Oregon-California Trails Association

Longtime OCTA members Muriel and Gail Carbiener were recently interviewed for Bend Lifestyle Magazine:

"In 1993, 57-year old Muriel Carbiener stepped out of her vehicle and into the Eastern Oregon sagebrush. “You want me to hike in THIS?” she asked her husband Gail Carbiener, then 59. The trust earned over their 36 years of marriage won Gail the privilege of introducing his wife to the “ruts”. The ruts are, in this case, the indentations in the earth made by the wheels of the covered wagons passing through on their way from Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley along the Oregon Trail over 150 years ago.

"Fast forward 33 years later and spry 90-year-old Muriel still fights back tears thinking about it. “I understood immediately that I was standing where thousands of people who had walked all the way from Missouri had been. They didn’t ride in the wagons, you know. Those were for supplies. They walked.” Gail, a lifelong hiker and tireless advocate for the preservation of the Oregon Trail and other natural spaces added, “The Oregon Trail is special. Walking in the footsteps of emigrants, hiking in ruts in 90-degree weather, you feel it.”

"With this special perspective in mind, the Carbieners, official “Rut Nuts”, recommend a few places for you and your family to explore with Oregon Trail education in mind."

Read the full story at https://citylifestyle.com/articles/in-a-rut