Date:         Sat, 26 Aug 2017 11:53:53 -0700
Reply-To:     David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      trip report, eclipse
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

We got back last night from our trip to the vicinity of John Day, Oregon
for the eclipse.  We drove down from Spokane in the camper on Friday, the
18th, to a cabin in Malheur National Forest, where we ensconced ourselves
for a week, meeting our daughter and her family, and some friends from
California.

The drive down was uneventful, with far less traffic than we expected.  In
fact, traffic was minimal.  The van (1991 Volkswagen Vanagon GL Campmobile,
silver-tan, white top, full camper) did well, and got 19.6 mpg on its 2.1
with 182K miles.

We navigated the FS roads well, though when I drove out 14 miles to the S.
Fork of the John Day River, that road was exceedingly rough, and would have
been classified for 4WD only if in a NP.  Lots of boulders and wash outs.
But I did ok.  The trick is to take it slow and easy.  Thank goodness for
high clearance. The 14 miles took me 2 hours, and I elected after fishing
for a couple of hours to drive around 60 miles rather than drive that road
again.  That actually took less time.

The eclipse was fantastic, and we had the area completely to ourselves.

The cabin we had reserved has sleeping for six, and two kids slept on the
floor.  The rest of us slept in our campers.  We also saw wild horses,
though none of the bears and mountain lions that the FS warned us about.
Hiked to the southernmost Alaskan Cedar grove in the U.S., to find that it
had been greatly impacted by fire and drought, but we found many seedlings
and young trees in the undergrowth.  Our grandson (8 yrs) said that we
found a cedar graveyard, but then a cedar nursery.

We also went to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  Marvelous place.
However, the staff at the visitor's center was overwhelmed, having staffed
up for heavy visitation for the days before, but not the days after the
eclipse.  Beautiful, brightly colored volcanic ash and tuff deposits (the
reason for many of the fossil mammals discovered there).

On the day I drove out to fish, saw a tiny town (Dayville) overwhelmed by
the visitors.  Many, many people camped in pastures and so on, which were
going for around $75 - $100 per night for a dry campsite with others jammed
in with you.  Was sure glad we planned ahead and got the cabin.

Drive home was also uneventful.  Saw numerous (perhaps 15) Vanagon campers
on the trip, including two others in the back country.

mcneely