B
Saturday, April 11, 2020
RECREATION
REPORT
Ladd Marsh
Bird Festival
canceled
The Oregon De-
partment of Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW) and
the Friends of Ladd
Marsh have canceled
the 2020 Ladd Marsh
Bird Festival sched-
uled for May.
ODFW has
canceled all of its
outdoor education
events through May
31 and that includes
the festival.
Next year’s event,
the 15th Ladd Marsh
Bird Festival, has
been scheduled for
May 14–16, 2021.
More information
about the festival
can be found on
the Friends of Ladd
Marsh Facebook
page.
Watercraft
still required
to stop at
inspection
stations
SALEM — While
the state of Oregon
is currently not
recommending
out-of-state residents
visit the state for
recreation due to
the governor’s Stay
Home, Save Lives
order, all watercraft
entering Oregon are
still required to be in-
spected at an aquatic
invasive species
station when the sta-
tions are open. This
includes commercial
watercraft, which will
account for most of
the inspections while
the stay-at-home
order remains in
effect.
Stations are open
if large, orange
“Boat Inspection
Ahead” signs are
posted on highways
followed by “Inspec-
tion Required for All
Watercraft.”
The Oregon De-
partment of Fish and
Wildlife inspection
stations in Ashland
and Ontario are open
year-round. Seasonal
stations open May
12 in Brookings,
Klamath Falls, Lakev-
iew and Umatilla.
Inspections for
aquatic invasive
species typically take
fi ve to 10 minutes.
ODFW staff working
at the stations are
taking necessary
precautions to pro-
tect themselves and
others against the
spread of COVID-19
by wearing proper
protective equip-
ment and maintain-
ing physical distance
from others.
Drivers are not
required to get out
of their vehicle at the
inspection station
and ODFW encour-
ages all people
riding in the vehicle
to stay within the ve-
hicle and to commu-
nicate through their
window if they have
questions about the
inspection.
Inspecting boats
coming into the state
is the fi rst line of
defense in keeping
aquatic invasive spe-
cies such as zebra
or quagga mussels,
snails and aquatic
plants out of Oregon.
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Social
distancing
made
simple
■ Northeastern Oregon’s bounty of
public land is a boon for people who
want to get in a hike while still seeking
to keep the coronavirus at bay
When you’re
serious about social
distancing — as
we all should be —
it’s helpful to live
where public land
is measured in the millions of
acres.
Where the only large group
you’re likely to see is a herd of
deer or elk.
Where the nearest person
might be a couple of miles
away, far enough to leave even
a robust virus wheezing if it
tried to bridge the gap.
(I suspect viruses don’t
actually wheeze, being that
they’re not really alive, but it
pleases me, in these troubling
times, to imagine virus par-
ticles prostrate and in agony,
tiny tongues lolling.)
I strive to comply with
social distancing guidelines.
It strikes me as a relatively
simply precaution, and one
that can stem the spread not
only of coronavirus but of
other less virulent but still
unpleasant affl ictions.
I came down with one of
those brief bugs a month or
so back — the sort that turns
your stomach into the equiva-
lent of a stubborn toddler
who fl ings his dinner plate
across the room — and I’d just
as soon not spend any of my
quarantined days slumped in
front of the toilet.
I’ve had little trouble ad-
justing to social distancing.
I go for a walk every after-
noon, and on weekdays my
route usually follows a series
of streets and sidewalks in
Baker City.
Most days I see only a
handful of pedestrians or
bicylists. In the carefree pre-
virus era I rarely thought it
necessary to yield a sidewalk
unless, say, there was a
stroller involved, or a couple
of young kids who looked as
though they were occupying
the full width of concrete.
But now, even if I see only a
lone walker heading my way,
I detour onto the street so as
to maintain at least a 6-foot
spacing. As we pass, each of
ON THE TRAIL
JAYSON JACOBY
us presumably outside the
effective droplet range, we
exchange a half-wave/half-nod
gesture, usually accompanied
by a rueful smile. This seems
to me one of the symbols of
the new society we have so
unexpectedly found ourselves
in.
My favorite pastime — hik-
ing — hasn’t required even
this modest accommodation.
And this has much to
do with my original point
about the benefi ts of living in
Northeastern Oregon, where
the population density is more
akin to the 19th century than
the 21st.
On the vast majority of
my hikes I don’t see another
person.
And when I do there’s such
a surplus of space that we
needn’t get close enough that
we could (not that we wish
to) hurl stones at each other,
never mind the much less
aerodynamic virus particles.
Although prior to social
distancing these encounters
were so rare that I usually felt
compelled to hail the other
person, if only to fi nd out how
we ended up sharing such a
tiny patch in a veritable ocean
of land.
Nowadays I take solace
in that cushion, knowing
that it allows me to get my
boots dirty, out in the spring
sunshine, without sullying my
status as a responsible citizen.
Since the virus-related
restrictions began, my wife,
Lisa, and I have taken our
kids, Olivia, 12, and Max, 9,
on a few weekend hikes that
were completely compliant
with coronavirus-defying
advice.
This required no special
planning — these were the
sorts of trips we made in
previous years, when we
took the solitude for granted
rather than appreciating its
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
Arch Rock, on the Malheur National Forest southwest of Baker City, is a short and easy
hike along a National Recreation Trail.
epidemiological benefi ts.
Our fi rst destination was
Arch Rock National Recre-
ation Trail on the Malheur
National Forest of Grant
County.
The namesake arch is
smaller than those at Arches
National Park in Utah, but
it’s still a fascinating natural
phenomenon well worth the
modest hike. The trail is just
half a mile, with a moderate
uphill grade.
We didn’t see a single
person, despite parking about
a mile and a half before the
trailhead in deference to
lingering snowdrifts, which
means we hiked farther on a
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
road than on the trail itself.
The buttercup — a sure symbol of spring.
This past weekend we
snowshoed on the Elkhorn
Crest Trail near Anthony
Lake on Saturday, and hiked
along the Deer Creek Road,
near the Burnt River Canyon
• Arch Rock. From Baker City, drive Highway 7 for about
in southern Baker County, on
49 miles to the Middle Fork John Day Road. Turn right
Sunday.
at a sign for Bates State Park. Follow the paved road 18
Again, social distancing
miles and turn left onto Forest Road 36, a gravel road that
was a snap.
crosses the Middle Fork and heads south. Follow Road 36
We didn’t encounter
for about 5.2 miles, then turn left at a sign for Arch Rock.
anyone on the Elkhorn Crest
The trailhead is about a quarter mile up Road 478.
Trail. On the Deer Creek
• Deer Creek Road. Exit Interstate 84 at Durkee, about
Road we saw a convoy of
23 miles southeast of Baker City. Turn right and drive
ATVs but naturally we
one-third of a mile to an intersection. Turn right on Old
had to step off the road to
Highway 30. Drive 1.5 miles then turn left on Burnt River
let them pass, creating the
Canyon Road. The paved road turns to well-graded
all-important distance. Most
gravel. Follow the road about 8.7 miles. Deer Creek Road
of the riders and passengers
starts on private land — the Lost Dutchman’s Mining
were wearing helmets in any
Association — but the road is public.
case — and they passed us
at rather more than walking
speed.
Although most public land remains open, including
recreation sites, including
in Northeastern Oregon
roads and trails, designated
campgrounds, are closed.
If you go....
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
Gunsight Mountain rises above the Anthony Lakes basin Max and Olivia Jacoby walk the Deer Creek Road near the Burnt River Canyon in
in the Elkhorns.
southern Baker County.