8 Winter 2012 Applegater
TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS
Bend but don’t break
by RAUNO peRttU
Because I spent my undergraduate
years at the University of Oregon, I’ve
always been a Ducks fan. I’m also a strong
supporter of the Beavers, but I love my
Ducks. Everyone knows about their potent
offense, but this year’s Ducks football team
also has a strong defense that is known for
its “bend but don’t break” attitude. Several
years ago, I appreciated the same attributes
in two old and cracked poles. I’ll explain.
Exploration geology can be a
dangerous profession. Over the years,
I’ve had several very close calls that could
have ended very badly. Sometimes events
were out of my control and, at other times,
I was just being stupid. I’ve had close calls
in helicopters and small planes, in vehicles
on dangerous roads and on non-roads.
I’ve hung from cliffs, and crawled around
inside abandoned mines and third-world
mine workings. It was in an abandoned
mine in Chile where I met those “bend but
don’t break” poles.
Twenty years ago, I was more agile
and sometimes willing to take foolish
chances. I had been asked to check out a
gold prospect in Chile’s Atacama Desert,
which is the driest place on the planet, and
is also one of the most mineralized places in
the world. I arrived at the abandoned gold
mine and met two local prospectors who
were there to show me the property. They
were very small and wiry with tanned and
weathered faces. I guessed neither weighed
more than 90 pounds.
The prospectors led me into the old
mine working, and a short distance inside,
just far enough in that the light was starting
to fade, they stopped. None of us had a
flashlight. I doubt they owned one, and
I hadn’t planned on being underground.
Our access was blocked by a dark hole that
stretched across the entire width of the confirm my worries, the poles made loud
adit. This was a shaft that had been sunk popping sounds as I inched forward. The
to reach lower levels of the mine. I threw popping sounds echoed off the adit walls,
a rock into the dark shaft and listened as it and the poles bent ominously as I inched
ricocheted off the shaft walls. The fading across the black void below. After what
bounces told me the shaft was deep. I was seemed an eternity, I reached the other
puzzled as to what the miners planned to side, with the poles (and me) still intact.
show me. One of them went back toward
On the other side, we walked a short
the entry, and a few moments later came distance in the rapidly fading light and
back with two long poles. The poles were came to the end of the adit. The rock wall
old, only a very few inches thick, dry, with told me that the reason the adit ended and
a spiraling wood grain and with deep cracks a shaft went down was because the gold
along the grain.
vein ended at the wall,
I wondered where
and the old miners had
they had acquired these
followed the ore shoot
poles out here in the
the only way they could,
Twenty years
desert where no plants
which was downward.
ago
I
was
of any kind grew. Next,
Our adventure over the
I wondered what they
pit and potential death
more agile and
planned to do with those
had been a waste of time.
sometimes
poles. As I puzzled,
Now I faced the
willing to
they laid the poles side
prospect of recrossing
by side across the 12- to
the pit. I was relatively
take foolish
15-foot-wide pit. In
certain that I had
chances.
turn, each got onto his
weakened the poles to
hands and knees. They
the point they couldn’t
grasped the poles firmly
possibly support me on
with their hands and,
the way back. I wanted
as they scooted forward
someone to be able to
over the abyss, they placed their lower legs eventually haul my body out of that black
at angles across the poles, and proceeded pit and ship it back home, so I insisted
to “walk” across the gaping black hole by that they cross back first. They would be
alternately sliding a hand and leg forward trapped if I went first and broke the poles.
along the poles. They had clearly done this
The prospectors crossed the pit with
many times.
little difficulty, although the poles now
They crossed the shaft and beckoned made noises from their 90-pound weights.
me to join them. This was one of my stupid My turn came, and I was almost certain
moments. I got onto my hands and knees I was living my last moments. As I was
and copied their actions. Unfortunately, I about a third of the way across, the poles
was not 90 pounds; I weighed close to 200. sagged deeply, and one of the poles made an
I didn’t think those poles looked nearly exceptionally loud pop. I froze and waited
strong enough to support me. As if to a moment. Nothing further happened,
enchanted
Rauno Perttu
541-899-8036
jrperttu@charter.net
from page 1
In the half-marathon (13.1 miles)
Scott Breeden, 22, of Bloomington,
Indiana, won overall with a time of
1:39:23. The first woman finisher, in fifth
place overall, was 31-year old Becka Kern
of Salem with a time of 1:53:33. One
intrepid junior ran the half: TJ Hooks,
15, from Ashland, placed an impressive
16th overall.
