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You are here: Home / environmental stewardship / Is It The Running Y Ranch Or Running Y Lake?

Is It The Running Y Ranch Or Running Y Lake?

March 5, 2014 By Gold Dust Farms 1 Comment

A chipping potato field looks like a lake from early February moisture on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lake front property or the entrance to a chipping potato field?

Last fall doesn’t seem very far away. The fields at the Running Y Ranch were busy, full of equipment cutting hay and grain and getting the fields ready to dig potatoes.  Before long bulkers were filling spud trucks, which headed to Malin to store the potatoes for shipping season.  Occasionally, the ground would seem to open up to swallow a truck.  When that happened, you remembered these fields were once part of Klamath Lake.

We were recently reminded of that again.  On February 16th, Tricia called to say the fields were so full of water from much needed rain and snow that you couldn’t see where one field ended and another began.  Not only that, swans, snow geese and Canada geese had flocked to the fields, and in some places there were so many of the white birds it looked like the snow had returned.

By the time we made it to the Running Y Ranch the next day, some of the flooding had subsided and the massive flocks had moved on.  But what was left was still amazing.  If it weren’t for the built up roads that ran along the edges, the fields would have appeared to be one contiguous lake.  With swans and a few Canada geese swimming through the wheat and potato fields of last year, you could almost see how this area was once a seasonal part of Klamath Lake.  And you could also see how these fields became so fertile.

Moments like these remind us how lucky we are to live in the Klamath Basin.  Yes, there’s still a drought and we’re all praying for more snow to fall in the mountains and rain to fill our lakes and reservoirs.  But watching geese swim in these flooded fields and swans pick through the leavings of last year’s grain harvest help give us a moment’s respite of today’s worries and remind us of the power and majesty of Mother Nature.

We hope you enjoy the photos below, and if you’d like to see any of them enlarged, just click on the picture and a gallery will appear.

And let’s all hope for more water!

Winter moisture flooded fields on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
Looks a little wet, eh?
Swans swim in a flooded field on the Running Y Ranch operated by Walker Brothers.
A few swans take advantag of the flooded fields
A pair of swans look south as they join the flock in a flooded field on the Running Y Ranch.
A pair of swans join the flock
Canada geese swim with swans in a flooded field on the Running Y Ranch.
A few Canada geese were on hand too!
Swans and geese swim in a field on the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Almost looks like a proper lake!
Swans swim in a field on the Running Y Ranch with Oregon Highway 140 in the background.
Looking east you can see Hwy 140 in the background
Swans swim in front of linear on the Running Y Ranch with Doak Mountain in the background.
Swans, a linear and Doak Mountain
Swans in a cut grain field with silos in the background at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
Looks like a few birds want to dry out!
Swans in a cut wheat on the Running Y Ranch.
These swans are probably enjoying some of last year’s grain
Looking south at flooded fields on the Running Y Ranch operated by Walker Brothers farm.
Looking south
A chipping potato field looks like a lake from early February moisture on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lake front property or the entrance to a chipping potato field?
Migratory swans from the Pacific Flyway in a flooded potato field on the Running Y Ranch.
Hard to believe this was a spud field!
Swans gather in a flooded field at the Running Y Ranch.
More swans at the north end of the Running Y
Spooked migratory swans take to the air at the Running Y Ranch.
And they’re off!
Swans taking flight at the north end of the Running Y Ranch operated by Walker Bros.
More swans take to the air
Winter floods make for rich soil in the fields at the Running Y Ranch.
There’s a reason this is one of our best fields
Several flooded fields lie between the western edge of the Running Y Ranch and Walker Brothers' headquarters.
You could almost use a canoe to get to the headquarters!
A red cinder road marks the edge of a flooded field on the Running Y Ranch.
This could almost be an extension of Lakeshore Drive!

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Filed Under: environmental stewardship, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, Klamath Basin wildlife, Running Y Ranch, sustainable farming, walker brothers, wheat

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