Once we
completed our tour of the B Reactor at Hanford we made plans to
visit our friends Ben and Tiffany in Bend, OR. So, we bid
our hosts adieu and headed toward the Blue Mountains.
The photos below are what we saw.
Our
final view of the Columbia River as we headed east toward Walla
Walla, WA.
Past the
junction of the Snake and Columbia rivers we came upon a large
wood processing plant on the Snake River.
Heading
into the mountains to the east of Walla Walla we ascended a set
of tight switchbacks that gave us a nice view of the nearby
ridges.
From the
crest of the ridge we could see the plains of the Columbia river
valley to the west.
As
things typically are, when a tough obstacle is encountered, it
is frequently missed in the photo log. Indeed, in this
case, we hit 3 daunting sections on the trail which were total
mud holes. In the worst hole, we found a path around the
muck that went through a forest of logging stumps. The
last obstacle was tense enough that we still did not get a
photo. But, this "normal" section of the trail gave a
glimse of the situation. The stream bed was the road but
rather than having a rocky base, it was clay-based mud that
appeared without bottom. The first obstacle we powered
through without anything other than angst and a deep sense of
foreboding. We avoided the second, and seemingly the worst,
obstacle. The third was much longer and unavoidable.
We put the truck in four-wheel drive and engaged the rear
differential lock and passed without challenge, but still plenty
of angst.
Our
destination for the day was Jubilee Lake. Despite the very
slow going due to the mud holes, we arrived in time to have
plenty of light.
This
mother duck had a huge clutch of 12 ducklings. Mama
quacked out a command to "gather on me" and the clutch came
double-time.
Once
they were all assembled, they swam away in formation.
The
amount of mud dried on the wheels gives testament to the depth
and viscosity of the mud holes. The center of Thor's axle
is about 2 feet from the ground, so the hole was quite a bit
deeper than that.
The rear
tool box got a good mud douche and some brush scratches as well.
The
mid-ship tool box did not fare any better. Mud went in
through the vents.
We spent
a pleasant night at Jubilee Lake and next morning we headed
south. From one of the ridges we had an expansive view of
the hills, valleys and snow-capped peaks beyond.
Coming
down the hill from Jubilee Lake we came upon a log processing
plant.
The
small town of Elgin, OR depends on Boise Cascade for its
survival.
Our path
took us south through Wallowa, Enterprise and Joseph.
North of Joseph we got great views of the snowy peaks south of
town.
We
decided that we needed to log some miles to make the following
days' run to Bend tractable. We spent the night at a great
spot next to the Imnaha River. The rushing water was loud
but it was pleasing to hear after dark.
The next
morning we headed south into the Hell's Canyon recreation
area. On the main road we passed a sign for Hell's Canyon
Overlook, so we took the turn. The Snake river is at the
bottom of the main canyon, but deep enough that it was not
visible. Faulting and folding created steep cliffs and
sloped bedding. Note the angle of the beds in the center
of the photo.
To the
south were more snow-capped peaks.
To the
east, the peaks of the 7 Devils Mountains are visible.
Bedding
only a short distance from the main canyon was nearly horizontal.
We
traveled into Baker City for a fuel stop and then continued west
along the John Day River. In the photo above, the John Day
River cuts through a cliff made of basalt.
The
mineral deposits on the cliff walls show the range of water
flows on the river.
Closer
to Bend, Kathleen spotted this interesting butte.
We got
to Ben's house near Sisters, OR and were treated to a great view
of the 3 Sisters Peaks: Faith, Hope and Charity.
Ben recently acquired
this Peterbuilt 359 to support his vehicle restoration and
sales business.
The truck is now used
to haul cars from seller's locations to Ben's facility.
The truck has a 400HP 14L Cummins motor.
The truck is the real
deal and recently had one of its rear axles removed to eliminate
some licensing restrictions and weigh-station requirements.
| Previous Adventure | ||
| Trip Home Page |
Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2019, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.