EDITOR’S NOTE: Laura Sinclair McShane has been sharing her descriptive road reports on Hwy. 6 for over a year now on the Facebook Group page Highway 6 Road Reports (aka Danger Mountain) AND concerns. I admit – I’m a follower. Her wonderful delight in her daily (dangerous) commute, honest assessments of situations and observations are insightful and helpful especially as we navigate the issues of improved safety on Hwy. 6 (and other local highways as well.) There are signs – reader boards, and a police presence that hopefully will make a difference. A town hall community meeting is in the planning stages and we will let you know about that as soon as details are finalized. There was another accident near the Gales Creek Shell Station yesterday, August 4th that resulted in only minor injuries. Even with the increased police presence there are still reports of dangerous driving.
By Laura Sinclair McShane, from Safety on the Six
I actually just drove in from Gresham, but let’s concentrate on the important pieces.
I enter 26 at the juncture of 217. It’s 1640 and 104 degrees. Traffic isn’t as bad as I was afraid it would be. Fields are green and gold, and the sky is an odd grey-blue–likely an inversion of smoke and other pollutants.
At the turn off for highway six, I almost immediately catch someone trying to climb right up my chuff, so I take advantage of where the berry stand sometimes sits. I pull off the road and start a new podcast.
Traffic is relatively sparse for summer and I presume that this is due to today being Wednesday. Most people are driving at sedate speeds in the 50-60 mph range.
At the top of Apolloni Hill an ambulance and the sheriff’s prison transport bus are parked on the West side and they appear to be assisting a prisoner who I presume has succumbed to the heat. The other inmates are hovering anxiously and EMTs and sheriff staff are on their knees taking care of the poor sod. It’s still 98 degrees.
I stop briefly to snap a couple shots of the signs at the approach to the summit. I forget who asked for them (Me!). The sun is in my face so I hold up my phone and hope for the best. I’ll add the pics in just a few minutes.
Near Gales Creek I wave to a cop parked in the shade. It’s nice to see them out a bit more and I hope this isn’t a passing fancy on the part of the state.
At King’s Mountain I make my usual stop and try to get another podcast going, but instead my phone starts giving me one or two static laden lines from random ones I’ve never heard of, then switching to another and yet another. It’s pretty damned distracting, so I guess I’ll commune with nature (which is looking horribly dry and brown) instead. The sun flashing in and out of the shade hurts my eyes and gives me a headache–not my favorite time to drive.
God, but it’s dry. As much as I hate rain, I promise to keep my whining to a minimum if we ever get any of the wet stuff.
Finally come up by Misty River and double honk my horn to say “hi” to Michael and everyone there. The only bad behaviour I see is up on Tillamook Flats where two cars turning from Wilson River into the Eastbound lane drive right out in front of me. I’m the only car in the Westbound lane and I find this sort of stuff quite irritating. There is a dead doe laying on the side of the road–so sad. Deer are so sweet.
Make it home to find that Jeff has finished the catio! Woot woot!