Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Start point: 44 20.937 N, 121 36.312 W
End point: 44 14.990 N, 121 29.219 W
The night was uneventful weather-wise, and other than a couple of small children in a trailer near our tent, there were no significant disruptions to our rest. When we awoke, the clouds were gone, although the Three Sisters were barely visible through a haze of fresh smoke. We hit the “trail” before 7:30.
The scenery was pretty, but unchanging: a long asphalt corridor edged by red lava gravel shoulders at the bottom of a straight groove through the ponderosa pines. Smoke from forest fires transformed the woods into a mysterious fantasy forest. This view remained constant until we reached the town of Sisters. We stopped at McDonald’s on the west end of town, and Joe bought himself a snack. We walked for a mile through the cowboy storefronts of what used to be a sleepy town but is now a tourist mecca.
East of town we stayed to the right on Highway 20 at a junction with Highway 126 to Redmond and Prineville. Now the ponderosa forest had been replaced with ranches and meadows opening to spectacular mountain views. At one spot we passed a cluster of metal sculptures depicting cowboys herding wild horses. Near the end of the walk there was a llama ranch. Shortly thereafter we came to the KOA campground.
Walk rating: 8.4
Money found: Day: $.56 Trip: $1.96 Project: $6.28
Distance: Day: 9.3 miles Trip: 45.4 miles Project: 170.3 miles
Elapsed time: Day: 3:36 Trip: 17:02 Project: 66:05
Significance: Transition from mountain forest to high desert.
We drove back through Sisters to pick up Joe’s truck, then drove east toward camp, stopping again in Sisters for lunch. At Sno-Cap Drive-In I had a very good Swiss mushroom burger and fries with a bottle of house “fries sauce” from their refrigerator that was worth the $6.75 I paid for the burger. We filled up both vehicles, noting that the gas prices had risen 7 cents a gallon on the Alaska pipeline news even though the price of crude dropped.
After showers I helped Joe with some more office work, sitting at a shady picnic table in a comfortable breeze. Cribbage: Joe won one game, then skunked me to lead 20-19. I then tied it at 20-20. We shot some baskets on the KOA court, playing H-O-R-S-E with a nice kid from Riverside, California. We each won one game, and then Joe won the clincher.
