picnic – Exploring the Oregon Outback

Scenic Loop Lakeview

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Appel Family Adventures, posted in Drives, Uncategorized

My parents were in town visiting recently and helping with some much needed and fairly urgent home repairs. During their visit we made sure to get out and take them exploring! We decided to take them on a loop drive starting from Lakeview going East on hwy 140 to Adel Oregon, then heading south over to Ft. Bidwell, and crossing over the beautiful Fandango Pass into Davis Creek and then back up hwy 395 through New Pine Creek and back into Lakeview.

The first part of the drive will be on pavement as you leave Lakeview going north on Hwy 395, you will then turn onto East hwy 140 heading towards Warner Canyon Ski area and the small town of Adel. There are some beautiful stops along that route if you have time to explore. Once you reach the turn for Adel you will want to turn right and begin heading south towards Ft. Bidwell California. The road will start out paved and then will transition into a dirt road, this road is not maintained in the winter making this a late spring/summer/early fall drive only.

We followed this road and enjoyed the views. We found lots of cows and some fun small roads to explore. One of our roads we explored we found a lot of interesting rocks including obsidian.

During the drive you will pass some old homesteads, and a lot of scenic views. I also recommend looking out for Bald Eagles and other birds of prey, we saw at least 4 Bald Eagles! Then you will come into the small town of Ft. Bidwell. If you have time be sure to stop in at the NFB Restaurant and have a bite to eat. The food is fantastic and the service very friendly. We were there on a Friday night and got to enjoy live music while we ate.

Make your way out of Ft. Bidwell and then turn onto the road for Fandango Pass. This will be another dirt road and is a nice drive over the mountains. There are some nice scenic stops and historical points of interest in addition to the amazing views of Surprise Valley.

When you come into Davis Creek at the end of Fandago Pass and you will turn right on Highway 395 to head North towards Lakeview.

This is a beautiful and nice scenic drive. It will take as little as 2 hours and 45 minutes, but make sure to plan extra time so you can stop and explore.

Happy Adventuring,

Stephanie

How We Adventure.. Part 2

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Appel Family Adventures, posted in Hikes, Hiking, Uncategorized

A large part of our traveling and adventures is hiking! It is perhaps my favorite part. Many people feel that if you have kids and love to hike that you need to find a sitter and leave them at home. For some hikes that is true, but for many it is not necessary. I suppose, it just depends on what your ultimate goals are and why you are hiking.

I began hiking and fell in love with it for a multitude of reasons. The fresh air, open space, exercise, and ability to experience places not easily seen by everyone. Through the years more reasons have been added to my list. When I hike with my children they help me slow down and notice the little things. We pick up sticks, find cool rocks, and investigate the leaves. We talk A LOT and about anything and everything. We talk about hiking, how to be safe, how to take care of the trails and nature. We don’t make good time mileage wise, at least not yet, but we make memories that last. I would not trade them for anything.

We started hiking with our kids before they could walk. A quality child hiking pack is important at this stage. As they reached toddler years we started having them walk safe portions of the trails. We let them hold sticks and leaves (not always very pleasant for my head). The older they got, the more they walked and the slower we became. It was a necessary sacrifice to help build their comfort outside as well as their stamina.

Our two oldest children at ages 3 and 1 getting ready for a hike.

As they were growing and starting to get harder to hold we needed to help encourage them to push through and continue hiking. At this point we offered each of them a goal. We told them if they successfully hiked three 2+ mile hikes in a row without being carried they would earn their own hiking bag!! This was actually very motivational for them. It also allowed us to give them their own water bladder and to have them begin carrying their own snacks and small toys if they wanted them. Once they earned their bags then if they complained or wanted carried we could simply remind them that they have proven they CAN hike, even when it is hard or they are tired.

Our youngest earned her hiking pack after our Georgia trip! We picked it up at REI in Chattanooga, TN.

