The Barlow Road

lining up the 2007 model of the covered wagon on the old Barlow Road
On Sunday, Meg and I met up with a group of four other FJs to drive part of the historic Barlow Road. For a while, the end of the Oregon Trail was at The Dalles. From there, the settlers had to forgo a perilous journey through crazy rapids to get to Fort Vancouver and Oregon City. When the Barlow Road opened over the South side of Mt. Hood, it gave the settlers an option for a perilous journey over steep mountains. But, it was a much cheaper perilous journey...

For us, there is a fairly long section of the old Barlow Road that is unmaintained and in "primitive" condition. This part of the road is essentially how the settlers saw it back in the late 1800's. We just had a heater, MP3 player and reliable brakes. More pictures here.