Yetti’s Pacific North West Exploration & Expeditions Picture heavy

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Weekend before last, Aug 6th. Had been a bit of a rough work week. Instead of doing laundry and getting groceries Sunday I decided a ride was what I needed. So away I went, not many pictures as it was really windy. Headed down the Columbia on the Washington side from Umatilla to Bigs. I had not done a longer ride in a while and felt it. The moto did great,
If you’ve never experienced the Columbia river gorge along the Oregon Washington border. Id recommend it if you can, The old highway from Portland to about cascade locks. And down to Arlington. Or if you can do one long loop, do the Oregon side, and the Washington side.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I got out this weekend, just needed to clear my head. And wanted to see how the ZR2 would do. I have seen most things close to me, so decided to start exploring within a 3 hr. one-way trip. I figured three hours there, three hours on site, and 3 hours back. Is about a normal work day, and can always camp.

Since I generally travel and explore alone, I try to make sure I can be found. And or someone knows where I am going. As far as communications go: cell, CB, Ham Radio, and my inreach… so pretty covered for that. All the dogs in the family used to have these tracking collars called Tractive. They allowed anyone in the family group plan. ( 5 people, to track the dogs, and by default each other anywhere) So that allowed for an idea of where I had been, direction of travel and where I was at if I did not make the return.

We now all use the Halo collars, They work great but should for the price. The downside, you can have multiple dogs on an account. But they share the same geo fence. So it does not work as well. We have our own accounts now. So I sent my inreach info to family. I will use this method now. I have the account anyway. May as well use it.



10 minute tracking intervals. I also, keep a National Geo atlas of all 50 states in each vehicle.

Google maps, Backcountry navigator, with USGS maps of PNW downloaded. As well as Suunto, and Garmin on my phone.

The connected tablet has Google as well as BCN downloaded.

I will also usually stop at a board somewhere and snap a picture of the map, or grab a paper copy. I know it’s a lot of redundancy, but its an old habit that has served me well. And I don’t want to forget. This system has served me well for years on Fires, or remote work. There are some holes, if both phone and tablet go down. Then I have paper, as well as the watch. And InReach. I always have a charge brick in my pack. That should cover navigation and coms questions.

Also all my pictures are Geotagged, and there is an envelope on my fridge that has important info like funeral plans, passwords, etc

Today, the Plan was simple, check out some old ghost towns that had been on my list and just enjoy the day. Bourne, Granite and Sumpter. As I knew I would I am missing my remote work pretty hard right now.

Granite is cool, just a tiny old town. I should of taken more pictures, but was just enjoying the day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite,_Oregon

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Bourne Oregon is stated as being a Ghost town, and It may* be. If that term is used lightly. However all the buildings are pretty well maintained, and lived in. The folks who lived there seemed annoyed. This track is used a lot by ATV’s. It did not have the look or vibe I thought it would. Id recommend skipping it, and just checking out all the tailings on the road in. As well as many places to camp. The road gets worse the further you go, however a stock Rav 4 was parked at one of the houses. It probably had to pick its lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourne,_Oregon

Many don’t realize all that Oregon has a rich mining history, it’s just all in a very small area.

The tailings piles are cool, and it’s hard to gauge the size. These from dredges that were in the area.

For a comparison Mishka is not a small dog. Her head comes to my waste or there about and she is 90ibs. She never wastes a chance to swim, weather was in the 70’s. Wed stop every few hours so she could get wet. She also has a water bowl in the back, with shade from the canopy top and a dog bed back there.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

The tailing piles leave forever scars out here, like snakes that stretch for miles. The tailings piled were easy double my truck height or more. Creating weird ways for the water to flow. When I saw the submerged frame of the old Dredge I had to get some pictures. So well preserved for being north of 100. The water is cold,

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Sumpter Oregon,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumpter,_Oregon

Probably best known for its Dredge sitting in town, they have kept it floating. And keep It from getting worse, Talk about size. This is huge, and worth a visit. Thanks State of Oregon for keeping it up, and allowing free visits.

The railway portion was closed,

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Also, worth noting. Mishka is well behaved, and I saw no other dogs, but she just stuck close to me off leash and explored as well. Even in the Dredge. I do always keep a leash, and bags on me.

It smelled of old wood, and machine oil. Some may call it stinky…..just reminded me of old barns and grain silos. Again, this thing is huge! Enjoy the picture tour.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Maybe next weekend, I will check out the old Power house. We will see, as I fly out early Monday Morning.

Out of all the things I may be, a writer and photographer don’t make that list. All images are taken with my phone ( A Unihertz Titan, an almost blackberry). Sometimes I go through twice to just see it all, then go back and take pictures. So they are not always the best.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Last time I was here; I had just worked an event. And I was soaked, All the gear was soaked, it had been raining for three days straight. So this was nice to actually see it, without having to think about drying out all the kit, refueling the moto’s, restocking the med kits, and typing up reports…

Mishka, really enjoyed all the smells in this thing. If she could talk……

Thats all for now,





I filled up in Sumpter, however the little ZR2 killed it. Thats over double what my HD would do

 

[jgaz]

I love old machinery like that.
Thanks for posting this

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I love old machinery like that.
Thanks for posting this

Glad someone is enjoying it! The town of Granite, has some awesome old Kw, and randomly put together logging and mining trucks.

 

[NevadaLover]

Definitely looked like an awesome trip, I love seeing how the old timers lived and worked, imagine how cold it was working that dredge, tough guys they were.

Thanks for the report, it's always good seeing nearby places to go visit in person.

 

[Mekcanix]

Very cool, I love old machinery too. Thats amazingly well preserved and cared for, Thanks muchly for the pics

 

[ITTOG]

Yeah that equipment is cool to see.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Its so easy to get caught up, thinking it has to be a big trip or nothing. How many of us have explored our own backyards? Haha

Definitely looked like an awesome trip, I love seeing how the old timers lived and worked, imagine how cold it was working that dredge, tough guys they were.

Thanks for the report, it's always good seeing nearby places to go visit in person.

Right? They were tougher all together, among many other things. And this week I had a group of splicers complain to me it was a safety issue that the AC in the splicer truck would not keep it colder than 75 inside. (It was 105 outside)..
I laughed and asked if they would prefer to be on the construction crew digging outside...

Very cool, I love old machinery too. Thats amazingly well preserved and cared for, Thanks muchly for the pics

It is impressive what they did, and how well the systems worked. In that day, this was the peak of technology. I think when you see an aerial view, of the mountains they moved. It really puts it all into perspective.



The State has done a great job with that Dredge. It’s the only reason that little town is still alive..

Yeah that equipment is cool to see.

Kind of mind boggling, I cant help but just to grin and smile.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

No Pictures: Spent all week in Columbus Ohio. Got back late afternoon. We will see what this weekend brings.