"Oh, I Have Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth..."

"...Put out my hand, and touched the face of god."

Last week, I drove to Madras, OR to perform an inspection of the scene of a traffic accident.. The collision occurred on highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, in the treacherous and unnerving twists and turns of the highway as it climbs out of the Willamette Valley, headed towards the High Desert of Central Oregon.

The highway features no shoulder on either side, opting for a direct drop of about 3,000 feet on one side and the impressive presence of a sheer rock face on the other, only about three feet from the edge of the road. The highway twists and turns and grades up and down, until I found myself at the location of the collision, mile marker 110.

Immediately off on my right side, I found a very convenient turn off where I could park and have plenty of room to do my investigation. I was measuring this, photographing that and generally trying to figure out what the heck happened (and debating whether to pee in that empty Mountain Dew bottle) when I turned around and saw this.



Now you just try and tell my I don’t live in god’s own country.

For a boy from the flatlands of Louisiana, it still amazes me that the Earth is capable of such things.

From my house, If I head west, in 2 ½ hours, I’ll be on the beach. If I head southeast, in one hour I’ll be in the mountains. If I go a little further, I’ll be in the desert.

I would like to officially tender an open invitation to anyone interested in seeing this beauty first-hand. You get your ass up here, and I’ll take you to Highway 26 Westbound at mile marker 110 and let you gaze upon the wonder of Mount Hood, as seen from the south side.

I would also be willing to do it in exchange for some skiing lessons.