Trip 04, Day 02 (Day 29):
SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2007: RAIN!
I seem to recall an injudicious comment in yesterday’s report about how dry it is here. It was not my intention to anger the weather gods of this part of the country. Turns out they had not had a drop of rain around here for a very long time, and a lot of people of different religious persuasions must have been seeking divine intervention. It arrived at 5 a.m. The sound of raindrops striking a roof is magnified when that happens to be the roof of a tent. Joe and I both scrambled out into the dim light and rescued some electronic devices that were outside being recharged, and also covered a couple of exposed electrical connections. That was a good move as the initial sprinkles grew to a quite intense storm with wind and much rain. After being reassured that the tent was successfully keeping it all on the outside, we went back to sleep and slept off and on until 7:30. The rain continued, but we had breakfast inside the truck, brushed teeth, and headed out of town to our start point.
Starting point: 43.58785 N, 120.07794 W – elevation 4601 feet
Ending point: 43.56245 N, 119.88247 W – elevation 4548 feet
Since we had only my car this time, we again staggered the walking. Joe went first, telling me I should come rescue him if the rain became intense. About 40 minutes later, it did, and I drove until I found him running through the storm. He grabbed a dry, long-sleeved shirt, and was on his way again for most of another mile. He really wasn’t too cold and wet from the experience, having run to keep warm.
I lucked out. When I walked the same stretch, the storm had passed, and the sun came out. The desert had a colorful, clean-washed look from the rain and scattered sunshine. Even though the scenery was much the same as yesterday, the colors were brighter, and the air had that rain smell, improved even a little by the scent of sage. At about 4 miles, I looked over my shoulder at Glass Buttes and saw a dark curtain of rain coming down. The first drops hit about 10 seconds later. I hurried the last half-mile, but did get a little cold before reaching the parked car. I found the key where Joe had hidden it and drove ahead through now-heavy rain until I caught up to him at 10.5 miles.
Again, I figured I was in for a wet one for my second section. Again, I lucked out…..mostly. I did have to wear my Helly-Hanson rain parka for a bit, but probably could have gotten away with not wearing it. The heavy, dark rain seemed to be just far enough south and behind me that it never hit me much. Eventually, the sun again came out and helped keep me from getting chilled by the west wind.
Just before the end of the walk, I left Lake County and entered Harney County. If you look at a map of Oregon showing its counties, Lake County, Harney County, and Malheur County occupy the entire southeastern quadrant of the state, encompassing thousands of mostly-empty square miles with very sparse population.
I think about 5 people stopped and asked me if I needed help today. If you drive this highway through the high desert and see someone walking along far from any town, you tend to worry about them a little bit. It was nice to have folks do that.
Walk rating: 5.0 (paved shoulders are back!)
Money found: Day: $.00 Trip: $0.00 Project: $12.46
Distance: Day: 10.5 miles Trip: 19.5 miles Project: 270.9 miles
Significance: Second straight day of no money found. Entered Harney County.
