Suke and the dog out rounding up cattle with #18-259.

I really enjoy tcj’s history lessons and local knowledge. Figured I would throw in something similar. The only real heavy industry in our area is logging and mining. Both have shrunk in size substantially over the years but still employ a decent number of people. My Mom’s side of the family were loggers, my Dad’s were miners. Our local mineral is garnet used as an abrasive from everything from sandpaper to the polishing of the Hubble telescope mirror. There have been multiple mines but the following three are/were the most significant. We flew around last week checking them out from the air.

This is the mine my grandfather worked in. Called the Hooper mine. Started in the 1800’s, ran out of oar in the early 1900’s.


This boulder was “initialed” by some of the crew on the last day of operations.


This is the original Barton Mine on Gore Mt. Started in 1878. Ran out of oar in the early 80’s. My dad worked here for almost 40 years. I worked 4 summers.


They had an air strip. The president used to fly in with his V tail Bonanza in the 70’s. I keep trying to get them to clear it back out. Ah - no is the general response. Solar project on the old tailings pile. Several families still live in the houses built for the “town”.


The “new” Barton Mine mine on Ruby Mt just up the road from my house. They moved here when the Gore Mt mine was depleted. They have roughly 75 years of oar in this deposit.



Pete

Very nice report Pete, thanks!

Running up to Lake Edna on Sunday afternoon. 90F and 5 mph breeze.

For those of you in search of unique experiences, Hunter Noack is a classical pianist who plays outdoor concerts all over the Northwest (https://www.inalandscape.org/). His latest this weekend was on a bluff of Steens Mountain overlooking the Alvord Desert. In addition to being a world class pianist, Hunter is also incredibly approachable. He invited people to lay on the small stage under the piano and listen to him play, and provided context for each of the pieces. He hung out before and after, and was gracious to a fault. I've been wanting to get to the Alvord for a while now, and this was the perfect reason.

Thanks for sharing that! Very cool!

X2!

Did a bunch of people show up?

I'd guess 250 people showed up. The hosts had catered BBQ available, and the Hot Springs is right across the street. I didn't see any other airplanes, but plenty of people were out on the lake having fun, including a Burning Man-esque group way out in the middle with a raging bonfire.

That looks incredible! Flew my wife to RAP today. Headed to Rushmore and Custer tomorrow.

MW

jcadwell wrote:For those of you in search of unique experiences, Hunter Noack is a classical pianist who plays outdoor concerts all over the Northwest (https://www.inalandscape.org/).

I'm glad this trip worked out for you. I tried flying to Hunter's concert on the Alvord in 2018 with my wife. We spent the first night in Bend, Oregon and had a great dinner on the town. The next day we flew to the Alvord and had 30 knot winds at altitude and the whole playa was obscured by blowing playa dust. Rather than sand blast my plane, we turned tail and flew home. Later that same year we caught Hunter at Wallowa Lake near Joseph, OR and had a great time.

I've had bad luck with my Alvord adventures. The weather has sucked each time I've flown there and it is a LONG way from anything and everything else on the planet. I may try again this year. Maybe I'll change my strategy and plan a trip when the weather is supposed to be bad and see if it winds up being good when I get there. All of my past trips were planned with good long range weather forecasts that wound up being wrong. I even got snowed on while camped on the playa one June. I've heard it can be a fabulous place, but I've never had good enough weather to actually enjoy it.

Thats bad luck. I have been there half a dozen or so times and always had great weather. Usually in the fall on my way to HSF, but I have been in the summer too. Can be windy. It is a magical place.

Rome Service and Denio are good stops in the area.

I hear you on the weather. That corner of Oregon heading over towards Boise always seems to have something going on, especially summer thunderstorms. Getting from Burns to John Day has consistently been an adventure for us. I had perhaps 20 knot winds aloft, and plenty of mechanical turbulence from Steens. The wind was probably 10G20 on the ground, and stayed that way throughout. The one part I hadn't considered was where to go to the bathroom. Not a lot of cover to be found...

Funny to hear you mention Wallowa Lake. We're headed there in July to watch another Hunter concert.

Up to our plant in NoDak.



Zorbaz...

Park Rapids

NW of Park Rapids


Headwaters of the Mississippi

Red River Valley of the north



9 inches of rain near Grafton

Awesome pictures as always! You should have buzzed me when you went by the headwaters! I'm just SE a couple of miles.

Thank you all that post these photos. I sold my plane a few years ago and don't fly any more. I check BCP out every day to look at the photos. This thread is one of the best. Now we have photo enhancement courtesy of the wildfires.

I really like the one with the boat wake!!

Downwind over Candlewood Lake in CT for Candlelight Farms (11N).