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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1961)
jtte nb mwi. KHmt Fm, on. ti, )m i twi rft CALLAHAN RANCH HOTEL has stood about like this since gold mining days. It is one of Siskiyou County's historic landmarks, as shown by the monument erected at left. Photo by Peggy Walsh. rtSSSsj THE HOME OF A HERMIT, Herbie Young, more than 80 years of age, is practically on the freeway since Callahan-Cecilville timber access road was opened in the remote country southwest of Scott Valley in Siskiyou County, Young says. About four cars an hour pass by it now. - Photo by Peggy Walsh. Western Siskiyou County Offers Variety f Attractions, Without Traffic Snarls By TECiGY WALSH ,can easily be driven in two days. For two clays or Iwo weeks off j It could be made in one day bill tlit bealen track, western Siski- it would be a grueling experience you County offers a variety of at-f winding roads with no time to tractions and little or no problems, view or enjoy mis duck cuuuuy with traffic or other troublesome aspects of civilization. Fishermen, hunters, rockhounds. camera enthusiasts or tnose in Turning west at Gazelle School, the surfaced ruad ends in three miles but the dirt road is wide and w inds in easy grade to the top terested in the sight and feel,"' azene grade ana aown into of the early West can turn off the southern portion of Scott Val- llighway t at Gazelle and in a few miles seemingly drop back 1(4 years into spectacular and un settled count 17. Camping gear is a must for the trip from Gazelle to Callahan to Cecilville to Porks of the Sal mon to Somes Bar and to Happy Camp. For although these com munities are on the map, a gen- ley. As soon as one is over the sum mit, ranch homes that were set tled in the IBtiOs begin to dot the landscape. The first house, M miles from Gazelle, is a weath ered silver color and w as original ly a stage coach stop. An outside staircase lends to the second story with interesting eral store and a gas pump are w indows set in alignment with about the maximum convenience offered the traveler. the roof slope. A vast stretch of Oiis cattle Too, no one in a hurry or wlio Vo'intiy is owned now by Carl dislikes narrow dirt roads should McConnell of Redding and tin attempt this trip. While the grades ranch homes either are not ii are not bad and I lie roads for the most part arc hard-surfaced, a huge portion of the trip is over one-way road and much of this a narrow shelf carved halfway up a steep canyon wall. But turn outs are ample and one rarely meets any traffic anyway. A round-trip from Gazelle through western Siskiyou County to Happy Camp and back to Ga zelle via Yrcka is 240 miles and FAREWELL TO SKNATOKS WASHINGTON (CPU Presi dent Eisenhower said farewell Thursday night to Republican members of the Senate. Tlic President and Vice Presi dent Richard M. Nixon were l'iMx;! of hitnnr nl n J inn ami huff,.! dimu.r aiv,.n for n-.i"' s new ly-oiicned road. It publican senators and their wives a,,,irt r0!d mo,t ,of ,hc wa5' use or oicupie'i by Ins employes. But some 100-year-old arcliilectuie is there for the picture-taker or history-gatherer, The surfaced road resumes eight miles east of Callahan. The main street of this community could well fit into any television western, with its two old hotels, saloon and general store. It used to be an important stop for those ,en route to Oregon from the Sac ramento valley. 1 he old stage route was through the Trinity Monn'ains. over Scott Mountain and into Scott Valley. Early day gold dredging activities also cen tered around Callahan. Now one old dredge sits descried a few miles noilh of town. From Callahan to Cecilville. by Senate GOP leader Everett M. Dirksen and Chairman Styles Bridges of Hie Senate Republican Policy Committee. The oil in a sperm whale's head is believed to serve as a cushion to protect vital organs from the excessive pressure dur ing its deep ocean dives. REMEMBER! when it comes to o truck, see Bob or Juck Trucks ore their business! JUCKELAND MOTORS, Inc. Your Into 1 no tie no I Deolcr UHi & Klom. Ph. 2-2581 HI but hard-surfaced and with easy curves ami gmdes. The road was built to open virgin timber lands, inaccessible before, and in doing so, has bared the wilderness to weekend travelers. Arriving nl Cecilville, 60 miles from Gazelle, one can lind little to justify its name on a map. At the store one can arrange a pack trip and get supplies or gasoline. For Hie scattered resi dents, there is postal service. Here too, a road winds over Bear Mountain to Sawyers Bar, where! one ran travel over the Salmon Mountains and back to civiliza tion via Etna. Cecilville is on the south fork of the north fork of the Salmon Hivcr. Traveling westward to Forks of the Salmon along a narrow, serpentine road, one looks down into a granite-lined gorge nl jlhe crystal clc.tr river. The deep jwols vary m color from aqua to emerald green and one can al most count the pebbles from a distance of hundreds of feet. Fishing must be good because one has to climb down steep em bankments to reach the river and parked cars indicated a large num ber of fishermen have been will ing to try it. Forks of the Salmon is 79 miles from Gazelle and Somes Bar. An other 18 miles westward the Sal mon River meets the Klamath again traveling through a spec tacular and colorful gorge with white water merging into deep emerald pools. Tlie waters of the Klamath Riv er are not nearly as pretty. They are silt-laden and a murky green, but the sweep and strength of this mighty river is impressive as it winds through this unsettled and wild country. As one starts northward from Somes Bar, a look at a map should give pause for reflection To the west is a roadless area that stretches to the coast and for 100 miles north and south. To the east is the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area where section surveys are still incomplete. It is 41 miles up the Klamath River to Happy Camp and only the last 15 miles of this is two lane paved road. We took the road south to Orleans to explore pos sibility of finding a motel in pref erence to camping out, but steel- head were reportedly running ami fisliermen were practically shoulder-to shoulder. The two motels were long since full and the for-j est service campground looked like Times Square. We found a nice, isolated camp ground at Irving Creek, eight miles north of Somes Bar. Some one had been there ahead of us, but it took only five minutes to make the area useable again. The vegetation is lush with many ferns and hardwoods. Black berries were ripe and very sweet but poison oak was thick. We saw no deer but did meet a curious coyote. Happy Camp appeared to be a lively, civic-minded community. even on a Sunday morning. From there we traveled surfaced roads and felt we had returned to estab lished paths. ft! fv S hi! .jM r me MUUNIAIN MOUSE ' near the summit of a grade between Gazelle and Callahan, on the way to Siskiyou County's Salmon River country, once was a stage stop. Old landmarks like this abound in the area. Photo by Peggy Walsh. 1 l i 1 c . 1? fh;' dec?y!n3 'd suspension bridge to cross this channel in the 5almon Mountains area of southwestern Siskiyou County. A modern Photo by Peggy Walsh. bridge replaced it.