The 60-plus half-marathoners
included Suzanne Ray, 60, Jacksonville;
Douglas Naverson, 63, Jacksonville;
David White, 68, Ashland; Tom Bedell,
63, Bandon; Tom Ahle, 63, Ashland;
Jim Clover, 70, Applegate; Hank Smith,
64, Grants Pass; and Ted Warrick, 72,
Applegate.
Ted and Mary Warrick are the
proprietors of Wooldridge Creek Winery
with par tners
Gr e g Pa n e i t z
and Kara Olmo.
Ted and Greg
ran the half-
marathon while
Mary and Kara
helped out at the
finish line and
the Wooldridge
aid station.
It takes a
village to host an
event like this,
and without the
Photos, left to right: Runners at the start of the Enchanted Forest Wine Run, and the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts. many volunteers
(Photos by Michael Lebowitz, LongRun Pictures. www.longrunpictures.com.) and sponsors it
Hatter Timothy Olson, former two-time
winner of Pine to Palms 100-mile run from
Williams to Ashland, led the charge for ten
youngsters on a quarter-mile run in the
Wooldridge Creek vineyard.
While the 117 runners in the 5K
finished their vineyard run and enjoyed
tasting Wooldridge Creek wines, and the
ten children enjoyed playing with the Mad
Hatter and Queen of Hearts, 143 half-
marathoners were sweating it out on the
trails up the hill. After the finish, many
seasoned runners admitted it was “one
tough half,” including Jim Clover, owner
and creator of the Clover Creek property
trails. Jim said he felt more beat after that
13.1 miles than he did after a 50-mile run
in South Dakota the previous month. The
half-marathoners were rewarded for their
so I cautiously
continued. As I
reached the other
Rauno Perttu
side, I felt I had
survived a near-
death experience. The miners asked me
what I thought and I told them I was not
encouraged by what I had seen. They
immediately wanted me to go back across
with them to look again. This time, I
decided I had exhibited enough stupidity
for one day and declined.
Afterward, I sometimes wondered if I
had weakened the poles enough that they
eventually were unable to support even
a 90-pound body, or if another, perhaps
fatter, geologist was persuaded to attempt
the crossing, only to disappear into that
black pit.
As I’ve gotten older and remembered
geologists who were killed in various ways
while doing exploration, and thought
about my close calls, I’ve gotten more
cautious. Still, those stupid adventures of
yesterday make exciting memories, but I
also remind myself you have to be around
to have those memories.
Some of my close calls have taught me
important lessons. When I reflect on this
one, the only lesson that comes to mind is
“Don’t be so stupid!”
As I write this, the Ducks haven’t
yet had their key game at University of
Southern California. I hope that their
“bend but don’t break” defense helps them
win that important game, just as my “bend
but don’t break” poles allowed me to be
around to enjoy that game.
efforts with a lunch by Fulcrum Dining
after the race.
In the 5K, Eric Boehmer, 39, of
Grants Pass won overall with a time of
20:34, with the first woman, Quinnan
Picton, 32, Medford, placing fifth overall
at 23:43. Other notable finishers in the
5K included the impressive juniors: Ally
Waldron, 15, of Medford; Zavier Bodager,
10, Grants Pass; Hayden Ellis, 9, Ashland;
Amanda Forrester, 14, Glendale; Joe
Stranberg, 10, Ashland; and Jazmin Fox,
8, Medford.
The 5K senior group included Peter
Stevens, 64, of Newburgh, Indiana, in 15th
place overall. Others in the over-60 age
division were Linda Smith, 63, Grants Pass;
and Beverly de la Fuente, 60, Montague,
California.
Fairy runners, left to right, Sydnee Fox and
Jazmin Fox. (Photo by LongRun Pictures.)
would not have been possible. Many
thanks to Wooldridge Creek Winery,
Noble Coffee, Fulcrum Dining, Pearl
Izumi, Smith Optics, Ultraspire, Good
People Run, High Gear, Rogue Valley
Runners, Siskiyou Outback Race, First
Endurance, Clover Creek Vineyards,
Applegate Trails Association, and Southern
Oregon Runners for all the help and great
stuff!
Big thanks also to all the runners who
turned out to make this such a delightful
success. We hope to see everyone back
again next year for even more excitement
and fun.
Annette Parsons • 541-846-6656
aparsons@apbb.net