"Heidi's trail mix isn't any good, there's no candy in it." ~Zoe
In 1908, two railroad companies simultaneously started building railroad on both East and West sides of the Deschutes River Canyon. Both companies wanted the contract to continue south to central Oregon....... it was an all out railroad war. Company men would shoot at each other from across the canyon, drop boulders from the cliffs above on the competing parties work camps, and release bags of rattlesnakes at each others work camps (my Dad told us about the snakes when we were kids....there may be credibility issues with this story). Eventually, the railroad company on the west side of the river won, and the project on the east side became an abandoned railroad bed that hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders can follow for 20 miles south.
"And sometimes, if you listen closely, you can still hear the sounds of the ghost trains from the abandoned track howling in the night"....Heidi
Eastern Oregon is noted rattlesnake country. On the way, Heidi spent so much car time talking to the girls about rattlesnake safety and what to do during encounters, that by the time we got to the trail head......there was no question in their minds....... they were going to get bit. We started hiking at Fulton Canyon and followed the raised bed south. It was hot and we were already baking. About ten minutes in, Lila had her first meltdown. She didn't ask to come, she wanted to go home. Lila was brave and continued on.
Lila looked down and pondered the fate of the last five-year-old to pass this way. Things were not looking good.
We tried to amuse the girls by telling silly stories.
Heidi: Girls, just as the French brought us the Statue of Liberty, the Egyptians brought us the pyramids. If you look across the river, you can just make out some of those pyramids, worn down by the passage of time.
Zoe: it kind of looks like a butt.
We beat through the brush to get down to the river for swims.
"I think Lila's delirious, she's talking to herself again." ~Zoe
"How did Vincent Van Gogh cut his own ear off? Was he running with scissors?" ~Lila
We stopped and rested tired feet in the shade, only to be harassed by bees, flies that looked like bees, and biting flies. We saw Santa Claus, fossilized pig snouts, and friendly snakes in the brush.
Somewhere along the way, Zoe's flip-flop broke......she continued to walk in them anyway (she also had sneakers, so yeah......I don't know).
"I'm not a trailologist or anything, but this one looks pretty dangerous" ~Zoe
Somewhere between mile 4 and 5, we found a place to set up camp. We were beat. We lay out our tarp, set out the sleeping bags, and got ready for a night of sleeping out under the stars. As we lay under the sky, we swatted at both the real and imaginary ants and spiders crawling over our bodies and in our bags. We listened to the chomping noises of an unidentified rodent close by. A lonely cow called from across the field. We wiggled for room in our hot, zipped-together bags, and watched a train pass on the track across the river.
And then it was dark enough. The planets appeared, bright satellites, the major and then minor stars. Not all of us were awake to see it....... the sky became dark, deep, and beautiful.....sprayed with stars, all the points of light that we forget exist because we never see the sky this way.
Miles and miles of heat, bugs, dirt, bushwacking and trailblazing..........yes, it was worth it.
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