Sinners & Saints: Indelicate Stories of Emigrants in the West offers a unique opportunity to explore concepts of tolerance and diversity in the 19th century. A collection of stories drawn from first-person accounts are woven into narratives that highlight the morals and values of pioneers, early settlers, and Native America tribes of the Columbia Plateau. Presented in a story booth format, these tales describe individuals who traveled the Oregon and California Trails, settled into burgeoning towns, and the choices they encountered along their way. This intimate exhibit creates a space to explore and reflect on timeless topics of survival, love, family, vice and spirituality.

An online version of the exhibit can be accessed after June 21st from:

http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/flagstaff.php

The Trail Center is located five miles east of Baker City, Oregon on State Highway 86.  Take Exit 302 from I-84.  The Trail Center is currently open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $8.00; for seniors it’s $4.50; children 15 and under are admitted for free.  Federal passes are accepted.  Call (541) 523-1843 for updates on programs and events.  For more information about the Trail Center visit:

www.oregontrail.blm.gov

The paved, two-lane road, is typically blocked by snow until late May or early June. Due to an unusually warm and dry spring, many forest roads are open earlier than usual this year. Forest Service officials encourage drivers to be careful and watch for rocks and other debris in the roadway. Maintenance crews are removing rocks and debris, which could cause delays of five to 15 minutes.

Following tumbling streams, the FS 39 road climbs into the mountains, winding through the forest and providing access to magnificent vistas of canyons and alpine peaks before dropping back down to the valley floors. For more information on roads, trails and campgrounds within the Wallowa Whitman National Forest and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, please visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman/. You can also follow the forest on twitter at: @WallowaWhitman.

I hear the low hum of motorcycles passing our ranch every day. This is such a great time of year for touring our back roads. Here is a blog you will enjoy, especially if you feel two wheels are better than four!

http://www.visiteasternoregon.blogspot.com/2013/05/return-to-open-road-in-eastern-oregon.html

Please remember, May is when ranchers take their cattle to summer pasture. You might encounter a cattle drive in your travels. Please slow down and enjoy this bit of Eastern Oregon heritage. The horseback riders will try to help you through as quickly as possible, but there are cow dogs, calves, horses and often children in the roadway. We’re sure you know how to drive, but one never knows what an animal or child might suddenly decide to do. Please keep everyone safe and having a good day by taking your time getting through. We all thank you.

Happy travels!

The Mother’s Day Brunch is just the beginning of the excursion train season. The annual Elgin Stampeders’ Train Robbery is rumored to take place June 15, which also happens to be the when the Elgin Riverfest unfolds. There will be lots of hometown festival activities around the town. (The bandits probably chose that date to cover their scheming!) With just 150 seats available, this trip also sells out quickly and is especially popular with families and groups.

Other scenic train excursions are planned for July 20, August 31, September 14, 21, & 28, October 5, 12, & 19. We will tell you more about those trips as the dates get closer. Go to www.eaglecaptrainrides.com for ticket and trip information, or call Alegre Travel to make reservations, 800.323.7330 or travel@alegretravel.com.

Participants will learn how to select, prepare and care for cookware, how to convert historic recipes, determine cook times, control fire temperatures, and adjust for weather and altitude conditions. Each class member receives a book of recipes, and acquires the skills to start on the joy of outdoor living and dining. Participants cook and eat at the Trail Center’s outdoor Wagon Encampment.
 

Class only: $10 per session, or $40 for entire five class series
Optional Cooking Kit: $75, includes #10 Dutch oven & lid, hand made wooden spoon and branded cutting board

PRE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Class size is limited
All sessions are for ages 14 & up
Call 541-523-1844 to register
or e-mail: trailtenders@yahoo.com

Winding Waters River Expeditions, Joseph, Oregon, invites you to spend five wonderful days photographing the peak of spring bloom in Hells Canyon of the Snake River, while rafting your way through the deepest river gorge in North America. Join fine art photographer and instructor Kendrick Moholt in capturing the mood of remote and wild Hells Canyon and its inhabitants in the height of spring greening.

In addition to world-class nature photography, practice some great action sports photography while scouting and running some of the continent’s bigger Class III and IV white water. A scenic flight out of the canyon back to Joseph rounds out the adventure. Family members welcome.Contact us for non-photographer’s pricing.

Go to the Winding Waters website for details and start planning you adventure!

The facility can be opened for tour groups of twenty or more people on any day with advanced notice. Use of the facility for meetings or special events can also be arranged for any day of the week by pre-scheduling. Call (541) 523-1843 to arrange for special tours, meetings or events.

The Trail Center is located five miles east of Baker City, Oregon on Highway 86.  Take Exit 302 from I-84.  Admission for adults is $5; for seniors it’s $3.50; children 15 and under are admitted for free.  Federal passes are accepted.  Call (541) 523-1843 for updates on programs and events. For more information about the Trail Center visit: www.oregontrail.blm.gov

Stop by the Joseph Chamber visitor center for information about the event and the region.

