The San Francisco call., 1913-10-04

BUICK MAKES
NORTHERN ].
I RIP
c. A. McGee Speaks on His
Trip From San Francisco
to Portland

Grand beyond the possibility of del
scription is what c. A. McGee of theI
Howard Automobile company, who hasI
just returned from the north with ths|
sdttle model ..24- Buick. which madeI
the run from San Francisco to Port-|
lowering the road record between the|
two cities more than II hours, has to|
say of Crater lake and the country
surrounding it. McGee followed theI
Pacific highway as far south as Med
ford. Ore. Leaving it at that place.
he drove his little Buick northeast toI
Crater lake, then nearly south tol
klamath Falls and then southwest to|
Ager. Cal, at which point the Pacificl
highway was again encountered and|
followed south to San Francisco.
In speaking of this trip south Mel
Gee has the following to say: "ThereI
is plenty of information available rel
garding the Pacific highway. This
route is very clearly marked with
distinctive road signs from Redding|
north, and there seems to be a united|
effort being made by most OF the
counties in both California and Ore
gon to get this highway in at least
passable shape, and the improvements
on 1t are noticeable from month to|
month, there being many improve-
ments since Fred Gross and I drove
the No. Buick truck to Portland in
record time last July.
I'm returning from the north II
made a detour to the east, leaving the
Pacific highway between the towns of
Medford, Ore, and Hit. Cal. This
detour, which adds about $50 miles to
the trip between San Francisco and
Portland, is very little known ar
present, but owing to the beautifui
scenery through which it passes tt -
sure to be one of the popular automo-
bile routes of the future.
From Medford the road followed
leads north through Rogue River val
ley to Eagle point. Here the foot
hills country is entered and the next
few miles are not particularly inter
esting. This open country, which Is
covered with small trees and shrubs.
soon changes to more rugged noun
tains and larger trees. In fact. tho
motorist on this trip drives through
the largest forest of yellow pine now
in existence About % miles from
Medford the Rogue river is crossed
and a very good road follows the
north bank of this stream to the
little mountain town of Prospect
The first intimation that one has
that they are approaching town IS
a sign nailed to big pine tree, warn
ing automobolists TO travel through
the city of Prospect at not more
than 10 miles per hour. The city OF
Prospect, we discovered later, con-
sists of about six houses, most OF
them unpainted.
At Prospect the Rogue river is
crossed and from there on to It's head
waters the road follows near the
south bank.
The next stopping place is Camp
Arants This is five miles from the
rim of Crater lake, and up to this
point the roads and grades are such
that any modern automobile with good
clearance can make the trip without
difficulty. In fact, the little 28 horse
power Buick / was driving ran most
of the distance between Medford and
Arants Camp on high gear, and there
was not more than mile of low gear
in the entire a miles separating the
two places
The roads are dusty and in some
places rough. The scenery is such.
however, that one should be perfectly
content with speed of 10 miles an
hour, and at that speed the trip will
be enjoyed by any one who enjoys
seeing nature in the original.
Those desiring TO camp will find
ideal camping spots every few miles,
and we were advised that the fishing
was all that could be asked for.
Arants Camp is several miles IN
side the Crater lake national park.
and the park superintendent's office
is located at this place. Upon pay
ment of 81, which the government
charges for allowing automobiles to
drive through this park, the super
intendent issues permit which must
be shown upon demand as long as the
automobile is within the park bound
aries.
The hardest climb, in fact the only
grade that will cause trouble to the
average automobile, Is encountered
one mile from Crater Lake lodge,
which Is built on the rim surrounding
the lake. This grade is between a
half and three quarters of mile
long and good part of 1T has a
grade between 80 and 80 per cent
Most machines are left at the bottom
of this grade and the last mile is
made on foot.
The little Buick which I was driv-
ing made the round trip to Portland
with practically no mechanical at
tention, and there was San Francisco
air in five of the six Goodyear No
Rim Cut Tires" upon it's return here