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!

we visited this spot – here’s a link to directions you’ll need to get there (http://oregonhotsprings.immunenet.com/hartmtn.htm) when I was about 9 years old. Out in the desert, water was over my head at the time….long drive to get there, I remember my sister was crying…..But the spring was really neat. I want to go back! Take my own kids this time…...

a foggy warmish ski trip, but it was a great drive there. At the time (1994) Red Mtn. seemed a bit quiet and undiscovered. Wonder what it is like now? Old mining town I think. Ski hill was good. Steep, tons of bumps. Tough telemarking. We stayed at a B&B right at the base of the ski hill.

kind of a fun place. We went camping at Governor Dodge State Park near Cassville (could be mixing my parks up here). Terrible mosquitoes. But while in Cassville, we stumbled across an airstrip that was putting on a pancake breakfast. So we pulled in and discovered a great piece of small town Americana. Even better, we discovered that turtles were on the way up from the river to the base of the bluff to lay their eggs. The airstrip was in between the river and the bluff. So the planes were frequently damaged and turtles killed when planes would land or take off and encounter a turtle on the runway as the plane tried to take off. So the airstip kept the kdis busy “patrolling” the side of the airstip watching for plane breaking turtles. Happily, we saw no turtles getting squished but we did see and hold a ton of big old snapping turtles. Kind of cool.

There is also an old fashioned car ferry you can take across the river here. We did this and landed on a gravel beach on the Iowa side. We toured up the IA side for a ways and discovered some surprisinly jaw dropping terrain overlooking the MS river. I’ll bet there are bluffs pushing a 1000 feet of relief on that side of the river.

Well at least my cell phone didn’t work. No shortcut to get to this place. In the middle of the North Cascades. It’s pretty popular now I think, but I very much have enjoyed my trips to Winthrop. I worked in the area years ago and have vacationed there 2x. High, dry wide open, lots to do and some great places to see. Walk over and watch all the mule deer that populate the softball field every night as dusk turns to dark. For me, a very enjoyable spot in the world.

Salmon ID is a classic little town in the West. To me, it is the kind of town that Missoula, Bend, and a host of other discovered small towns were like before they were invaded by people (like me) who really liked “undiscovered” places. The town of Salmon is the gateway to the Salmon River which is one of the supremely awesomest places ever put on this earth. And I’m not exaggerating! Wild, quiet, rugged, rattlesnakes, places people may not have ever been, bighorn sheep all over the place. AND when the water is right some great big gnarly white water drops. When you leave to the north, you’ll go up and over Lost Trail Pass and enter into Montana. This area is also fabulously empty remote and gorgeous. Decent skiing at Lost Trail Pass too!

This was a spot where we would eat dinner before driving through the mountains to get back to Salmon, ID. where our rafting company base was. The Payette River drains out of a lake as I recall. I remember driving down the road next to that river and being amazed at what the river was doing. McCall was (is) a neat spot, that no one I talk to so far has ever heard of….

My first job as a field hydrogeologist was near Washtucna. This town is well off of the freeway (I-90). To get to Washtucna, turn south off of I-90 at Ritzille and drive south about 30 miles. Back in time, into the desert, down a winding little 2 land road. Pretty neat. Wouldn’t want to live there, but it is worth driving that road and visiting the spot. Once in Washtucna, if you leave it going east on a road I can’t remember the name of (you go under a railroad bridge) you come across the oldest general store I have ever seen. As I recall it was sandwiched inbetween two great big willow trees. It couldn’t have been more than 20 feet wide. Cigar box for a cash register. Amazing old fashioned. A place time has forgotten. I wonder if that store is still there?