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Deschutes National Forest
Oregon
The Deschutes, in southern Oregon, derives its name from a corruption of the French Riviere des Chutes which means River of Falls. Early French explorers and trappers followed a wild river of waterfalls into a primeval forest of ancient ponderosa pine, shield-shaped volcanoes, and deep into the labyrinth of abysmal glacial-carved canyons. Today, urban mountain men and women pursue an echo of that elusive shrill that Jack London famously described as the call of the wild. Rock climbers strategically tether themselves to sheer volcanic cliff walls as they crawl vertically like spiders. Daredevil kayakers and rafters dare to plummet down the Deschutes River and its rapid-fire succession of Class IV and V whitewater and harrowing do-or-die waterfalls. Anglers, like modern-day gladiators clad in rubber waders and wielding fly rods, descend into calmer sections of the Deschutes to do battle with steelhead, kokanee, whitefish, rainbow, brown, and bull trout. Spelunkers can explore the abundant caves in the region, including the Edison Ice Cave and the Arnold Ice Cave.
The forest was part of the Cascade Forest Reserve established in 1897, later emerging as the autonomous Deschutes National Forest in 1908. It covers an area of some 1.85-million acres of land, making the forest twice as large as the state of Rhode Island. Archaeologists have discovered evidence that the forest has been inhabited for some 9,000 years.
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