Pipeline

There's a huge dredge in Sumpter that was electric. The story, as told to me, was they imported Chinese to build a pipeline to bring water from Olive Lake to the Fremont Power Plant where it was converted to electricity. This is the pipeline...hidden in the woods.

Disappearing into the Distance

There's a groove along the lowest edge of the board, the parallels, that is so perfect there's not a hint of splinter. The smell of waterproofing tar is still strong.

The survivors supposedly went unpaid. Googling Chinese and Fremont Pipeline brings no mention of their contribution. The only evidence is the cemetery in Baker City. It's condition shows there's been no change in attitude since the earlier era. (see blogpost: The Chinese Cemetery)

Dennis, Cheryl & Flash

I was camped above highway 7 south of Baker City and barely starting my day when they first went by. As a concession to the apparent busyness, I put on my pants. When they came back and rolled to a stop, Dennis's first question was, "We're not disturbing your peace and quiet are we?

After the previous day's encounter with the GoWild group (See Aug 17 post), this was a surprise. And so we commenced.

They're gold enthusiasts who've been together since 1974. I'm two months older than Dennis and his broken back has made it impossible to be active and his "physique" is similar to mine.

Cheryl has tinnitus that causes vertigo when she's tired and Flash had his right leg crushed several years ago and spent three weeks in a Boise hospital; it still hurts, he said. But none of them has lost an iota of enthusiasm.

Dennis took me on a tour of Sumpter, where they live and rent out several cabins. We went on to the ghost town of Bourne, population 7, where I got to see the crusher that operated at the turn of the 19th century. 

The Crusher

As with many photos, this one doesn't show the height of 3+ stories of this incredible ruin. There was a tram that carried the ore to the top. All this around 1895.

They're excited about showing me different places and when I mentioned Anthony Lakes said they'd like to go there too.  They have a toy hauler and razor and a Chevy Silverado with 4wd so are fully accoutresized. And they offered to teach me how to pan for gold.

It's amazing how quickly things can change.

The next day, Dennis's back went out and I wasn't sure I'd get a photo of the three of them. Gordon is a real prankster!

The Trio with Luke (on leash) and Good Boy