Tuesday, October 7th
E took off in the blue car today, heading south to Springfield and then east up the McKenzie River Valley. Her friends H and N had invited her to spend a night or two with them in an AirBnB on the banks of the river. Being a sensible person, E drove directly to her destination, guided by GPS as well as by a printout of the route directions given by the AirBnB host. It turned out to be a wonderful spot.
Meanwhile, M went off in the truck on his own expedition. His destination was Prineville, which is more or less directly east of Corvallis. And indeed M began his trip sensibly by driving directly east on Highway 34. But of course this is the same M who is still doing research for his next magnum opus: How To Find the Slowest Way to Get Almost Anywhere, so you will not be surprised to hear that he turned off this route just before reaching Lebanon, taking first Steckley Road, then Highway 223 and then wandering southeast on Calapooia River Drive.
As some of you may be aware, this innocent sounding road soon turns to gravel and goes on and on and on, finally reaching a Y intersection in a deep dark forest at a spot whose GPS coordinates reveal only that it is a long way from anywhere. M advises that if you ever reach this Y junction, you should bear left. Should you bear right, it is quite possible that you will climb very high up and then come to a dead end. There you will be forced to turn your vehicle around at a place where no sensible person would ever want to do such a thing. Assuming you survive this experience, you can return to the Y and try the left arm. If you do, and if your luck holds , you will end up on Canyon Creek Road, which will lead you down finally to pavement on good old Highway 20. It’s true that this last stretch will lead you westward, away from the stated destination of Prineville, but it will all work out.
Wednesday, October 8th
Today E and her friends drove a bit farther up Highway 126 and visited…
M, meanwhile, spent the day driving around some small mountains called the Maury Range. He renewed his acquaintance with Forest Service Road 16, got some nice views from FSR 150, and achieved his long-held goal of driving the length of FSR 1750. By Forest Service convention, the number of digits in the road number gives a clue to what sort of road it might be. Roads with two digit numbers tend to be wide with smooth, well maintained gravel. Roads with three digit numbers are narrower. They are usually smooth, but are less frequently maintained, which can lead to rough spots. Four-digit roads, like FSR 1750 in the Maurys, are the roughest–and of course slowest.
Week of October 9th to 16th
We’ve had several bouts of rain this month, but also many days of sun. The parched lawns in the neighborhood are turning back to green, while the leaves on the trees are less green with every passing day. Although the freezer is already well stocked with E’s applesauce, there are still plenty of bright red apples on the tree. M has finished most of his grass removal/soil rehab project and is now hunting up things to plant in the new space.
Wednesday, October 15th
Today we took a break from our recent routine and went for a hike on Browder Ridge up around Tombstone Pass in the Cascades. We took the Gate Creek Trail. We’d been there once or twice before, but it had been a long time. It’s just 1.6 miles from the trailhead to the viewpoint, but there is some elevation gain involved–1,150 feet. So it was definitely a challenge.
The weather was fine: cold in the shade, much warmer in the sun. The first part of the trail was all shade, switchbacking steeply up through a mature forest that featured some nice swaths of rhododendron understory. As we climbed higher, we began to see older and older trees. After about half a mile the trail leveled out, running gently upward with no switchbacking needed. In this section we saw dozens of really big firs. Clearly this part of the forest has never been logged, at least not in the last three or four hundred years. This phase lasted for another half mile, at which point the trail turned right and started switchbacking again. Here the trees weren’t as big, and we saw a greater variety of species. As we climbed, we occasionally came upon patches of steep bracken meadows, places where no trees were growing. We wondered why not. Mostly, though, the last half mile of switchbacks took us through thick forest with not a view in sight. Then, quite suddenly, we came out of the trees to find ourselves at the top of a very large meadow. And there we found the views.
It was quite a scene, what with the snow on the peaks and all. The photo above shows Mt. Jefferson (behind a tree) and Three Fingered Jack on the right. But also visible from the same spot were Mt. Washington, South Sister, and a number of smaller volcanic cones and craters. After oohing an aahing a bit, we located some almost comfortable rocks out in the sunshine and sat down for lunch.
Lunch ended up having two phases. First we had our sandwiches, veggies and chips. Just as we were finishing those, our sunny spot turned to shade and became noticeably colder. To properly enjoy dessert we had to relocate ourselves to a less than stable log. Life is tough out in the wilderness! Somehow we managed it and before long we were headed back down.
Friday, October 17th
E went out and about downtown today. In the midst of her errands, she dropped in at Futura for a latte. She also asked for a bagel. The barista informed her that the shop had run out of cream cheese and that the only topping they had was butter. Okay, said E, expecting to get by with just a pat or two. But that’s not what she got.
While this was going on, M was out riding around the hills in the little red car. It was fun, but he didn’t see any butter anywhere.
Sunday, October 19th
On the literary front, E is reading three different books at once, one of them being The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. E also found something for M to read: Parul Sehgal’s NYT review of Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket. He liked the review and will probably read the book sometime.
Such wonderful travels!!! and bagels and butter sound just fine to me!!
Careful with those widowmaker trees….in forestry school it gets pounded into your head (no pun intended!!) to have one huge plan before you attempt to get a hung up tree down.
Such beautiful, snowy moutains!! Thank you for sharing your adventures!!!
As usual, the chronicle leaves me in awe of you explorers braving gravel roads, gazing at distant peaks, contemplating suspended trees, and dipping bagels in butter.
Then, imbued with such profundity, you leave me in the dust by invoking Thomas Pynchon’s latest while I creep along in my half century long quest to finish Gravity’s Rainbow!
For what it’s worth, the NYT review suggests that Shadow Ticket will be way easier to finish than GV. –M