follow the river diagonally down and to the right some more, and it becomes wide and blue.  That's a curve in the river we never see from the highway, because the road goes behind a small hill.  Just right of the center of the picture, the river is hidden by trees, then comes out in a big open area (below some more white houses and a big brown patch). That's Smith Springs, where there are several houses and a wayside. 

You can't see the river past that, but at the far lower right, the brown area is where the slope was cut away for the highway.  That's just west of the straightaway before Susan Creek Road.    The faint tan line left of that is the highway.  Long Shadows is off the right of the picture.  Why didn't Nancy take another one?  A shrub was in the way and you couldn't see anything!

This was a great spot.  We'll go back onto Thunder Mountain sometime when the atmospheric conditions might be better for clearer viewing and photographing.  Of course, when everything is sharp and clear, it's January and there are snow banks blocking our way!