Endemic Diary — May 1 to May 8, 2022

Sunday, May 1, 2022

We went on a Sunday stroll in McDonald Forest in search of wild irises, but all we found was this cute little Douglas squirrel.

Monday, May 2, 2022

The time has arrived for our trip to Central Oregon. We spent the morning packing up and rolled out of town at 1:00, planning to spend the first night in Terrebonne, a little town just 135 miles east of Corvallis. We left home in a pouring rain, but the forecast was for a drier day tomorrow. And besides, we’d be on the other side of the mountains, which is a much drier sort of place than where we live. So off we went, confident that we were headed for better weather. After about an hour of driving, we noticed that we hadn’t found it quite yet.

It wasn’t bad, really. After another hour we were on the other side of the mountains and looking around for our sunglasses.

Terrebonne, Oregon is just on the edge of Smith Rock State Park. It’s small but bustling. Smith Rock is the birthplace of the sport of modern rock climbing and was long considered to be the world capital of that sport. There are hundreds of climbing routes at a wide range of ability levels. It’s also a great place for hiking and we’ve done that once or twice. But our destination this time was a place called Gray Butte, which is well east of the park in an area of no interest to climbers. The plan was to spend the night in Terrebonne and drive to Gray Butte in the morning.

So all we had to do tonight was check into our hotel and then find a place to have dinner. Neither task was all that easy. Our lodging, called the Smith Rock Resort, turned out to be nowhere near the park or the town. It was, rather, twelve miles west of Terrebonne. When we finally got there we found that the resort cabins were in a long line between the Crooked River Gorge on one side and a vast golf course on the other. We were in the last cabin in the line, which gave us some fine views. The gorge side looked like utter wilderness, while on the south side we could see gophers and rabbits capering among scattered golf balls on the driving range. We didn’t have much time to take in this somewhat bizarre scene, cuz we were hungry and the nearest good food was 17 miles away in the town of Redmond.

Eventually we found that Hola restaurant now has a branch in Redmond. Oh boy. Hola is a Peruvian-Mexican chain with a good vegetarian selection and mighty nice drinks. E had a signature pisco sour and M had a paloma made with Jarritos grapefruit soda with tajin on the rim of the glass. Thus fortified, we returned to our cabin and noticed a nearby sign pointing to something called the Crooked River Gorge Trail. Well, we had to at least take a look at that, so we bundled up and went off to explore. After just a hundred yards we came to the edge of gorge, which turned out to be quite a sight.

There was a signboard with a map showing a loop trail that descended to the river level, then ambled along the river for a while, and finally climbed back up the very spot we were on. The map did not say how long the trail was. Well. It was a little late in the day, but the days are pretty long in May and we had at least another two hours of good light. We couldn’t actually see the trail, but it seemed like it would have to be steep and maybe rougher than we’d prefer. But the whole place was beautiful. So the pisco sour and the paloma looked at each other and decided to go for it.

So, yes, the trail was a little steeper and rougher than we would’ve liked, but still passable and of course quite beautiful. Also, we found that the trail had a place where you could choose to go all the way down to the bottom, or you just go along the river at fifty or so feet above the level of the water. We saved strength and time by choosing the latter. (But now E says we have to come back again some day and go all the way to the bottom.)

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

We slept fairly well last night, despite the overly large pillows and the memory foam mattress whose memories were mostly bad. We made our breakfast in the room from things we’d brought along. It was a little after 9:00 when we got everything repacked and headed for Gray Butte.

The route took us back to Terrebonne and onto a road that went east around the southern edge of Smith Rock Park. By the time we turned again, this time onto a route called Lone Pine Road, we had left the climbing terrain behind. After seven more miles we turned left at an unmarked turn-off for a narrow track called Road 57. At that point, as we rattled across an old metal cattleguard, we put aside our printed guidebook and started navigating by using the Avenza App on M’s phone. (In our limited experience with back country navigation, Google Maps is better than Apple Maps, but neither is as good as Avenza.) 

After half an hour of pretty rough going we arrived at the trailhead, which is located at the site of an old homestead. We wanted to look around a little, but first it was time to hike. The trail looped around the north flank of the butte, climbing steadily but gently. There were wildflowers everywhere. The dry, bare earth and lichen covered rocks made a great setting. 

After about a mile and a quarter we began to get glimpses of snow-covered Cascades peaks in the distance. 

The big peak in the video is Mt. Hood, 70 miles to the north. We could also see the top of Mt. Adams, 120 miles northeast. To the south we could see Mt. Batchelor, Broken Top, and the Three Sisters. Here’s a photo of two of the Sisters, about 40 miles southwest..

It was 11:00 A.M. when we started down, making it just about lunchtime when we got back to the trailhead. There were no remnants of any structures at the homestead site, but there were a striking number of large dead trees that didn’t look like natives.

The poplars may be long dead, but the apple orchard still survives.

Julius and Sarah McCoin first homesteaded here with their four children in 1886. They planted the Lombardy poplars to provide shade for the house and a windbreak for the apple trees. We had lunch in what was once their front yard. The family raised sheep and horses, operated a freight business, and planted over 100 apple trees. Sarah McCoin died in 1888 and from then on the McCoin children had to manage alone for weeks at a time while Julius drove his 12-horse freight wagon on a route between Prineville and the Columbia River. One source reports that when Sarah died, the eldest child was nine; another source says thirteen. Both sources say that the two youngest were three and five. 

During the mid 1930’s conditions made it impossible to make a living in the area around Gray Butte. In 1936, the McCoins, along with hundreds of other homesteaders, were forced to abandon their properties. An appeal to Franklin Roosevelt led to a program under which the federal government paid the families for the land they were leaving, thus giving them assistance in starting anew somewhere else. Since then the land has been administered by the U.S. Forest Service. All of the structures on the affected lands were removed as part of a CCC project in 1938. 

In the 1980’s, Forest Service rangeland specialists Ecker and Ketrenos pruned the apple trees, which was critical to extending their lives. A few trees have died over the years, but many still bear fruit. 

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

We’ve just spent the night at the Balch Hotel in Dufur, Oregon. There’s not too much happening in Dufur–population: 639–but the Balch is a really amazing place. We’d like to go back some day. For now we must be off again, back to Corvallis.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Rain.

Friday, May 6, 2022

Rain. In the evening E went to see Mamma Mia with H and T. This marked the resumption of live theatre performances at the Corvallis High School following two years of shut-down due to COVID.

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Rain all day. But in the evening, ice cream!

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Rain and clouds. But also, flowers for Mother’s Day!