Riding The Crest 2009

OREGON Section F   Barlow Pass to Santium Pass to McKenzie Pass

October 1 - October 5

On October 1  we did not rush. The mountain that I had ridden a few days before in bare rock was now covered in a blanket of white snow. It was beautiful but I was glad I had already ridden Mt. Hood.. I saddled up without packs (and forgot my camera) at Barlow for the short jog down the trail. I just wanted to get Cane out and get his legs moving. A short  five mile ride mostly parallel to the highway that we left at Barlow and returned to at Wapinitia. We were never far from the highway. Cane did fine but I did not want to do more to give his legs time to adjust. They had been swelling from the hard work and then just standing around. After the 2 hour ride we drove  to Skyline Road (#4220), about 70 miles. We had hoped to get to the PCT from Skyline Road and in fact could - without a trailer. The problem was the Skyline Road was not paved and was washed out and rocky. We unhooked the trailer and drove it to see. Good thing as the truck could barely get through. Some places were narrow and all was rocky. There was no way to get a trailer up it, which would mean riding Cain back up to the PCT. I made a decision NOT to ride Cane the 12 miles up just to get up to the PCT. That was almost a one day ride in poor conditions just to get on the trail. So we went back and reattached the trailer and went to Hwy 20 and Santiaum Pass. We got to Santiaum Pass at 4pm and easily found the PCT Trailhead on the north side of Hwy 20. There were three equestrian pull ins with hitching rails. With Cane settled we started setting up our own camp. We built up the rock fire ring and built a fire for the chilly afternoon and evening. Ech tried to help by dragging the wood I was cutting up with my saw. He also did a few racing laps around the truck and trailer. I think he was just happy to be out and free to run. He had spent a lot of time inside the truck or the trailer and he IS a 9 month old puppy. We teasingly call him Baby Huey he is so BIG! I made a salad and tea while Ralph made awesome potato pancakes and grilled beef sausage. It was a great dinner beside a cozy fire. I had my homemade applesauce for the pancakes that were so good. We sat by the fire till dark and then doused it with water and covered it with dirt. This whole mountain was a skeleton forest from a previous fire and we did not want another one, even of the sticks and grass that remain.  Tomorrow I plan on riding Santium Pass to McKenzie Pass, 17 miles without packs.  The trip is now totally directed by the weather.

We were up at 7. After breakfast we started packing things away in preparation for leaving, Ralph would leave Santium to meet me at McKenzie. The morning was cold, more so due to the drizzle than to the 39 degrees. I think Cain was glad to get a saddle on and get moving. He was shaking even with the waterproof blanket he was wearing. But I had noticed this with my horses too. Standing around in the cold isn’t good for horses anymore than it is for us. He was eating his hay and breakfast feed while I spread his manure and Ralph took down the high line. Before I was in the saddle, a forest ranger truck pulled in with about six people. A man in shirtsleeves (I was wearing three layers) came over and introduced himself and after asking about our camp asked to see our horse feed. All national forests require stock be fed seed free feed and hay. I feed a pellet feed for that reason. We had bought certified weed-free grass hay at our last stop. So the forest ranger (turned out to be the manager of the wilderness) thanked us and went back to his group which included the Willamette Forest Supervisor out of a day hike. I hope the fact that we were using the forest all the way from Georgia was good input. I packed rain gear (which I needed most the day) and lunch and snack foods.  It was rocky from the start and only got rockier. The lava area (which was half the ride) was very slow to go through. I walked A LOT! I wanted Cane to take the time to place his feet and not worry about me. I had to watch my own feet as the rocks were not completely out of the trail and many were sharp. The day was so wet that I had not taken my big camera and used the little one only a little. There were really no views with the rain. And between the burn and the lava rock it was not a spectacular sight. Not my most exciting day on the trail! We were up in fog or clouds all day. I also did not take the SPOT but that was because I forgot it since I had taken it off the saddle the day before. I was very glad to see McKenzie Pass. There was a wonderful observatory there made for visitors to look out on the lava fields. It was built entirely of the lava rock from the area. The road to there (Hwy 242) was not for rigs over 30’ so Ralph only drove to road 900 and I had to ride just past McKenzie and then down an access trail to meet him. I was glad to get out of the rain and amazed to find it mostly sunny and dry 15 miles down the highway toward Sisters, OR. Ralph had set up camp at Graham Corrals, a Willamette National Forest horse camp. It was three miles off the highway and had wonderful corrals, water, vault toilets, picnic tables and fire rings with grates, all under old growth pines. We had the place to ourselves. For dinner I made barbeque chicken, rice and our favorite salad.  We once again had a cozy fire but we ate inside as the temperatures were dropping.

