snowshark--

We have been riding near a virtual ghost town south of The Dalles. I found it a couple years ago while poking around back country roads looking for a place to hunt gray squirrels with my son. (Good eating, as many of you guys back east can attest. Most guys out here think it's a little strange to waste good hunting time on "tree rats", and maybe they're right. But sneaking around the woods with a .22 and a son or two--never had a daughter--is about the most enjoyable hunting I know.) Anyway, it's hilly and fairly dry but it's green in spring, with a couple creeks, one of which us newbies haven't yet got up the nerve to cross since it's 2' deep, runs at a good clip and is COLD with Mt Hood snowmelt. There are deer, elk, and even antelope running around, because until mid-summer there are few people--mostly just an occasional gun nut like me walking around with something slung over his shoulder, a distinctly American freedom which we won't have much longer.
There are abandoned homesteads here and there and old fencelines in the woods--it's fascinating to me to speculate on the circumstances which drew these people here and what caused them to pull out those years ago. There are old logging camps around--basically a scattering of rusty food and oil cans and worn-out boots. It's a quiet, pretty area with some history and varied terrain to bring a family for wildlife viewing and atv cruising, but not very exciting I suppose.
Your family-oriented atv club sounds good and I'll give them a call to see if we're not too far to join. Through that, maybe I can get you more details if such an area appeals to you.


Gooch
'00 dusty green Rancher TE
'00 dusty green Recon