City to Gritty

It felt like an actual lifetime since we had made the drive up to get dirty on our property, it was almost a month and a half and when we got there it was still the same as we had left it. Paradise.

This was such a landmark visit though, it was our first trip up as hosts to guests! Our parents! There is nothing like the feeling of sharing your new favorite place on earth with those who brought you into this world. They loved it. The peace, the neighbors, the privacy, the views… All of it. (Maybe not the 97 degree heat, though). Steve’s mom and stepdad were going to bring their horses, but due to shipping delays they could not get suitable water tanks for their new trailer in time. They brought a 4-wheeler instead and it was a blast – we added it to our wish list for the homestead. They also brought their adorable six month old puppy Finn. We had the three campers and there was plenty of room and the road was just fine for everyone as long as we went slow and easy.

We arrived Friday, set up camp and unloaded the propane BBQ Steve picked up for $60 (used) so we could cook for everyone. Important note, in this part of Central Oregon fire bans start up around Memorial day weekend and go through Labor Day at least. This means no charcoal and no campfire – only propane. Steve’s mom and stepdad had a propane fire pit we were able to use in the evening for sitting and storytelling, we have since purchased one of our own because sometimes you just need a campfire. We grabbed the trailcams before it got too dark and tried to see what we got on the tiny screen because I forgot my computer (doh!). Steve placed his camera down in the lower part of the ravine and I placed mine on the trail ascending the larger bluff on the top of our property. Steve only had one picture, but it was absolutely a buck with fuzzy antlers! I got a bit more action, no buck, but did get a burst of shots of a coyote taking off up the trail. So cool! My camera also got a couple shots of a doe, one really close up which made all of us laugh pretty hard.

Saturday we hiked around and drank coffee most of the morning before Steve, my mom, the kids, and I decided to go hike the ravine with the witchin’ sticks (dowsing rods) to see if we could find spring water near any of the damp areas we had noticed in the past. We decided to start at the top of the property line and work our way down. We passed several spots covered in snake grasses and wild flowers, not the typical sagebrush and Juniper trees we are used to seeing throughout the rest of the terrain. We got to the top of the property and noticed an area that was not only damp and grassy, but had some standing water! Steve poked around with a shovel and not two shovelfuls into the dig we had a significant pool of water coming out of the ground! AHH! We all worked to start trenching a path, building a couple dams, and following the stream back to see if we could locate the source of the spring. We found some strange corrugated tubing, round rock definitely not native to the area, and plastic sheeting. Had someone built a French drain here once before? We heard rumors from the neighbor that there were squatters back in the 60’s and 70’s trying to grow the pot out in these parts on land that was not theirs, and we had seen evidence of old shelters on this property, but these tubes are in 15ft ravines, it was mind bottling… Check out the pictures and let me know what you think. Keep in mind – there is NO RECORD of anyone ever legally inhabiting this piece of property. This seems like such a huge endeavor for a squatter with no machinery. Then I looked at what we were able to excavate by hand in just two days. Nothing seems impossible.

Steve’s mom was taking Greyson out and about on the 4-wheeler and ran into a few of our neighbors, they came up a little later and invited us over for a BBQ to celebrate their one year house-iversary. Our amazing parents agreed to watch the minis while we took the 4-wheeler out that evening to go see what the rest of the “neighborhood” looked like. It was so fun and beautiful. Their view is so much different than ours somehow! They had a fella named Robert on the patio on the guitar on the patio singing some originals and some covers – it was the perfect evening. We got to meet three other households including the neighbors that invited us. It is wild to think that there are still quite a few folks we have not met since it seems like there really isn’t anyone around. The food was good, the company was amazing, and the music was perfect, thanks to our new friends for making us feel like part of the hood!

Sunday I took the witchin’ sticks down the ravine a bit to try and see if I could find any other ground water and about 100ft down from the spring we found Saturday I had a really crazy reaction, stepped on a rock right in front of my foot at that spot and water started bubbling up! Holy sh*t – is this happening again? STEVE! GRAB THE SHOVEL! We dug about 18 inches down and under a giant rock was another little stream of water!! We dug about a basketball sized hole and came back Monday to find it full and seeping down the ravine.

THIS IS INSANE! The week prior to embarking on this trip I received a quote for a 500ft well, all in with a pump, for $30k. My gut fell out of my body. There was no way we could put a well in AND a cabin AND a septic AND pay all in cash. Remember – this is a cash funded operation. It is important to us not to finance this dream, so naturally I was devastated. These springs, though, if still running when we go back next weekend could be a viable water source for our cabin. This could save our dream! My mom said this was a gift from my father up in heaven; I’ll take it. Thanks Dad. I miss you.

Sunday we also bid farewell to Steve’s mom and stepdad by caravanning down to Mitchell for lunch at Tiger Town Brewing which was hoppin’! I was blown away at how bustling the little town of Mitchell was on this fine Sunday afternoon. Lunch and beers were incredible, of course, and the service was swift and friendly. After lunch, hugs, and good-bye’s the rest of us (me, Steve, kids, my mama) wandered town a bit. We got ice creams treats at the grocery place and enjoyed them on the patio of the Little Pine Café where we met Arizona a gentleman that, simply put, broke down here in Mitchell in 1959 and never went left. Originally from Arizona, he said that he left the mining business there in and headed north. He sang some great covers and even sang You Are My Sunshine to Fiona, one of my favorites. She was enamored with him.

We headed back up to the property and enjoyed the rest of the day watching clouds threaten to storm on us, no showers thankfully, but great cloud watching. The sky turned crazy colors and gave us a beautiful light show as dusk approached. It was so peaceful. I was so happy. So many things I loved in one place covered in a fine layer of dirt, and exhausted from a day with zero screens.

That evening we sat around our lanterns and watched the sky as stars began to appear. Real dark doesn’t set in until after 10pm so Fiona was long gone, but Greyson wanted to stay up to watch the stars. Right around the time our stars really started to pop – 10:30 or so – this strange noise came from the upper bluff in front of us (possibly further?) and it was like nothing I have ever heard before. THEN – two more of said creatures called from a much more significant distance behind us. All three of them were moving and calling. Definitely trying to find each other. Greyson was FREAKED out. We, of course, were determined to find the sound online to identify it. We found this video – number 4 is the closest thing we could find. I am pretty convinced it was a deer now, but at the time. Eeek!

The next day, Monday, we set off early on a quest to find the official lot pin for our property line so we can work on a DIY survey. We poked around the NW corner of the property per OnX and after about 10 min we found it! I thought it was super cool, and tried to get Greyson pumped up about finding something this old still in the ground, no dice… It wasn’t until that evening when we were watching some treasure hunting episode of Josh Gates where HE found a survey pin (a much older one albeit) that Greyson got really excited, like, “MOM, we found one of those at our property!”

That’s all for now! We are headed back up this coming weekend (July 16th) and are waiting on bated breath to find out if those springs are still going! We have everything we need to set up a spring box, we just need that water to keep flowing! Stay tuned…