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Saturday, October 3, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
WOODLEY ROCKS ALONG UPPER GRANDE RONDE RIVER
P ECULIAR
P INNACLES
■ The series of towers, some with a precariously balanced
capstone perched on top, are the product of a volcanic eruption
about 30 million years ago that deposited a mixture of more
easily eroded ash and mud, along with resistant rocks
I
f the Woodley
until a few days before I saw
Rocks were in a
them.
ON THE TRAIL
national park,
My wife, Lisa, and I were
JAYSON JACOBY
a paved trail would
planning a camping trip for
wind among the
the first weekend of autumn.
peculiar pinnacles and you’d hardly be able to
I suggested somewhere along Forest Road
get a photograph that didn’t include a couple 51, the paved two-lane route that branches off
of giggling kids with ice cream dribbling down Highway 244 near Starkey and follows the
their chins.
Grande Ronde upstream.
But this curious volcanic formation is not in
Lisa was perusing the Wallowa-Whitman’s
a national park.
website when she came across a page for
It’s in the Wallowa-Whitman National For- Woodley Rocks.
est about 40 miles southwest of La Grande.
There was but a single small photograph of
There is no paved trail.
a pinnacle, but it piqued my curiosity. I hadn’t
Not much of any trail, come to that, save for seen any similar formations around here
a few narrow paths that probably owe their
except a site near Unity Reservoir southwest of
existence as much to elk as to people.
Baker City.
Fortunately the pinnacles, also known as
We decided to try to find a space for our tent
“hoodoos,” happen to stand within a stone’s
trailer at the Wallowa-Whitman’s Spool Cart
throw of a well-graded gravel road. The slope campground, along the 51 Road not far from
on the north side of the upper Grande Ronde Woodley Rocks.
River is quite steep, but you needn’t hike more
I was a trifle worried that the 12-space
than 10 minutes or so to get a gratifying view. campground would be full — it was the last
I hadn’t even heard of the Woodley Rocks
weekend of archery hunting season, and we
didn’t leave Baker City until Saturday morn-
ing. But only a few of the spots were occupied
when we arrived. The brilliant orange wild
rose hips still glistened with water from the
previous night’s rain, the first significant storm
of the season, and the temperature was a
decidedly autumnal 49.
Our first destination was not Woodley Rocks.
But it was a rock.
Johnson Rock is the site of a Forest Service
fire lookout I hadn’t visited but have long been
intrigued by, having seen it, always in the
distance, from various vantage points in the
Anthony Lakes area.
The route to Johnson Rock starts about 3
miles south of Spool Cart. Turn right on Road
5115, which crosses the Grande Ronde River,
follow it for a mile and a half or so and then
turn left onto Road 5120.
We drove most of the way to the lookout
— the road deteriorates and isn’t suitable for
regular passenger cars but poses no challenge
for four-wheel drives — but walked the last
couple of miles.
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
Johnson Rock fi re lookout.
See Pinnacles/Page 6B
Deer Season Opens Today
Jim Ward/Contributed Photo
Thousands of hunters will be hoping to fi nd a mule deer buck like this one during
the annual rifl e season that opened today across the region. It’s the most popular
hunting season in Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW). The agency said that last year, 105,481 hunters statewide participated in
the season. Hunters should check with the agencies managing public land where
they plan to hunt, as fi re-related restrictions remain in effect in many areas. Online
sources include https://www.fs.usda.gov/ (Forest Service); https://www.blm.gov/
oregon-washington (Bureau of Land Management); https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/
fi rerestrictions/PFR.html (Oregon Department of Forestry); and http://www.ofi c.com/
private-forestland-closures/ (private industrial forest lands).
Lisa Britton / For EO Media Group
The Woodley Rocks, along the upper Grande Ronde River, were formed by the ero-
sion of soft material from a volcanic eruption about 30 million years ago.
