I loaded the map into my phone. It looked generally correct; I had never looked at a map of the route before. But, there are only so many roads in this rural area, and even if it wasn’t the exact same route I’d been on before, it made an obvious loop and would take maybe two hours to complete the whole thing.
The first part of the trip was a climb through barren foothills. Our border collie leaned forward between us, filling the air with the smell of dog breath. This was fine, as it made the smell of pine something to really look forward to. It was a washboard (bumpy) road, which was unfortunate. I could feel the mood from the driver dampening. I squinted at the route on my phone. The route had disappeared. That’s when I remembered that there is no phone service in these mountains. But, I had brought my trusty paper map with my binoculars. I pulled it out and squinted at it. I had forgotten to bring my reading glasses, but it appeared that there shouldn't be too much more bumpy road…maybe 32 miles.
One can only say, “Just a few more curves and then we turn off,” so many times before you start doubting it’s really true. Even the dog was giving me side glances. But the turn off road finally appeared. It was even labeled with the correct forest service road number. The road smoothed out, as did the mood in the vehicle.
As the road gently wound uphill, pine trees began to appear. The trees were mostly Ponderosa Pines. These large trees got their name, Pinus Ponderosa, officially in 1836 from a Scottish botanist and plant explorer named David Douglas. Ponderosus is Latin for large, heavy, weighty. Douglas also named the Douglas Fir. He had many adventures as he explored the Scottish Highlands, North America, and Hawaii. He had an unfortunately short life (35 years) as he died under mysterious circumstances while climbing Mauna Kea.
Ponderosa Pines are indeed large. They have large pinecones with sharp points. Their bark is thick to protect from fire and insects. If you get a chance, smell one up close. The bark has a sweet smell. Ponderosa forests often don't have much underbrush because of the thick mat of pine needles on the ground. The long needles of this pine are clustered in groups of three. Beautiful trees!
We ate our sandwiches in a sunny spot, just like I had imagined. We were more than halfway through our loop and would be on a paved road to home.
The road became more narrow. And then more narrow. And steep. I tried to open my door to get out and walk, but it was too narrow. The dog was no longer breathing dog breath between us. I’m not sure what she was doing and I didn’t look around to see. We had steep downgrades, creek crossings, and uphill pulls where all I could see was the hood and the sky. I videoed part of it, but was unhappy with the way the video could not capture the weird angles we were traveling. Also, the sound track was filled with me saying things like, “Can you see over the hood?” And, “Are you sure we’re still on the road?” But this part made the trip for my husband. His youth was spent on jeep trails and he was in his element. It wasn’t long before we were on a paved road, heading homeward, the smell of Ponderosa Pines lingering in our minds.
