Larry's Land Monoc Forest

Living on Larry's land right now. A rural Oregon version of my Sacele, Romania story from decades ago. By that I mean how we got here is not unlike how I and three graduate students from Michigan ended up in one of our most memorable destinations by baling out on our train ride at the insistence of a stranger we met in our cabin. 

Willingness to risk a little and trust - that is what led us to Larry. First it was Lily Lake we went searching out in terrain far beyond the Volvo 850's capacity. It is a dirt road and the sign says six miles. How bad could it be? At first it seems fine, a bit rough, but then round about mile three the scale of the gravel shifts to rocks and the incline increasingly steeper. As we climb, the drop to our right grows. My hands are sweating, holding the steering wheel, but it cannot be much further. The young kid at a gas station in Lakeview told us about this place. He was sure there was camping there. The higher we get, the softer the ground and of course, the more likely death would result with any miscues in steering. I cannot bring myself to veer too far to that cliff edge despite its offer of slightly drier ground. Leila gets out to direct: we're mired in mud, but comfortably hugging the inner mountain wall. It is only half a mile further - thirty minutes in and now determination sets in - got to make it. The sun is slowly setting, we are both ready to establish another home. Then we hit the snow. Snow so deep, that it terminates our climb. Leila walks the rest of the way to find the elusive Lily Lake. No camping after all. A multipoint turn and there is no choice but to roll back down and seek another destination. Disappointment now mixed with thankfulness of escape, we glide until we see Larry. 

Larry and his family own 676 acres in this spectacular vertical forest and he invites us to camp on the land right by a clear rushing creek from which he says we can drink. "Hold on a minute, let me grab a beer and I will take you to your spot. I have just the place for you. You can stay til June 21st if you want to." We pitch our tent right beside the creek as Larry suggests. Wine, cheese, olives, beef jerky, we share all we have with Larry and hang out as we establish our new place. An amazing stroke of luck, now we are really out in the wild - no toilets, no rules, just us on the land.