B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
OUTDOORS & REC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2021
ROAD
Continued from Page B1
This sort of road beckons
me to keep going, not so
much for the potential
view around the next bend
or atop a knoll, but to see
whether its progression is
consistent — that the con-
dition worsens the far-
ther you go — or whether
there are sections that
seem almost untouched by
nature.
I came across such a
road recently in the moun-
tains north of Anthony
Lakes Highway.
I have an aﬃ nity for this
area, where the granitic
rocks of the northern Elk-
horns give way to, and
mingle with, the basalts
that dominate the northern
Blue Mountains.
There are no great peaks
here, but it feels to me as
wild and remote as ranges
with loftier summits.
The dense forests are
largely responsible, a mix-
ture of doghair lodgepole
thickets in places where
the 20,000-acre Anthony
Fire burned hottest in
1960, and old growth, with
massive tamaracks, pon-
derosa pines, Douglas-ﬁ rs
and Engelmann spruces in
some valleys.
One of those valleys is
where the North Fork of
Anthony Creek ﬂ ows.
If you have a look at a
map of the area you might
well question my choice
of “wild” and “remote” as
adjectives.
There is certainly no
shortage of roads.
Two roads to the north
of the stream roughly par-
allel it for much of its
length, and another road
traces the valley south of
the creek.
But none of these roads
is heavily traveled.
And the one that I hiked
earlier this month — the
lower of the two northside
routes, the one that stays
close to the stream —
looked to me as though it
rarely has vehicle traﬃ c
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Above, a vine maple limb extends across a road along the North Fork of Anthony Creek on Oct. 9, 2021. Below, the North Fork of Anthony Creek
is fed by springs in the mountains north of Anthony Lake.
other than an occasional
ATV.
The exception is the
ﬁ rst half mile or so from
the road’s start at the North
Fork Anthony Creek bridge
on Forest Road 7312. That
road, by contrast, is some-
thing of a thoroughfare, a
well-maintained gravel road
that connects the Porcupine
Road to the north, with the
Anthony Lakes Highway.
The North Fork road —
Forest Road 7312-150 —
is in decent shape in that
ﬁ rst section, and the reason
seemed to me obvious, as
it ends at a ﬁ ne campsite
beside the stream.
Immediately past the
camp, though, the ﬁ rs and
the alders intrude, turning
the road into a gantlet.
I’m not an engineer but
it seemed to me, based on
the road’s condition, that
it hasn’t seen a bulldoz-
er’s blade for at least a few
decades.
The roadbed is gener-
ally intact, but the drainage
system much less so.
In several places a road-
side spring or stream, rather
than trickling harmlessly
under the road through a
culvert, ﬂ ows freely onto
the surface, making for a
slightly mucky hike, albeit
for short distances.
In its heyday, though,
this road must have been a
pretty easy drive. It’s rel-
atively wide, as mountain
roads go, and based on the
height of some of the cuts,
a considerable amount of
excavation, and probably
some expenditure of explo-
sives, were required.
Because the road is at
the bottom of the valley —
the ﬂ attest part, obviously
— the grade is moderate.
I was hiking with my
wife, Lisa, and our son,
Max, and we turned back
where two tributaries
come together, about two
and a half miles from the
7312 road. Another road
branches oﬀ to the south at
this conﬂ uence. The road
once crossed the creek, but
the two big culverts that
made this possible were
yanked out. They sit side
by side near the stream.
It’s not a diﬃ cult hike.
The elevation gain from
the 7312 road to where we
turned back is about 900
feet. My map shows the
road on the north side of
the creek continuing up
the valley for another half
mile or so. The road on
the south side of the creek
connects to a network of
roads in the High Moun-
tain area.
I suspect many of these
routes were built to aid
ﬁ reﬁ ghters working on
the Anthony ﬁ re 61 years
ago. The dense lodgepole
thickets that thrive after
blazes can all but obliterate
hastily created ﬁ re roads, to
be sure. But in an area that
lacks oﬃ cial trails, this col-
lection of “roads” entices
explorers who don’t mind
brushing aside an occa-
sional alder branch or ﬁ r
bough.
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