Our oldest is turning 10 this summer and is a very confident hiker, and our younger two are also well on their way. We are starting to be able to hike further and a bit faster these days. Speed to me is not the most important thing, I love that they enjoy hiking and nature. I hope this will be something that will carry us through their teen years and help us to continue to feel connected.

Our tips for hiking with kids:

Find a comfortable Child Carrier.
Bring lots of snacks. Space them out on the trail (they are great motovation for kids).
Choose a hike based on the abilities of all in your group, including the children.
Encourage the child/children to hike as much as possible on their own. This will sometimes feel frustrating but in the long run it is beneficial. They are learning to hike. Try to make it fun for them!
Familiarize yourself with first aid and other safety measures. Hiking with young kids often means first aid will be necessary.
Slow down and enjoy nature. Use the slower pace as an opportunity to teach and connect with your child.
When they are old enough get them a backpack sized correctly for them, and add a water bladder. We LOVE the child sized day packs by REI.

I hope you feel inspired to get out and hike and explore with your children. If you don’t have kids of your own, hopefully this information will help if you ever join a family/friends with kids on a hike! Our children love encountering friendly hikers on the trail. Hikers who understand how kids hike and encourage them are immensely inspiring for our children.

Happy Adventuring,

Stephanie

Shirk Ranch

June 5, 2020June 6, 2020 by Appel Family Adventures, posted in Drives, Historical Landmark, Uncategorized

We had the pleasure of visiting Shirk Ranch this spring. Shirk Ranch is a historic ranch located in the Guano Valley near the small town of Adel, Oregon. The ranch was first Homesteaded in 1881 and was purchased by David L. Shirk in 1883.

David L. Shirk operated his ranch on the property until 1914. The property went through a few exchanges and was eventually acquired by the US Government in the year 1942. The ranch is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

We had fun walking through the abandoned house, barn, and all the other buildings. It was fun to imagine what it must have been like to homestead there 100 years ago. There are still a lot of items left to see on the property and beautiful views any direction you point your camera!

I highly recommend this visit. Please remember to be kind to this, and all other, pieces of living American history. It is a protected historic site, so remember to take only memories and pictures, and as always, tread lightly. Items on the property need to be left for others to enjoy (though we did remove some garbage left by other recent visitors). Also, keep in mind that this is not a developed recreation site so there are no restrooms or trash collection, so plan accordingly.

We headed out to explore the surrounding countryside and discovered that once things dry out a bit more, there would be a lot of roads to explore. There is a scenic reservoir, nature area, and you can even take some dirt roads into the back side of Hart Mountain. This would make for a wonderful trip, but it was too early in the season for us to make it very far. They were very muddy in sections and the snow level was still too low in elevation. We hope to go back this summer and make the loop.

We were reminded of a one of the most important rules of adventuring, especially in the Oregon Outback:

If at all possible you should make sure someone knows your plans and when to expect you back. This is a remote area with little to no cell service, which is absolutely a large part of the fun, but not somewhere you want to get stuck. Being prepared is always a priority in this area.

I hope you take some time and make a trip out to Shirk Ranch! Check out Doherty Slide while you’re there and eat at the historic restaurant in Adel. There is plenty to see in this area! If you are planning to visit and want more ideas feel free to comment or send us a message and we will be happy to share some ideas!

Happy Adventuring,

Stephanie

Check out wikipedia for more information about Shirk Ranch. Driving directions coming soon. We used Google Maps and made it safely but we had a clear idea of where we were heading and what to expect.

Mitchell Monument

April 24, 2019April 25, 2019 by Appel Family Adventures, posted in Drives, Historical Landmark

I have seen the signs for Mitchell Monument every time we drive to Klamath Falls from Lakeview. We decided to make a trip to visit the monument and also see if any of the hiking trails in that area were passable yet.

We knew heading over there that Mitchell Monument was a memorial area for a family or a group of people who were out on a picnic and were killed by an explosive, but that is as much as we knew. I will give you a bit more history so when you visit you have a lot of context as to why this is such an important place and a really large event in the history of the United States.

