East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-09-19

Ia ms IKE climate is much drier and
The saiamers shorter. In consequence
the timber is. more open. and western
yellow pine replaces Douglas fir as the
chief commercial tree. la 4
Crater National Forest
The crater National Forest Is In
two principal separate tracts. aggre-
eating 7as.6Ss acres. The larger I'M
chpdes the southern slope of the ump-
qua Range and the southern end of the
Cascade Range, the other is in the
Siskiyou Mountains. Most of the For
est is in jackson and klamath Coun-
ties, Greg, but there are small por-
tions In Douglas and Josephine Coun-
ties, and the Siskiyou portion extends
into Sskiyou County. Calf. The Cas-
cade portion is broad timbered
plateau region. broken by many buttes,
peakes. and canyons; the Siskiyou
part is still more broken, with steep.
narrow ridges. abrupt peaks, and deep
canyons. Mount McLoushlin, n SYM
metrical pyramidal peak over 5000
feet in elevation. has snow on its
northern face the year round. Aspen
Butte and Mount Thielsen are over
5000 feet high. and several others,
including Mount Ashland and wag-
ner Butte. are between 1000 and 5000
feet in elevation.
The east slope of the Cascade por-
tion is drained by several relatively
short and turbulent streams to Kla-
math Lake and klamath River; most
of the West shope is drained by Ro-
que River and its tributaries: and the
Siskiyou portion comprises the upper
watershed of Ashland Creek and Ap-
plegater River. Most of the streams
flew through narrow canyons. Many
on the Cascade Plateau. however.
flow through shallow, gullies. There
are benches. valleys, aud broad ridges
that can be travelled long distances
without any steep grades.
The traveller through the Crater
Forest will meet five broad forest
types; Lellow pine, lodgepole inc,
Douglas fir, white fir. and subalpine.
Below 5000 feet on the east side the
yellow pine predominates. Douglas
fir, white fir, and other species blend
with the yellow pine. The lodgepole
pine forest lies at high elevations and
is an almost impenetrable thicket
poles. Fortunately for the campen
and hunter these thickets are not
very extensive. In the subalpine for
est of fir and hemlock there if often
no underbrush except blueberry BUSH
es and similar low shrubs. Travel
through this type and the open yellow
pine forest is comparatively easy, even
off the trails. However. there are
areas, sometimes of large extent, on
which fire has destroyed or thfnned
the forest and which now support "a
dense stand of brush, through which
travel is very difficult.
Feed for saddle and pack horses is
fairly abundant, but scattered. There
is a limited amount of wild pea, lu-
inc, and similar forage. Most of the
grass is located in natural meadows
and glades and small openings in the
timber. In the heavy fir forests, al
medium elevations, there is no forage
early in the season.
There is more or less fishing in
nearly al 1.-The streams. Some of the
lakes are locally famous for fishing.
Others have recently been stocked,
and some are as yet devoid of fish
Deer hunting is fairly good. In the
high mountains the natural scenery
of peaks, lakes, rivers, and forest Is
beautiful and sometimes impressively
grand
The entire foothill region and part
of the higher mountain regions may