Today, on the way home from LaGrande, OR I took a detour on the way home. I stopped at the Blue Mountain Crossing Oregon Trail Interpretive park. It's about 10 miles round trip from the highway. It's one of those spots that makes living in Eastern Oregon so cool. It's history, it's accessible and it's in a beautiful location. I was really looking forward to checking out the flowers, taking some pictures and seeing if I really could see wagon ruts. I'm still skeptical that you can actually see where the pioneers came in - after 100+ years.
This spot's right near Spring Creek West of LaGrande. You hop off 84 and follow the two-lane down and under the highway. You go about 2 miles and then there's the entry station. It's $5.00. It goes to the parks. It's worth it. It's an honor system and I'm honorable.
Anyway, after you hit the fee station, there's another 2 1/2 mile windy drive up to the actual park area. By the time I got there, I had to pee. Honestly I had to pee before I left LaGrande, so I was really needing to pee by the time I got there. I bee-lined for the restrooms and took the space right next to the Handicap spot so I could make quick to the restroom. I hopped out and didn't even roll up the windows and lock the doors because there wasn't another car in the entire parking lot.
So, I get back to the car and leash up Nell, roll up the windows and grab my camera, lock the doors and we take off. We head up the path through the picnic area (not on the grass) and heading to the interpretive trail sign, that's on the other side. I scouted it on the way back from the bathroom. There wasn't another path to the sign, and I did't see any other way onto the trail.
I'm about 40 feet from the car when I hear this man's voice yelling at me -- not like "Hey, how ya doing" yelling, but angry yelling...So I turn around to figure out what's going on and the guy's yelling at me still and walking toward me. He yells at me "No dogs allowed in the park" and I reply with "I'm headin to the trail, is there another way?" He says "No Dogs allowed". So I say, "In the ENTIRE PARK?" and he says "YES", and I said "I didn't see that it was posted anywhere at the entrance and I haven't seen it anywhere up here, is it in writing somewhere?" and he points towards a sign that was about 40 feet in front of me. I can only see the back of the sign, not any writing. I had no idea what it said.
So, I walk to the other side of the sign, and the guy about has a coronary as I walk off the path and onto the greenery. Seriously. I felt like I had just walked my dog across one of those little old people's yards in a retirement community. Really, I speak from experience. It was like a flashback of the days when Mamu lived in Heather Ridge in Aurora. Those old people and their grass, they didn't even want you walking on it barefoot.
So, I've still got Nell on the leash & I veer off the path towards the sign so I can read it. It says "NO PETS" under the "PICNIC" sign, which isn't unusual. I look around, there's no other way to get to the main trailhead. So I keep walking to the car, as this guy's coming at me and still yelling "No PETS" at me. Honestly, I don't think it would have mattered at all what I said, the guy wasn't going to listen to me.
Anyway, I tell the guy nicely that the sign says "no pets" for the picnic area, not for the park. Then I go on to tell him that there wasn't anything at the entry that indicated pets weren't allowed. At this point, the giant assholic man is IN MY FACE and his finger is about 3" from my nose and he's still yelling. I thought he was going to assault me, and it kind of freaked me out. So, I raised my voice at him as I was putting Nell in the car. I tried to explain to him that I was on publicly funded grounds and it was discrimination and ridiculous.
Anyway, the guy was an absolute and total asshole and the bottom line is that he absolutely harshed on my day. All I wanted was a nice, relaxing hike in the mountains on a trail where I'd feel safe with my dog. I was even willing to leave her on the leash and have her jerk on my arm the entire time.
The camp host is supposed to provide a sense of security and friendliness. They're supposed to be the welcome wagon of nature and their attraction. They're the ones who tell you where the fawns were, what flowers are in bloom and how fantastic it is to have the opportunity to live in a piece of history. They are stewards and hosts. This guy wasn't.
He was a mean, old, angry and unfriendly man. He was a troll. A troglodyte. Unibrowed, I'm sure of it. He looked like he'd been up there gathering firewood and had already staked out his own little section of the forest. Since the place had set hours that it was open & closed, I don't think there's camping up there. Why would there be a camp host at a place that doesn't allow camping?
I certainly won't be like him when I grow up. So, I tell him that I don't appreciate the tone of voice that he's using with me and I don't appreciate how he's talking to me...and I can feel the tears coming on. He sticks his finger in my face again and replies "GOOD" with a jab. Then he continues to rant on about how NOW PETS are allowed in the park.
At this point, my blood is literally boiling. I'm putting Nell in the car and I'm getting in myself. He was still yelling at me while I was getting in the car. I let a few "f" bombs go and told the guy to go to hell several times and then left. "Fuck you, you old fucker. Go to hell." It was the best I could come up with. And my voice was probably really shrill and on the verge of tears. Yeah, I was lame.
1/2 an hour off the beaten path
15 total out of the way miles
Five Bucks
Still haven't seen the Oregon Trail.
I called the District Forest Servic office. You bet I did. I apologized for the fact that I used profanity, and then explained to them exactly what occurred. I didn't want anything free, but just wanted to point out that I spent $5.00 to get into the park, drove 15 miles out of my way to check it out and was absolutely offended and taken aback by how the camp host acted and the overall experience. What a disappointment, what a way to ruin a day. Dude.
I had a brief vision of me being dragged off in handcuffs by the OSP or Forest Service for failing to obey the rules, because I almost went back and refused to let "The Man" harsh on my day, my hike and my confused dog that thought she was going to go on a hike but really just got out of the car and then back in the car. It would've been better if the dog-owners of the world would unite and have a nice picnic at the park, wouldn't it?
Bet you didn't know that the the USDA Forest Services' logo is "Caring for the land and serving the people", did you? I'm thinking that Horrible Host up there is taking it to the extreme and forgetting why that land exists in the first place. It's there for US. All of us. I wonder how many other people have had my same experience with this guy and just haven't contacted anyone about it.
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