anyon of the Northwest," those who know it call this stretch
of the Deschutes. Above, billowing back from the rim, is a great
golden-brown land of wheat fields, with a marvelous mountain westerly
skyline.

On the river's western flank, between it and the Cascade Range, is a
playland of beautiful pine timber, crystal lakes, and mountained
meadows, bounded on one hand by snow-capped peaks and on the other by
the broad plains that sweep eastward to Idaho.

One August we foregathered in this happy hunting ground with our canoe
and our grub, near the headwaters of the Deschutes, in the heart of a
region of sunshine, mountain prairie, glorious trees, and laughing
water. One hundred miles of liquid highway lay before us, and we envied
no one.

Crane Prairie is a broad mountain meadow, hemmed in by timbered
foothills that climb to the snow mountains, glimpsed here and there from
the prairie land. The Deschutes divides into three streams, each
meandering down from little lakes tucked away in the timber at the base
of the snow slopes that feed them. All around the prairie is a
delightful region intersected by trails, dotted with lakes and meadows;
altogether a pleasant place for ramblings, either on foot or horseback,
with fishing, hunting, and mountain climbing as tangible objectives.

The first stage of our outing was a stationary one, so far as the canoe
was concerned, for a week was devoted to expeditioning here and there
upon and around Crane Prairie. There was excellent fishing, and we saw
just enough of the trails and the mountains to realize something of
their possibilities.

Then one morning, before the sunlight had filtered over the hills and
down through the pine boughs, we launched the _Long Green_, our canoe
which had made the transcontinental trip from Oldtown, Maine, and
started it upon a more venturesome, if less lengthy trip. Ours, by the
way, was an equal suffrage outing. Its feminine better-half paddled as
strenuously, cast a fly as optimistically, and "flipped" hot cakes as
diligently as did the male member. Altogether, she demonstrated beyond a
doubt that the enjoyment of an Oregon canoe trip need not depend upon
one's sex or previous condition of servitude.

[Illustration: Canoeing and duck shooting may be combined on the
Deschutes]

[Illustration: On a backwater of the Deschutes]

Comfortable canoeing is the most entirely satisfying method of travel
extant. It is noiseless, it is easy, and there i