August 15, 2007: Oregon End Table, Harney County, OR: We are headed due south on Rincon Creek road. Instead of driving into Nevada to connect with US 140 then exiting to the north on Long Draw road we elected to use a shortcut, one of those thin red line roads, indicated on our “Oregon Road and Recreation Atlas” that we use to navigate. If you look closely at the map you will see the route near the 42nd parallel just north of the Oregon/Nevada border. We had been on this road before and knew what to expect. We do not recommend this route except to 4WD vehicles. We use low range and second gear. The road is mostly hard rock so traction is good and our Dodge diesel has plenty of power for hill climbing. This time we were going downhill instead of up but the principle is the same. In second gear low range I don’t have to ride the brakes, saving wear, tear, and possible failure from overheating.
tbc…