Don’t lose your edge: Tips
for keeping knives sharp
As hunting season is
you started seeing 25-,
getting into full swing
22-, 20- then 18- some
BASE CAMP
I hope that you’re
16- and now even
TOM CLAYCOMB
prepared. Your rifl e is
14-degree angles. In the
sighted in and if you’re
old days they couldn’t
out of shape then you’ve been working
be that steep. The metal was too soft so the
out. But one minor detail that most people
edge would have rolled or chipped. So, if
overlook, which in a very short amount of
you see a knife with a steep angle then you
time will become a big deal, is if your knife
know that the metal is hard. Use a diamond
is sharp or not. In all actuality it’s not that
stone otherwise it’d take all day to sharpen
most hunters overlook this task, they just
in on an Arkansas stone.
fl at out don’t know how to sharpen a knife.
It doesn’t matter if you cut into the stone
I always say that 100% of the outdoors-
or push away. The big deal is to do the same
men use a knife and yet I bet less than 5%
number of strokes on each side and keep
can sharpen one. That’s why I’ve conducted the same angle all the way down the blade.
knife-sharpening seminars from Texas on up When it starts getting sharp the strokes
to Alaska, at the SHOT in Vegas, SCI Con-
will feel smoother. Like the edge is sliding
vention in Reno, DSC Convention & Expo in on glass. That tells you it’s sharp.
Dallas and everywhere in between.
Before you start, look at the edge. If the
While it does take some skill to sharpen
light refl ects off the edge, that’s a fl at (or
a knife, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. It’s some-
dull) spot. Really bad edges may be mush-
what scientifi c and somewhat touchy feely
roomed or rolled. If so, don’t cut into the
(artistic). Here’s what I mean by that. You
stone, push away. Also, if it’s really bad, I lay
engineers want step 1, 2 and 3. You’re the
the knife down fl atter the fi rst three or four
kind that designed the pre-set systems. And revolutions and then go back to the correct
they work. But I say learn to do it the old
angle after the metal is lined back up.
way by hand and then you’ll have a sense of
Finish up on an Arkansas stone. I had a
pride at learning your new skill. You’ll even buddy in college that then progressed to a
be able to impress your guides.
leather strop and resin and he could get a
To master this skill you do have to learn
wicked edge.
the basics and adhere to them to be success-
The ultimate set-up is the Smith’s 8-inch
ful, but your artistic fl air is also necessary
tri-hone stone. It’s elevated and has a coarse
because it does vary somewhat knife to knife. diamond stone, a fi ne diamond stone and an
In the old days the metal in knives was
Arkansas stone. Everyone has a budget so
softer so our dads/grandads only used a
if you can only afford one stone, I’d recom-
smooth Arkansas whetstone. Now, the
mend the Smith’s 6-inch fi ne diamond. It’s
knives are so hard that you’d work forever so elevated about 1 inch, which aids in being
I recommend using a diamond stone, which able to comfortably access the stone.
is a metal plate with impregnated diamond
There are a lot of ways to sharpen a knife
chips. There are cheaper ones on the market but I think the way I teach is the easiest
but Smith’s Consumer Products makes the method. My brother uses a little 4-inch fl at
best. Their surface has a consistent texture. piece of diamond impregnated metal and
Smith’s color codes their stones according he can get a knife just as sharp as I can.
to the coarseness of the surface. Yellow (325 So if what you’re doing is working, don’t
grit) is coarse and orange is fi ne (750 grit). I change.
advise using the orange. I only use the coarse
As we come to a close don’t give up if it
stone in my knife-sharpening seminars
takes you a minute to master this skill.
when someone comes in with a really dull,
While it is a simple concept it will take
chipped or mushroomed edge. Don’t let your a month or so to get the hang of. To help
knife get that bad. Keep it touched up.
speed up your learning process here are a
If your edge gets too chipped up you may couple of helps. I have a short e-article on
have to regrind the edge or, you can just
Amazon Kindle and a YouTube on Ron-
keep using it and over time you will grind
SpomerOutdoors.
past the chip. But, while cutting you will
• https://www.amazon.com/Knife-Sharp-
snag on the chip. It’s not that your knife is
ening-Tom-Claycomb-III-ebook/dp/B005IH-
dull, what you’re cutting is just snagging
WILO/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tom
and stopping. Make sense?
+claycomb&qid=1600658879&s=digital-tex
What is the best angle? Just use what-
t&sr=1-1
ever angle came from the factory. Used to
• https://www.youtube.com/
be, edges were around 30 degrees. Then
watch?v=u6R4T3dsfoE&t=113s