OREGON GEOCACHING – TRIP 2B

After a warm evening in Medford Sunday, I awakened Monday to overcast skies but it was still pleasant. I had to make an out and back trip to Grants Pass in order to log a cache in Josephine County. Even though it’s only 30 miles, a short distance on the Interstate, it’s like going from arid desert country to the cool mountain forests.

A GPS receiver is not a three dimensional device. It can get you fairly close to any location horizontally but not necessarily vertically. Therefore, I ended up parking on the Interstate for a cache that was located near an underpass below the freeway. I quickly scrambled down the hill and was able to locate the cache in short order. I climbed back up and was on my way to the next one but I had to go a ways in the wrong direction to exit and return. The next cache was off the Interstate and in a fairly secluded area. Even though I had two caches in the county the next one was only a couple of blocks away on a dead end street so I thought I’d try for it. It ended up being a waste of time because I was unsuccessful in finding it.

Time to leave this area so I headed back east and then turned north toward the Crater Lake area. I had wanted to visit Crater Lake but the north entrance was not open yet due to snow and I didn’t know how much time I would have. I was now traveling in dense forest and it was fairly cool. I found a beautiful spot with a rushing stream where there was supposed to be a cache called “Old Cabin”. I must have looked for at least a half hour to no avail. In the thick tree cover and mountains my GPS was jumping all over the place but you would think I should be able to find a foundation or something. I reluctantly left for the Diamond Lake area, the old stomping grounds of my hunting partner, Ken. I didn’t get to explore that area as much as I would have liked because I was running low on gas. The one cache I did find I wished I had worn my motorcycle helmet to go after it because the mosquitoes almost took my head off.

The next cache east of the Diamond Lake area required a pleasant hike of close to a mile back in the woods. The woods were much more open here and I wasn’t bothered by the mosquitoes. At this point I was worried about running out of gas, however. Fortunately, I found a little town that to my surprise had a gas station so I gassed up and had some lunch there. I guess I haven’t mentioned it, but I carried my lunches consisting of a little canned snack such as sardines and crackers. I also had an ice pack in an insulated pouch to carry some milk and pop.

Now I was heading north toward Bend on highway 97 that I call the Highway from Hell. Even though it is a two lane road the traffic is heavy to put it mildly. There are occasional passing lanes which is the only salvation. But the worse part was the wind. If you’ve ever ridden a motorcycle behind a big semi on the Interstate you would know what it was like. The wind is like a big invisible fighter clubbing you left and right.

Two of the caches I got in this stretch were on dusty gravel roads off the highway – not pleasant on my bike. One at a convenience store at a wide spot in the road was interesting. The write up said the cache was behind a planter which was on the porch of the store. I looked and looked but there simply wasn’t room for a cache back there. Finally I saw it. It was an envelope made from duct tape that you had to open to get the cache log.

Even though I’m forced to plan quick caches on these purposeful trips I like to plan an occasional one that gets me off the beaten track. This one was located in the desert between Redmond and Prineville. It was a mile hike in the desert with snow covered mountains in the distance – very refreshing.

This was the shortest day of my journey arriving before 5:00 in Prineville which is a nice little town that is home to the Les Schwab tire company. In fact, two caches I got there were outside of town near their big warehouse. I had a relaxed evening in town and was able to access a computer in the motel lobby to post the caches I had done the past two days.

I was on the road again the next morning before 7:00 heading north toward Madras and then Hood River. I picked up several caches along the way but the most memorial events were not the caches. Again it was windy and cold with lots of traffic. At one point I came upon vehicles (mostly big trucks) backed up for about a mile with no one moving. I couldn’t even see the front of the line to see what the holdup was. After hesitating a few seconds I got in the passing lane and eased all the way to the front to find that a semi had collided with two cows. I figured the worst that could happen was my being sent back to the end of the line. I politely asked the Patrolman if I could go on through and he said, “Sure, go ahead”. I couldn’t believe it! Made sense to me though.

In addition to the wind I soon hit rain and then snow. Fortunately it didn’t last too long. The sun came out and I found a nice spot to take a lunch break where they erect temporary scales on the side of the road. There happened to be a nice cache out in the woods there too.

My afternoon (and evening) was spent on the Washington side of the Columbia where I picked up a few caches for next year’s Washington counties quest. The wind had to have been blowing 35 to 40 mph but gratefully it was now a tailwind. Near Kennewick I had a nice stop at Plymouth Rock State Park which is a little island. I hiked out in the sagebrush for my last two caches of the day and trip. I didn’t arrive home until 9:00 p.m.

Overall this trip wasn’t as pleasant as some I’ve made but I did ride some great roads along with some not so great ones and I accomplished my mission. I traveled 1,550 miles, logged 46 caches in 14 Oregon counties, 3 Washington counties as well as checking California off my states list. Tomorrow I depart for the Oregon coast leg of the mission. M/W