I last rode the Lower Deschutes River Trail with Dean back in October of 2016.  I wanted to head back and check it out because of the huge wildfire out there this summer.  Based on other pictures that I had seen online the old railroad cars and farmhouse were completely destroyed which is a HUGE bummer.

There were lots of scorched areas and metal poles from livestock fencing that were obviously burned.  Lots of green too which is a good sign that life is coming back to the area quickly.

The next thing to check out was the old farm house.  I had seen pictures in 2017 and 2018 that showed a substantial slant to the house compared to when Dean and I ventured out there.  I think it may have even partially collapsed before the fire wiped it all out.

I’m really glad that I got to see these things back in 2016.  It was a rather neat way to take a step back in time.  It’s gone now and I don’t know what the State is going to do.  I kind of hope they put up some sort of informational kiosk or something.  It’s a shame to see it all gone.

I hope none of the little critters that I saw suffered during the fire.  I can imagine they were all running west towards the river and away from the fire and got caught behind the barb wire fencing or succumbed to smoke.

I did end up seeing some bighorn sheep on the ride back to the parking lot.  They just all stood there and stared at me while I took some pictures and a video.

 

 

 

So while some of the more peculiar sights along the trail are now gone, it’s still not a bad ride.  Especially when the weather is crap back in PDX metro!  It was apparently foggy and socked in all day back home while I had the chance to ride 37 miles in the sunshine.  Not going to argue with that.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete