jeffbach

the road through the mountains from Springfield to Sisters (can’t remember the specifics sorry) was the WINDIEST, twistiest road I have driven. But at the end of that windy road you dumped out into Sisters, Ore. A little town with great mountain views, and a leadin into high desert. All on the way to the Deschutes River, another spot I was lucky to guide on. Maupin and Madras were two other towns we’d pass through too. Sagebrush, no trees, then you would sink down into the valley and the river and everything would get all lush and green again.

I think this place qualified as the most remote spot I spent time in while I lived in WA. state. I was a hydrogeologist working on a potential gold mine site just over the mountain (even more remote) from Chesaw. Chesaw itself is an old mining town. It once had a sizable (even thriving) hippie commune kind of place as well, although when I was there this part of Chesaw seemed pretty dead and quiet. I think hippies have a hard time surviving in remote communes (??). This town was about 45 minutes east of Oroville and required a beautiful ddrive through the mountains. More alpine than desert. No Ponderosa pines as I recall, but spruces and firs. A neat spot. Population 26 at the time I was there.

Sula is a wide spot in the road as you drive south, UP the Bitteroot Valley. The Bitterroot River (sp?) btw is one of the few rivers in the world that flow from south to north. Anyway, as you approach the south end of the Bitterroot Valley you will blow through Sula. I think there was (may be still) a single general type of store there. Maybe more off on the side roads but I never saw it. Just past Sula you start climbing Lost Trail Pass, at the top of which is a spiff little ski area. But don’t tell anyone!