From the little cairn on Peak 1443, I descended to the boundary fence line and followed the barbed wire, which is down in several places, to Gooseneck Gully. It’s a rugged 500-foot drop to the bottom of the gully, where the stream was still trickling, and then a 600-foot ascent to the plateau again. The carved amphitheater of Gooseneck Falls might be a worthy destination some day.
Once up top again, I got excellent views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams past the windmills and power pylons. Then I followed the old jeep track along the crest of the Gooseneck peninsula, getting views of the river upstream and downstream. From the last little rise at the end of the Gooseneck, I followed the crest down, getting clear views to the Lost Corral tucked below its shady cliff at the mouth of Esau Canyon. There are cliffs at the end of the Gooseneck, so I cut down, dropping down the south slope of the east ridge, to reach the Pinnacles Trail.
Two hundred yards to my left, I could see the seasonal closure barrier (February through August) at the Gooseneck cliffs, so I went over to take a closer look. This is about three miles from the kiosk at the beginning of the Pinnacles Trail. (The golden eagles actually nest about a mile downriver from the barrier.)
Then it was the level hike along the old farm track, with the dark maw of Rattlesnake Canyon across the John Day. I took the Lower Walnut Trail, which runs right along the John Day in spots, and rejoined the Pinnacles Trail at the big walnut tree. This gnarly old denizen, perhaps planted over a hundred years ago by a rancher, is not leafing out yet and neither are the hackberries that are common here. However, the golden currant was beginning to bloom.
Passing below the last cliffs, I got to thinking that I had not seen the expected bighorn sheep when, lo and behold, I spotted a small family group up Gooseneck Gully. Up on the skyline, there were a few more. At the kiosk that marks the beginning of the Pinnacles Trail, a post mentions a cougar-killed sheep four miles downriver.
