I took a different route out of East Butte yesterday for my days off (PIC HEAVY)

DemoTex

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Tue Jun-23-09 11:20 PM
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I took a different route out of East Butte yesterday for my days off (PIC HEAVY)

Edited on Tue Jun-23-09 11:42 PM by DemoTex

I took the FS-21 road up to the Paulina Ridge (about seven miles west), then over the rim and into the Newberry Caldera (volcano). Pics below chronicle that ride .. the first series of lake pictures is East Lake in the caldera. The last lake picture is Paulina Lake. It is incredible country, with great hiking trails and kayaking relatively close to the lookout.

The events of the first of my two "days off" prove that there is no such thing as "days off" at the USFS when you are still in the forest. As I drove down the western slope of the Paulina Ridge, just west of the main gate of the Newberry National Monument, I spotted a smoke billowing up from the forest about seven miles west of me. Fortunately, my cell phone worked so I phoned Spring Butte Lookout and alerted him. He, in turn, alerted the Round Mountain Lookout, who had a better visual of the area. Their problem then, not mine.

Once on US-97 north of La Pine, headed for Bend, my cell phone rang. It was my relief at the lookout calling to tell me that the padlock on the lookout tower trap door would not unlock. She could not get in the lookout tower.

She ended up calling our fire battalion commander, and he drove out to the lookout from Bend with bolt cutters and a new lock. He was able to get the lock opened without cutting it. He gave the relief lookout a new lock (long-shank) and told her to put the new lock on the garage (where my kayaks and generator gas are stored) and use the short-shanked lock (harder to cut) from the garage on the lookout trap door (all keyed to the standard-issue USFS key).

When I stopped by the ranger station late yesterday afternoon, the battalion commander gave me the offending padlock (which he had fixed) to take back out to the lookout when I go back late tomorrow or early Wednesday morning. That should be the end of that mundane story, right? It was not.

At about 7 PM yesterday the relief lookout called me on my cell phone. She switched locks with the garage, as she had been told to do. But the long-shanked lock was now some how jammed so that she could not get a key in it (I can't picture it .. but that's what she said). She thinks the lock will have to be cut off of the garage door. I don't think that is possible, but now I have to go back to the ranger station and get bolt cutters just in case I can't get the key in the lock. The big deal? The gas for my generator.

Had a great real meals on the banks of the Deschutes River last night and tonight. Beautiful location. Great dog park. I'll took Nick to the Deschutes today. Dr. D. is safe and sound in Tokyo. She will be here with me next week!

Red Hill Butte

The Big Dome

My trusty Toyota Tacoma (4-cyl) is almost perfect for this. However, had I known I would do this wilderness adventure I would have bought the 6-cyl 4-WD with slightly more road clearance.

The back door to the Newberry .. the rough FS-21 road.

Over the rim and down into the caldera .. the vegetation changes from pine to fir.

East Lake in the Newberry Caldera

Paulina Peak

Paulina Lake (the west lake)