Midway along the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, the little town of Joseph, Oregon, is known for its spectacular setting at the base of northeast Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains and for the proximity to the wide range of outdoor recreation the location provides. It is also known for its art galleries and bronze foundries, where some of the country’s best known and acclaimed bronze sculptures are created. And, Joseph is the home of Alpenfest, a long-running Swiss-Bavarian festival held on the last full weekend of September in Wallowa County, often called Oregon’s Little Switzerland. The event is family-oriented and fun-filled, celebrating the Alpine environment of the beautiful Wallowa Valley. After a hiatus of a few years, Alpenfest returns this weekend, September 27-30, 2012, featuring polka music and dancing, yodeling, alphorns, Swiss-German cuisine, beer and wine, and art, craft, antique and gift shopping. Oregon’s Alpenfest is a fun-filled four-day celebration of Swiss-Bavarian culture, cuisine and liquid refreshment.

Now including venues in Enterprise, Joseph and Wallowa Lake the event includes polka music, folk dancing, alphorn blowing and Swiss yodeling plus consumption of Alpenfest bratwurst, Terminal Gravity Alpenfest ale and Lathrop Country Wines Polka-Up Wein. Entertainment includes the Polkatones, yodeler Lisa Ward and the Tirolean Dancers.

For details and an event schedule, go to oregonalpenfest.blogspot.com, click on the Schedule tab.

Hells Canyon Overlook

Residents and businesses throughout Hells Canyon Scenic Byway country welcome the Hells Canyon Relay, September 21 and 22. The team relay race starts at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, with teams covering 210.6 miles before ending at Pioneer Park in La Grande. The Eiite Run course starts and ends at Pioneer Park in La Grande, completing a total of a whopping 286 miles. The races follow the entire route of the byway, including Oregon Highway 86, Forest Service Road 39, and Oregon Highway 82, passing through some of Oregon’s most spectacular and varied terrain along the way. To learn more about the race or to register a team, go to www.hellscanyonrelay.com. (Please use caution when driving the byway always, and especially during the race!)

Racers and race followers will find plenty to do during race weekend, in addition to enjoying the fabulous scenery. Take time to explore the wonderful Oregon Trail Interpretive Center; drive the winding road down the Snake River to Hells Canyon Dam; stare into Hells Canyon from the Overlook on FS 39; spend some time on the go-carts, playing miniature golf and riding the Tramway at Wallowa Lake; explore the shops, cafe’s and galleries in charming communities all along the route; fill your Beer Tag at the area’s award-winning micro-breweries. Art can be found many places along the byway, but few area artists achieve the level of attention given to the anonymous creators of the works of art in the Great Salt Lick Contest in Baker City, Saturday, September 22.

All are invited to the Elgin Opera House Centennial Celebration on Saturday, September 22, beginning at 10 a.m. with a parade in downtown Elgin, followed by a 2 p.m. program inside the recently restored brick opera house. You will hear presentations and a musical medley of past Opera House musical theater productions directed and produced by Terry Hale and participating actors and actresses from the last six years. You will be dazzled by the professional level talent displayed by area residents. A cake and punch reception will follow the program on the north lawn at the opera house. Tickets are just $10 for the gala alone, or add the evening production of Fiddler On the Roof for a total of $25. Call Teresa at 541-663-6324. Fiddler begins at 7:30 p.m.

In La Grande, at the post relay barbecue, dive into a delicious pulled pork dinner at Pioneer Park from 1 to 7 p.m. The barbecue benefits La Grande’s Main Street downtown revitalization program.

Fall is a wonderful time to explore byway country. Take your time and experience the magic of this beautiful season and place.

The Trail Center encampment.

BAKER CITY, OR – A wagon encampment by historic re-enactors will provide a step back in time for families and travelers visiting the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center over Labor Day Weekend.

Historic re-enactors will present an Oregon Trail pioneer wagon camp on Saturday and Sunday September 1-2, 2012, from 10 to 2 each day. Demonstrations include Dutch-oven cooking, black powder shooting, quilting, woodworking, and music. “Bullwhackin Kass” will have her team of oxen on site to give demonstrations of how teamsters used animal power to drive wagons and equipment on the frontier. Mountain men re-enactors will have a camp of early day fur traders.

This will be the last opportunity to see the special exhibit “Home, Sweet Homestead” on the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act. The exhibit closes Monday, September 3rd.

The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is located 5 miles east of Baker City on Highway 86. Take Exit 302 from I-84. The Center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $8. Seniors are $4.50. Children 15 and under are free. Federal passes are accepted. For more information about the Center, go to: http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/ or call 541-523-1843. For information on activities in Baker County go to: http://www.visitbaker.com/ or call 1-800-523-1235.