Buffalo Pitts Steam Tractor Hike

 

1889 BUFFALO PITTS STEAM TRACTOR HIKE

Not a trail head, an Ag museum

between the gap, Union Gap--

start at the dump rake, sit

on rusty steel seat taking a portrait of my son,

50, standing behind me

up from eastern Sierras.

Drier than that here

with no lakes. Dry

and up with cheat grass

and just enough

switchbacks to lock

my knees in the heel-

toe climb. Take water.

At just under a mile.

Some of this is uphill.

Joke without a smile.

See these slides out there

straight ahead into Selah,

son asks father,,

raised here in mountains

and to mountains there,

showing me our valley.

Drought-sage-dry Yakima,

feminine hills beauty sensuous

and gold, pale-bleached vistas

to fence posts, barbed wire,

and power lines. What

are these I ask, these

cement-tight-and-roofed

structures square

with no windows. Enclosures

with a satellite dish. Telephone

telling us KATS FM, KIMA,

local tv stations,

                            Space--

hill top a mile-and-a-half high

an overlook

Two Gala apples fresh-picked

Yakima orchard crisp

            What did you do

            with your core?

            Gave it to the scorched earth.

Crunchy peanut butter, frozen

blackberry jam sandwiches

Both sides of Union Gap

No mountains but I saw

that cloud coming from fire--

What I try and look for,

evidence not from the research of others.

Jim Bodeen

1 September 2021