Crooked River in Crook County

Friday 6/21/2013

One can fish on the Crooked River or bike on the Crooked Road. I (surprise) chose the road. The traffic was extremely light and the few drivers who passed me gave me lots of room. Out here you really do get the feeling of being "out west". Lots of sage brush along the way, farm animals grazing in the distant acres of fields, farm buildings occupied as well a abandoned placed about, barbed wire fences down at the lower 40.

a little house on a prairie

I know these are everywhere, but I just cannot resist

The clouds and the sun held a gentle battle through the early part of the day, with the clouds eventually winning. Wheeling along the rolling, crooked road afforded me views of the river and close up sights of a few animals. As I stopped to take a photo and put down my foot on the loose gravel off the roadside, the deer down by the river looked up at me and then scampered further downriver.

I first spy the Crooked River

 

Wild and scenic

As the river takes a big curve -- so does the road above

Soon after curving around this big bend, I spotted Tim's car and pulled over to radio Susan. It was lunch time and she climbed up the bank to join me to dine on a flat rock. She returned to fishing and I continued UP the hill to reach the dam.

The spillway at the dam

Crooked River viewed from atop the dam

Returning to the fisherpeople Susan said I would be going downhill in a tailwind, so have fun! I rode on in a strong HEADwind the entire way, and there was much climbing out of the canyon - more than coming in I thought, but that could be the headwind working on me. Add this to the chip seal surface of the road, and it was slow going for me! So slow it seems, that the turkey vultures were after me! About six of them appeared to be munching on something off to the side (and behind a split rail fence), saw me approaching and started flying, coming frighteningly close to me on the road. Fortunately they determined I was not after their carrion and went back to their feast.

Imposing canyon wall

As I rounded a field of freshly mowed hay I stopped to watch a deer in the near distance (oxymoron?) as it bounded across the field, leaped over tall things, ran across the road and disappeared in the hillside. My last wildlife for the day, unless you count the road-killed rabbit ;'-(

I felt a couple of huge raindrops at about nine miles from my destination. OH NO! That's a long way from home at this speed. I "tried" to speed up and must have increased by a tenth of a mile. May as well not worry about it and just get wet. Turned out it was only a tease and no more drops fell on me (here). I had a couple more places of raindrops but they didn't last either.

At last, after this slow slog, I spotted the van. Not long after, the fisherpeople arrived and we took off for home.

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