You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. - Ray Bradbury
On Elk Mountain Road, looking south toward the Wallowa Mountains.
Elk Mountain Road, looking north. 
Mule deer near Swamp Creek Lane.
I didn't make it all the way up Swamp Creek Lane... it was muddy here, and bad enough up the canyon that I had to turn around.
The Wallowa Mountains as seen from Enterprise, OR.
Minam River Canyon looking south, from OR Highway 82.
I am a native eastern Oregonian, and have lived here 50 of my 62 years. I left at 20, but was back by age 32 to be near my parents to help them in times of need. I don't fit in politically here because I view things from a decidedly left wing perspective... but that's o.k. because I love the people, I love the area and for the most part I like living here. I enjoy family time, listening to music, reading books, traveling, bird watching, hiking, backpacking, watching movies, keeping up on politics, watching sports, sitting at the computer so much I get sores on my ass, and playing music... if you need a band for your party or celebration, let me know; I play keyboards and sing for a rock and roll band, and we do mostly "classic rock". (I also like to play guitar and bass and other instruments, but those are for my private enjoyment only!) I am mainly an agnostic/skeptic, but would consider myself spiritual. I work in schools and in clinical settings as a speech/language therapist. It is enjoyable work and it pays some of the bills. I have a rather unpredictable sense of humor, which can get me in trouble at times, but hey, is life worth living without laughter? I think not!
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15 Comments:
Nice scenery. Do you ever see elk up there?
Not near Elk Mountain! Heh! Plenty of mule deer, though. Most of the elk I see in NE Oregon are not far from La Grande, either in the Grande Ronde Valley or in the Ladd Canyon area.
I was in Enterprise yesterday to buy some organically raised beef from a ranch called Marr Flat Cattle Co. The cattle are "free-range" until their last six months, when they are taken to the Vale area and fed there on grains and alfalfa. The meat is processed in Ontario, then shipped back up this way.
Wallowa County doesn't have a USDA meat processing place at this time, thus all the shipping/transfer. Anyway, some of the Marr Flat meat finds its way to Trader Joe's stores. I think it's packaged as Painted Hills.
Very nice! You know looking at the pictures I was thinking that could be everywhere USA!
Nice pictures. Reminds me of why I love being in rural Washington. Do I miss living in urban California? Hell no!
Nice pix. The land is very much like that along the Snake River in Idaho.
Actually, the Wallowa Valley is not far from the Snake River and Hells Canyon, where Wallowa County borders Idaho. To get to Hells Canyon from Enterprise and Joseph, take the state road east to the town of Imnaha, and then drive north from there. When the road crosses Cow Creek, there is an easy 4-mile trail down the Imnaha River to the Snake. At the confluence of the rivers you can find some old foundations of buildings in which Chinese laborers worked in the late 1800s. There are several mine shafts in the immediate area.
Or, from Cow Creek you can take the torturous road up over the hill and down to the Snake at Dug Bar. If you don't like narrow roads and precipitous drop-offs, don't go there.
From the town of Imnaha, the road to Hat Point is similar... you can look out the window of your vehicle and look DOWN a long, long ways.
I think the best way to see Hells Canyon is to drive east of Joseph like you'd be going to Imnaha, but turn south onto the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road. To see more of the upper Imnaha River and Hells Canyon from the Hells Canyon Overlook, check out my entry for August 29, 2007 at
http://variousmiseries.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html
Thanks, Snave. If I should head down that way, I'll refer back to your very informative comment ahead of time.
Sorry but somehow I just don't get excited about photos of miles and mile of miles and miles but I like the cat pics.
Ah, but Demeur... even though they tend to be inhabited by Republicans, within all those miles and miles there is absolutely no visible reminder of any worldly problems besides the road itself, a few fences and a few poles and power lines... maybe an occasional house here and there.
But I can see your point! 8-)
I will be adding more cat pictures at Baby Mackie's blog now on a regular basis!
But I WILL continue to put up pictures of vast, empty countryside from time to time! 8-)
And I will keep making comments here for a while to pump up the number of comments to make it look as if there is really something of major import being discussed here!
At least it will look that way when someone comes to the blog and they see there are 12 or 13 comments on this topic.
I apologize for being so silly. I know I should be getting back to what people come here to read, which is the snarky semi-coherent political stuff...
...but I guess I just haven't really been in the mood for that lately! Hehehehe!
Oh, that is so beautiful, Snave.
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