September 11, 2003

Day 23 - Barlow Road

Mt. Hood to Umatilla National Forest

Two years ago today I was on a similar cross country drive and was staying in Las Vegas when my friend Mark Sheppard called early in the morning to break the news. Two years ago seems a lot longer, luckily nothing happened today. In remembrance.

Rainy, wet and cold this morning stopped at a cold mountain stream and wash face and shave. Followed more serious jeep trails and follow the unmarked paths down off the mountain and come upon Barlow Road which is the original Oregon Trail through Mt. Hood National Forest and it has not changed at all no human intervention. With a 4x4 it can be driven (barely), the wagon wheels created very deep ruts and it is amazing they were able to pass this rough road at all given the trouble it gives my 2001 Toyota. Many of the fallen timbers and stumps seen here are original from settlers cutting firewood for nights camp.


--Tygh Valley

Follow Barlow Road off the mountain and immediate and dramatic change within about 100 yards it goes from thick, cold foggy forest to open, dry, hot arid scrub. Takes a while to work through some back farm roads to pavement and eventually make it to the town of Tygh Valley where I stop for groceries and then not far beyond stop at White River Falls and hike to a cool abandoned 1910 power plant (see photos previous link. Pass salmon ladders and fisherman at the junction of White and Deschutes rivers, amazing the salmon make it this far from the ocean, lots of fisherman, some hanging over the river falls on wooden platforms.


--John Day Fossil Beds, Clarno

Then on to the town of Antelope and stop for brown egg in a tiny café that probably never sees visitors, looked like it was doubling as the town kindergarten, people so nice. Then over to the Clarno unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, met a guy from Florida who was doing much the same traveling around the country but he had a BMW. Also met another guy from Minnesota living out of a mini-van with some interesting custom wooden shelving to hold what looked like 100s of books. Funny how we all three meet in the middle of nowhere looking at dead bones, all 3 of us in transition, wandering about.

The John Day Fossil Beds are a series of locations in central Oregon that are among the richest fossil beds in the world. The climate here is very dry and arid, it is the north boundary of the Great Basin and it is possible to walk for hours among crumbling cliffs and find fossils everywhere, just like a National Geographic Adventure. What makes it so special is the time span of fossils cover more eras than any other location in the world, it is the "super-bowl" of fossil hunters providing an unbroken record of changes over millions of years. At Clarno it is a primitive nature trail through the boulders and small signs point out fossils of trees and leaves along the trail, of course none are allowed to be be removed.

Continue on through beautiful country to the town of Fossil and get gas, town that time forgot, but the people are very happy and engaging. Property prices are so incredibly cheap, and the land is beautiful.

Ready to find a campsite head up into the south-west corner of the Umatilla National Forest and see many full-racked deer and a herd of Elk which are incredibly beautiful moving fast and silent but very big and graceful with furry feet they pass within yards of truck, I am stunned! This picture is not mine but similar to how it looked (picture courtesy Govt of British Columbia).

Camped at dusk at a small lake, someone had made a scarecrow figure that looked like a person fishing sitting in a chair, it fooled me and I was about to talk to it coming from behind but realized after getting closer. Hah! My companion for the night.

Cooked a dinner of onion and beef with Kimchi.. saw a giant frog. Night without incident. No people here saw one other truck since entering the forest.

Posted by stbalbach at September 11, 2003 01:07 AM
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