B
Saturday, May 2, 2020
RECREATION
REPORT
RIDE BEGINNING AND ENDING IN ELGIN PACKS A LOT OF VARIETY INTO 20 MILES
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Personal-use
mushroom
picking free
on national
forests
Personal-use
mushroom picking is
free on the Wallowa-
Whitman, Umatilla
and Malheur nation-
al forests and does
not require a permit
for people who pick,
possess and trans-
port less than 1 gal-
lon of mushrooms
in Oregon and fewer
than 5 gallons in
Washington.
These free mush-
rooms are only for
personal consump-
tion and cannot be
sold, bartered, or
given away.
Those seeking to
pick more than the
free personal-use
limit are considered
commercial gather-
ers. To help slow the
spread of COVID-19,
supervisors of the
three national forests
in the Blue Moun-
tains have decided
not to issue any
commercial permits
this year.
Pikeminnow
reward fi shery
opening late
PORTLAND — A
popular Northwest
fi shing program is
getting a late start
this year due to the
COVID-19 outbreak.
The 2020 Northern
Pikeminnow Sport-
Reward Fishery
did not open on
May 1, as origi-
nally planned. The
fi shery is tentatively
scheduled to open
May 11, for regis-
tered anglers with
licenses to fi sh in
the Columbia and
Snake rivers. Fishery
updates, including
possible opening
day changes, will
be announced on
the website, www.
pikeminnow.org.
Stay-at-home or-
ders issued in March
by governors in
Washington and Ore-
gon closed or limited
fi shing and limited
access to some
recreational facili-
ties, including boat
ramps. Washington
recently reopened
many outdoor recre-
ational activities on a
limited basis, includ-
ing opening most
fi shing seasons and
allowing day use of
many boat ramps.
When the program
opens, anglers will
see some changes
to registration and
turn-in procedures.
Program partici-
pants should expect
additional barriers,
signs and fl oor
markers at stations
to encourage social
distancing. Anglers
will be encouraged
not to congregate in
groups near registra-
tion stations and
asked to unload their
fi sh into designated
containers.
Some program
elements haven’t
changed. Registered
anglers will again
earn $5 to $8 for
each Northern pike-
minnow that is at
least 9 inches long.
Photo by Mavis Hartz
Looking down Henderson Road toward Mount Harris
and the Grande Ronde Valley
Panoramic
Pedaling
■ Ride on mainly gravel roads near
Elgin features Blue Mountain vistas,
historic cemetery and a geology lesson
To beat
back the
THE NEXT RIDE
blues, a rip-
pling mixed
MAVIS HARTZ
pavement
and gravel bi-
cycle ride around the exposed Ronde Valley around and
Cricket Flats is just the ticket. through fi elds and ancient
Spring is the perfect time to lava vents, which have left
grab a bike with a little wider behind majestic lumps of rock
tire and enjoy a meandering
and surging hills to test your
gravel adventure. Begin this spirits. Around mile 8.5 turn
just over 20-mile route in
further east onto Roulet Loop.
Elgin.
Roulet Loop is one of the
The epicenter of culture
most beautiful and chal-
with the Elgin Opera House, lenging sections of the ride.
the town is the self-pro-
The predominately dirt road
claimed Jewel of the Blue
undulates and twists toward
Mountains and rests where
Stubblefi eld Mountain before
Clark Creek and the Grande shifting south just prior to the
Ronde River merge.
tree line. Thus ends the fi rst
Begin at the Veterans
half of the route, chalking up
Memorial Park in downtown 1,054 feet of elevation gain
Elgin on the Wallowa Lake
but having never broken into
Highway next to the Cowboys a 6% grade.
and Angels Cafe and leave
Roulet Loop plunges back
town to the northeast. Use
to Hindman Road with only
the smooth pavement to climb one roller to slow up the
up the fl ank of Power House downhill glide. Keep an eye
Hill and warm up the legs
out for elk and deer herds as
while keeping an eye out for
well as chirping birds, fat bur-
Parsons Lane.
rowing mammals and crick-
Parsons Lane juts north
ets. Turn north once again on
after 2 miles of up and is
Hindman Road for a little less
a well-maintained gravel
than a mile before rotating
road that loops northeast of
west on Witherspoon Lane.
the Wallowa Lake Highway
Witherspoon Lane begins to
through a number of working climb up the fl ank of Clark
farms with fi elds punctuated Creek Point before its dead
by stands of ponderosa pine
end into Henderson Road.
and piles of igneous rock.
Henderson Road is the least
As you skirt Power
improved and maintained
House Hill look down into
road of the day. If at any
the Grande Ronde River
point the road has been too
below and off into the Blue
rough for your bicycle, turn
Mountains and the Umatilla north and return to Elgin via
National Forest.
the Wallowa Lake Highway.
Stay on Parsons Lane as it Those looking for more adven-
travels east and back toward ture and yet more spectacular
Highway 82 before ending
landscape turn south. Clark
at the signed Good Road.
Creek Road gains elevation
Turn south (right) onto Good skirting around Clark Creek
Road’s once paved surface and Point before topping out to
motivate toward Highland
show a panoramic view of the
Cemetery. For those wishing Grande Ronde and Indian
to take a break, enjoy the
valleys, Cricket Flat, Mount
picturesque pioneer cemetery Emily, Mount Harris and
and its historic grave markers much of the Blue Mountains.
on the knoll, the breathtaking
The next mile loses 595 feet
view and a possible geocache. of elevation in an ineloquent
Upon intersecting the Wal-
plunge to Clark Creek.
lowa Lake Highway again,
Henderson Road can oc-
continue east toward Wallowa casionally be mistaken for a
County looking for Hindman bubbling brook and the layers
Road.
of erosion sport interesting
Hindman Road travels
colors of chalk. If you choose
south toward the Grande
to walk this section you would
Photo by Mavis Hartz
Smooth dirt downhill along Clark Creek back to Elgin.
Photo by Mavis Hartz
Roulet Loop undulates toward the foothills of Stubblefi eld Mountain.
not be alone and the cows
will be the only ones to know.
Henderson Road snakes out
next to a working farmstead
to tee into Clark Creek Road.
Continue west in a swift
and smooth descent back to
Elgin.
Once back in Elgin, be sure
to read the kiosks in the park
to appreciate the history of
trading, railroad and logging.
As thanks, assuage your curi-
osity in the quaint downtown
shops and possibly some
coffee, spirits or a pickled egg
from the deli on the other side
of the street.
Black Bears Of Many Colors
Photo and caption by Jim Ward
Our local bears come in several color phases — red, black, cinnamon, and even
blonde. Despite the color differences, they are all referred to as the black bear
species. Oregon’s spring bear season opened on April 1 and will run through
May 31. Females with cubs are illegal to harvest.