Athena Caledonian Games 2016 and Steptoe Butte

**Blupiper** · 16th July 16, 11:39 AM

This last Saturday (July 9th) was my annual visit to The Caledonian Games in Athena, Oregon. I hadn't planned to compete this year, but a late request by the organizer convinced me to make the trip. I got on the road at 5 AM to make the drive (played a memorial service the night before--perhaps more on that later.) I arrived and got set up, played and thought, OK, that's that. The placings were announced and I received a surprise:

I swept in the march, slow air and open piobaireachd! That's me with the Fire Chief in the beer tent afterward, showing my swag. I guess the secret is to not hold any expectations, simply go out and play and I found I was much looser and more relaxed. If only I could bottle that attitude; I could make a fortune. The Fire Department in Athena ran the beer tent, featuring two offerings from Prodigal Son Brewing out of Pendleton. They poured a nice, honest beer, well worth supporting them and the Games. Here's the porter:

Unusual for the Athena Games was the weather. Normally the skies are cloudless and the temperature is between 95 and 105 degrees F. Saturday, though, the temps were 65-75 degrees with a few sprinkles of rain. A pleasant change. I watched the heavies throw some, the pipe bands perform and a local celtic group, Squeeze the Weezle, perform. They have a guy on smallpipes and border pipes who was quite good. A trip to the beer tent and some haggis (don't worry, OC Richard, the pulled pork sandwich vendor is still there) rounded out the day.

The next day on the way home, I stopped at Steptoe Butte. It's a 400 million year old quartzite intrusion that is poking up through the 20 million year old basaltic lava flows and the loess deposits from the Ice Age. It stands a little over 1000 feet above the Palouse, the surrounding rolling farmland. It's now part of a state park. Here it is from the park entrance:

A view up top:

I thought I would go up and play my pipes, but at the top, the temp was 50 degrees F and the winds were blowing about 25 miles per hour, so I decided to save my hands from becoming popsicles. The way up and down is a rough road barely wide enough for two cars to pass one another. Here is a photo of the road's verge:

That's right: no guard rail and a nearly vertical drop down to the farm fields below. I took my time and am here to tell the tale.

All said, it was a pleasant and rewarding weekend at one of my favorite Highland Games in the Pacific Northwest.

JMB