Early Morning Walk in Sumpter

Matt and I traveled to Sumpter, Oregon to attend the wedding of Cindy, one of my friend's from high school.  The wedding took place at her family's cabin, which is pictured below.  Cindy and I stayed at the cabin for a few days in August 1993.  It has changed a bit since then.  Then:  no foundation, asbestos tile ceilings, very squeaky ancient beds.  Now:  new foundation, new metal roof, new tin ceilings, new...Well, pretty much everything.  The Clark Hilton is looking niiiiiiccccceee.
 

However, back in 1993, the cabin  in okay shape.  It wasn't as rickety as the house next door is today.  If you are interested, this brown house could be yours for $30,000.
 

Sumpter still has North and South parts of the town. Apparently Auburn, where the Clark Hilton is located is the dividing street.  Do you see those two white signs affixed to the pole?  They are real estate signs.  Pretty much everything in town is for sale.
 

Not this community church, though.
 

 

Here's the Elkhorn Saloon, where we had drinks on Friday night.
 

Sadly, a gentleman chose to drive his truck into the bar at a high speed. Matt and I had left the bar and had walked up the street, but  a lot of people from the wedding were still there.  No one was hurt, but it was rather dramatic and freaky.  Walking around in the daylight seven hours later, I was surprised to find that the bar had enough plywood handy to have so efficiently covered the hole.
 

Should you care to read it, here is a Prayer of the Woods.
 

And here is the sign maker.
 

An Antique Market.  There are several in Sumpter.
 

This is the museum and library.
 

A peek inside the Sumpter Stockade.
 

Which is for sale, should you care to get into the motel business.
 

Some people haven't built cabins, but have built structures to house their RVs.  Interesting.
 

I loved the contrast of the beautiful stained glass window, the peeling paint and missing porch step.
 

If you need some chainsaw carving, here's your guy.
 

I also was intrigued by this addition to the single-wide mobile home.  There was more than one example of this.
 

Wood carving for your viewing pleasure.
 

Big rigs need big roofs.
 

Walking back up the street, I caught some detail on the mobile home I missed the first time.
 

Wondering what the Sumpter Dredge looks like?  Here it is.  It has a state park of its very own.
 

I walked on the ATV trail for a bit.  Felt like a rebel.
 

More dredge.
 

I wanted to get back to the road from the ATV trail and climbed this stairway to heaven.
 

I mean, I was really walking into the light.
 

At the top of the stairway, I found not heaven, but a sign saying I the stairway was for park personnel only and other should stay off.  Also the sign below.
 

Back on the main drag, I captured this metal roof.
 

There's gold in them thar' hills!  Or, I guess there was gold in them thar hills.
 

Shiny!
 

Aside from the dredge, one can also ride the Sumpter Valley Railroad, at least on the weekends.
 

The train station.
 

This sign struck me as having a lot of unnecessary instruction.
 

The gift store was not open at this early hour.
 

Where should we keep this rusty old safe?  How about right here?  Sounds good!
 

This sidewalk also struck me as funny. I think the sign came first and the sidewalk had to bend around it.

So ended my walk.