Saturday to Tuesday   It snowed so again I was grounded. We drove to McKenzie Pass again for pictures. Unfortunately it was raining (or drizzling or snowing) and so pictures were limited. We did go to the Dee Wright Observatory. It was a cold 38° up there at 5325.’ But the three of us enjoyed the observatory. Sunday: We drove into Sisters, OR dressed for Church. We drove all over town looking for a church and laughed when we could not find one easily. Unlike where we come from with a church on every corner.  We did find Calvary Chapel at last. But it was so early we went to get a coffee for Ralph and to fill our propane tank to pass a little time. When we returned we were greeted by Carlos who introduced us to Pastor Mike and his wife, Mary. Afterwards we returned to the trailer and ate tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Then we went back to town. Ralph dropped me at the library and I was there until about 4:40. Monday: We went into town, Ech with us, at 9:30. Ralph drove me to the Sisters Ranger Station. After a near useless stop (they had no weather update info) Ralph dropped me at the library to do payroll and another web update while he went for hay and dog food. After lunch we drove out to Whispering Pines Camp, another nice horse camp but with less room for big rigs. We decided that with the snow (there was more there than where we were) we would stay where we are. Other campers, Bob & Nancy arrived with their horses. Tuesday: The temperature outside was 26º so I was in no hurry. Then Ralph told me he wished I would NOT ride in this cold. I was no more keen on it than him but wanted to ride this area (Three Sisters Wilderness). But I could see it was really worrying him and so once again deferred to him. We joined Bob and Nancy at their trailer for coffee. They heard a little of my story and when I got to sharing the part about the vision Debi R. shared with me about my horses waiting at heaven’s gates they both got tears. They had lost their son, Gary, 4 years ago. I marvel that the gift of sharing continues to give. By the time we looked at the clock it was noon. (And they have a fabulous clock in their trailer. It has jumbled numbers and says, “Who cares?” Love it). Nancy  told me about her friend Jerri that lives in Sisters and rides her mules all over the area. Nancy suggested I talk to Jerri about the Scott Pass Trail. So Jerri and I talked. She thought the PCT would be good to ride especially with the good weather this week. She did tell me about one difficult spot to watch for. Then Bob volunteered to use his four-wheel drive truck to drive us to the trailhead to check it out. On Road 1012 we passed a Forest Service truck and asked the ranger about conditions. We ended up talking to him and the gal with him for quite a while. They were very helpful and very interested in my trip. The gal got very teary-eyed with me when Bob told them I had lost my horses in Washington and they asked a bit about it. Bob drove us out past Whispering Pines Campground to the Scott Pass Trail. There was less snow than yesterday but more the farther we went and were glad for the four-wheel drive. We all agreed our dually (without any four wheel drive) would not be able to get back there when the snow might be ice in the early morning. He suggested he drive us out using his truck to pull our trailer. So that is now the plan. We returned to the trailers and enjoyed most of the evening together. As we sat around another great campfire Ech chased three passing deer and was very proud of himself. We had seen some walking the streets of Sisters, OR earlier. They returned in a few minutes and he was obedient not to chase them a second time.

NEXT:  Three Sisters 

So many trails - So little time!

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