I picked a random HDR to work out tonight just for the fun of it. This was taken last winter on the high desert plains of Oregon near an on-the-verge of ghost town called Dufur. We actually really enjoy Dufur even though it has an odd vibe about it. The Balch Hotel is there and it's one of the coolest hotels we've ever visited. Three floors, no elevator, half the electrical outlets are original installs from somewhere around 1910. But still, what a wonderful place to stay for a night or two!
So this particular structure is an old schoolhouse that has been abandoned for nearly 100 years. It took us hours to locate it too. It is, as you can tell from the surroundings, in the absolute middle of nowhere. The winter wind was blowing, the air was so dry you could feel your uncovered skin crack, but as far as we could tell there wasn't another human being within 30 minutes drive in any direction.
While the structure had been maintained by one or two caring folks over the years, the inner walls and internal structures had collapsed. The outside looked surprisingly strong though, which wasn't a big surprise. Many of the abandoned structures Beverly and I have come across in the Oregon desert are surprisingly well preserved. We attribute this consistently preserved nature to the incredibly low average humidity of the Oregon desert. Without the mold normally seen in the low lying river valleys west of Mt. Hood the wood stays healthy and strong for decades. Maintained or not, we abided by our policy to never enter these structures and happily explored the landscape in the bitter air.
One day we'll head on back to the plains, probably as soon as Autumn rushes by as it's threatening to do in Oregon this year. Once the colors leave the Gorge we'll head east to the nearly always colorless plains for even deeper exploration of Oregon's hidden past.
