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Old 04-01-2014, 09:24 PM   #1
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Aborted trip to the John Day

Went to Oregon Raceway Park last weekend to shoot the races. Had a great time. Left early on Friday so that I could follow some back roads over to the John Day River and then shoot the races on Saturday and Sunday. The track is about 15 miles from the river. Was trying to get to the overlook near Taylor Grade, N45.42130 W120.50644, about 700' above the river.

Took mostly paved roads until I turned off on a gravel road. The further I drove the slippery the road became. When I looked in my mirror I could see water in my tire tracks all the back as far as I could see, not a good sign but decided to keep going. My 2WD van was having a tough time staying on the road when I did finely stop. Had to back up about two miles before I could find a wide enough spot that was firm enough for me to turn around. First time in a long time that I wanted 4WD. Will try it again later in the summer after the roads dry out.

It was a fun adventure.

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Old 04-02-2014, 10:57 AM   #2
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Re: Aborted trip to the John Day

Ha!!

A few years ago our family was on Spring Break about this time of year. We decided we wanted to see the site of the old Rashneeshpuram which is near Antelope, OR in the same general area. Once we got there I decided, what the heck, lets follow this road down to the John Day River and out to Mitchell...

The first sign we should have turned back was the first creek crossing. Now keep in mind this was in a 24 foot Class B 2wd motorhome. Well the first creek crossing didn't bend the undercarriage TOO much, so against my wife's protest we continued down the road. The mud in that area is a really interesting color and stickiness. We got to a really steep downhill and the road was looking REAL narrow, so I got out to reconnointer. My shoes collected about 20 lbs. of mud each. We never actually went sideways but it sure felt dicey with about 2" of silty mud on top of frozen ground.

We got down to a lower valley and ran into a rancher, who we stopped and asked about road conditions. He said we needed four wheel drive to go back uphill any direction, including the one we came from. The other road uphill to Ashwood probably had snow. But the road we were on went downhill. He forgot to mention the OTHER creek crossing, but it was not a problem since the low-hanging frame members had already bent bent out of the way.

We still talk about that little trip, especially when we're deciding which way to go out in the woods. The RB van does a LOT better than the motorhome did!!
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Old 04-04-2014, 12:55 PM   #3
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Re: Aborted trip to the John Day

Any recommendations for that whole area, including going south towards the Fossil Beds and Burns?

Eastern OR and parts nearby seem to be tough to plan for. Seems like it's always too cold or too hot. At least in NV and parts of CA you can sorta go up or down to adjust, but a lot of eastern OR is just high plain. But at least down in the Owyhee basin it seems to heat up like crazy in summer months.
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Old 04-06-2014, 10:10 PM   #4
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Re: Aborted trip to the John Day

Clyde halliday state park near mt. Vernon is really nice. You can camp outside the gate in the winter when its closed. The Strawberry mt. Area south of john day is good for early summer. Delintment lake north of burns has good fishing.
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Old 04-07-2014, 06:21 PM   #5
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Re: Aborted trip to the John Day

A couple of Oregon oddities are crack in the ground and hole in the ground. There is also Fort Rock, the Alvord Desert and the Steens Mountain range.
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