Jawbone Flats and the Santiam River

Earlier this week my son and I took a mother/son hiking and camping trip to the Opal Creek Recreation area and the Santiam River near Detroit.  This was my third of three camping trips with each of the kids.  I have to say that my outdoorsy skills and confidence level has gotten more refined this summer.  I had no troubles finding the trail head, setting up camp, building a fire etc.

We wanted to hike to Jawbone Flats, a ghost town in the Opal Creek Forest. A brief history:  It is believed it was first inhabited by Native Americans and served as a summer camp for the Santiam Molalla Indians.  In 1859 miners arrived and discovered gold.  In 1930, miners built the Jawbone Flats mining camp and processed lead, zinc, copper and silver.  Various mining companies ran operations at Jawbone Flats until 1992 when all mining ceased.  The Opal Creek Wilderness and Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area were established in 1996 and is now enjoyed by many visitors throughout the year.

The little ghost town is technically not a ghost town because ten people live there.  Most of the permanent residents work for the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area.  The restored buildings are all from the 1930's.  There is lot of old mining equipment, vehicles, and mine shafts that were very interesting to look at.

The residents who live there (and they have rental cabins as well for visitors) live "off the grid" and use a Pelton wheel to produce most of their energy.

My older two kids play a lot of Minecraft and it was fun seeing this old mine train.

A quarter of a mile past Jawbone Flats is Opal Pool.  It is beautiful clear "opal colored' water.  Because it is from the mountains, the water is frigid cold.  It did not stop my son from swimming and even going underwater.  We liked climbing around the rocks.  It was restful and relaxing being in a unique picturesque place.  It reminds me how much I love the state of Oregon where we have been blessed to live the past 11 years.

We had to hike all the way back.  The hike is a little over 6 miles round trip.  It is mostly hiking along a gravel and rocky road with little inclines and declines.  It was not super strenuous.  But we were ready to be done by the time we made our way back to the trail head.

We decided to camp about 45 minutes away at the Santiam Flats National Forest Campground in Idanha just past Detroit.  The campground is small with about 25 sites and it was dead--probably one quarter of the way full.  I probably did not need to make a reservation.  Our camp site was only a few feet from the river.  I loved hearing the rapids as I fell asleep.

At the end of the campground, the river feeds into Detroit Lake.  It was calm enough (and warm enough too!) to swim.  If I would have known, I would have packed our inner tubes and rafts.  We still enjoyed swimming around in the water.

The downside of the campground is that it is super close to the road, but us city slickers do not seem as irritated by that.  Even with cars going along the 22 all the night and the fact I did not take a Melatonin plus I drank a Diet Mountain Dew at 8 PM--I still slept amazing!

On the way home we stopped at the Detroit Dam.  My son insisted walking the whole thing there and back (even with it getting hot and we were hungry for lunch!).  I think he has been to the dam before, but I am not sure he remembers it because he was pretty little.  We did not stop at it last year when we went to Bend.

After lunch at A&W in Stayton, we stopped near Aumsville to pick blueberries.  We had picked some before our trip to Washington DC/New York but we did not pick enough.  We have already polished off a bag.  It was getting hot (we are having a major heat wave this week and breaking record high temperatures) and we had to entrap ourselves in various bushes to get good blueberries.  We managed to get a lot. I was bummed the peach crop was over picked and I have to wait to get peaches--but the heat this week will ripen them quickly.

Doing these camping trips with each child this summer have been memorable.  Not only have I been able to explore new places in Oregon (which I love doing!) but I get to share it with them.  I have found myself having thoughtful conversations with each child I would not normally have if we were in a group.  I appreciate how God created each of my children in special and unique ways.  I see much of myself (and my dad!) in my son, but I also see other aspects of him that are different from me.  As with the girls.  

Last August I was so worn out with camping I packed up everything and did not want to see it again for a long time.  I am glad I do not feel that way this summer.  We are planning on going yurt camping in September with our church and then the camping items will go into storage until our next adventure.