Trip Report

Sisters was our destination for our annual Fall Color trip. We travelled up the familiar scenic Route 126 to the McKenzie Ranger Station for coffee and our famous gourmet goodies. This place is always a refreshing stop with helpful personnel and has some very informative videos.

Then on to Sahalie for an extended visit to one of Oregon's outstanding waterfalls. Crossing the Santiam Pass, we were delayed several times for re-striping the road. It is a beautiful area, but smoky skies obscured our views of the mountains and was without much fall foliage - only a few vine maples.

In Sisters our riders scattered for two hours to various restaurants and shops. Then it was back on the bus to cross the Pass to Hackleman Old Growth Grove. This is on the historic Santiam Wagon Road. We did not have enough time to walk the 1.8 mile nature trail through this unusual grove. Then it was down the nearly dry South Santiam River to McDonald's in Sweet Home to replenish our calorie loss. Finally we took secondary roads through the Mohawk Valley and McKenzie View Drive, avoiding the Freeway. We arrived back at Shopko at 5:30 p.m.

Riders were members Alice Anderson, Barbara Beard, Paul Beard, Paula Beard, Max Brown, MaryLee Cheadle, Sharon Cutsforth, Barbara Flanders, Dennis Flanders, Dora Harris, Margit Hollerud, Ray Jensen (leader), Barbara Payne, Don Payne, Virginia Prouty, Liz Reanier, Nola Shurtleff, Julie Snell, Janet Speelman and Cristy White; and guests Bill Arthur, Joan Brown, Reno DelGrande, Bonnie Gilham, Geri Nelson, Judy Phelps and Barbara Siebold.