BREAKING THE ICE

"About four years ago, we moved from Willamette Valley, the rainy, temperate side of the state to central Oregon on the east side of the mountains - where, in the winter, it gets much colder and there's generally a lot more snow. One of the first things I did when I moved was to visit Benham Falls with the mountains in the background. "We were walking along this river and all of a sudden, I saw a whole bunch of Rocky Mountain elk coming down the hills and rim rock. They stopped for a second and stared, then immediately ran off. Just a few minutes later, two otters appreared and started playing around in the water and ice."