Mitchell Monument is unique because this is the ONLY place where there were Casualties as a result of enemy action on the U.S. mainland. To be exact there were 6 casualties on May 5, 1945.

Mrs. Elsie Mitchell – Age 26 & her unborn child * Jay Gifford – Age 13 * Edward Engen – Age 13 * Dick Patzke – Age 14 * Joan Patzke – Age 13 * Sherman Shoemaker – Age 11

But how in the world did 1 adult and 6 children die in the middle of the forest near the small town of Bly, Oregon from enemy action?

Well, Elsie Mitchell’s husband was Reverend Archie Mitchell. Elsie and Archie were taking their Sunday School students out for a picnic on May 5, 1945. Shortly after arriving at Leonard Creek on Gearhart Mountain Elsie took the kids ahead to let them explore while Archie parked the car. While he was parking the car Elsie and the children found a strange object and all huddled around it. It is believed that one of the children reached for the object which turned out to be a Japanese Bomb and it detonated killing everyone but Archie.

Now you may be wondering how did a Japanese Bomb end up in the middle of the forest in rural Oregon?

Less than a year before this event the Japanese came up with a new weapon intended to attack the U.S. mainland. According to my research the Japanese were trying to create panic and fires across the U.S. and divert the U.S. attention from the war to deal with the aftermath of the bombs. They were going to accomplish this with what were called Fugos (balloon bombs or wind ships). They would launch the balloons (Fugos) up into the jet stream and let the strong easterly winds blow the balloons to U.S. soil. Each balloon would carry 5 bombs. They also had a ring of about 30 sandbags for ballast control as well as an altitude control device.

The Japanese discontinued the program because they had not been successful in creating panic in the United States. The government had been careful in their response and made sure the details were not released to the general public about the Fugos or the deaths that happened because of them.

Picture of part of the information board located at Mitchell Monument

On August 20, 1950 the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company dedicated the site as a memorial to those who perished in the location. The memorial is now managed by the Fremont-Winema National Forest and has many informational boards as well as the monument which was constructed from native stones as well as a bronze plaque. Also of note is one of the Ponderosa Pines which has been named as an Oregon Heritage Tree. This tree is known as the Shrapnel Tree because it still bears the marks and damage from the detonated bombs. It stands as a reminder of the force and destruction those bombs created. You can read more about the tree here.

Shrapnel Tree – Oregon Heritage Tree – April 2019

Mitchell monument is easy to find it is located not far from Highway 140 off Forest Service Road 3400. There are nice picnic tables and a vault toilet located at the monument. For directions and more information visit Fremont-Winema National Forest web site.

Happy Adventuring,

~ Stephanie

** Also of note! There is some amazing hiking located in this area! It unfortunately for us was still too snow covered to make it far but look at some of the pictured from our attempted hike!

The snow kept getting deeper from here on out!

Sprague River National Forest Picnic Area

March 12, 2019 by Appel Family Adventures, posted in Activities, Hikes, Hiking

As we were traveling to Klamath Falls from Lakeview on HIghway 140 we decided to stop and check out the Sprague River Picnic area. We were happy to find restrooms, and dispersed picnic tables. Some of the tables are very private and off on their own but there are also some in the grassy fields or that are covered with barbecues close to them.

We were happy to find a nice trail that heads out over a bridge from the picnic area. We followed the trail for awhile (I would estimate around 3/4 of a mile) before the trail seems to stop. We were in the off season being late in the fall so it may have just been a bit overgrown so we were unable to see where it was anymore. We chose to turn around at that point. It was a fun trail that led you by the cliffs and along the river, the kids really enjoyed the rough trail. It would not be a good trail for a stroller, or someone who is unstable on their feet, but is overall an easy and fairly level trail.

Be sure to check out the location below and enjoy some pictures from our visit.

~ Stephanie