The BEAUTIFUL and the BAD

It was perfect  October weather last week — just about as perfect as perfect can be.  Not too hot, not too cold.   No rain, but it has rained recently so it's no longer  too dry!  

 

All the colors of Autumn with blue sky — from a Saturday morning walk around our neighborhood.   Earlier in the week, we took a drive up the McKenzie River.  The Highway is open again after being closed because of the Holiday Farm fire.       

 

 

Goodpasture Bridge, McKenzie River — built 1938

 

Oregon has more covered bridges than any other state west of the Mississippi.   Back when bridges were built of wooden timbers, the roofs were protection from the Oregon rain.  Quite a few of them have been preserved and some like this one are still in limited use.  

   

 

We stopped at the bridge above and this stretch of the river just after leaving the urban area of Eugene/Springfield.    The sun was shining, the river flowed, the trees were green.   Over the years, we've had so many happy times along  the McKenzie and at first, the drive-by views  looked just like old times.   Because of last month's fire, we knew to expect  damage further along  but felt like we needed to see it for ourselves.     

 

 

We didn't have to drive too much further before seeing blackened trees and crews removing dangerously damaged ones .  Along here, we were surprised to see places where one home would be severely burned and the one on the next property still standing apparently unharmed.  In our travels, we've been in areas where we've seen the aftermath of hurricanes and tornados, but didn't expect fire damage to be so sporadic.   But this fire was exacerbated by a severe windstorm, so it was wind patterns here as well.   

 

 

We began to see signs thanking the fire crews for the amazing job they did stopping the fire where they did.  But soon we reached the towns of Finn Rock and Blue River.  Those towns are near where the fire started.  They are pretty much completely destroyed.

 

 

There used to be a store and cafe where the structure at the top left and center were taken.  Small vacation cottages lined the portion of the river where some owners are still sifting through the remains.   The three pictures on the bottom are from what was once the town of Blue River.  Firefighters saved the district school building, but the town is just gone.

 At first as we drove through the remains of the town it somehow  felt wrong that the sun was shining and the sky was blue.   I suppose it is a sign of hope.   It was so very sad, but I was still glad we took the drive.  We don't watch the news and  nothing I had read had quite prepared me for this.  It will be a long time before things are anywhere near back to normal in this part of our county.

Rather than re-trace our route  along the McKenzie River, we made it  a circle drive by going home over the Santiam Highway.  

 

 

 We were traveling a portion of this aptly named scenic byway.    Here is a brief bit of info from "America's Scenic Byways."

This 66-mile route begins in the rich farmland of the Willamette Valley, and then winds along rushing streams, and through dense forests as it climbs into the Cascades to join the West Cascades and McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass National Scenic Byways.

Along the way travelers will pass through some of Oregon's oldest settlements, while experiencing the geographic diversity of five western Oregon ecosystems. With access to rivers, reservoirs, parks and campgrounds, many trails and winter sports access areas, this byway offers a wide range of scenic wonders and recreational activities.  

 

 

Short Bridge, Santiam River , Built 1945 to replace an earlier one built in 1920

 

Short Bridge crosses the South fork of the Santiam River.   Like the Goodpasture Bridge at the beginning of the post, this one is also named for a pioneer Oregon settler.  The name is not meant as a description, but it could be — it really isn't very long.   (I think it is shorter than this blogpost is.)    If you've read this far, thank you!!    Even though I usually try to keep this blog "my happy space", another purpose of it is to keep memories.  And I don't want to forget this fire (which I can only hope will be a rare happening).    

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.  

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  SIGNS SIGNS;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;