Added July 2024: … A Satellite View Of The Crooked River Valley, And Road FROM Prineville. Oregon, TO Prineville Junction, Oregon.
…This Is Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway) From Prineville, Oregon, Which MUST Be The Road West, Which Author Robert Pirsig Followed In 1968.

The ZMM Narrator Says =>
….“We arrive in Prineville Junction with only a few hours of daylight left. We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, …. ”.
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EXPLANATION =>
… The Above Satellite View Shows The Valley Of The Crooked River, And Looking Closely At The Pinpoint, You Can See A Road, Which Is Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway): This Road Connects US-26 In Prineville, Oregon (Seen Lower Right) > TO > US-97 Seen Lower Left (At “Full Circle Farms).
…As You Will Learn (In Forthcoming Photos), Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), MUST Be The Road Which Author Robert Pirsig, Would Have Followed In 1968: This Is The Only Backcountry, & Effective & ZMM Quality “Way” To Go From US-26 In Prineville, Oregon, > TO > To A Place That Author Robert Pirsig Called “Prineville Junction”

…This Place “Prineville Junction”, In Reality, Is Not A Town, But Merely & Only, The Location Of A RR Junction Of => The Prineville Railroad, To The Main North-South Santa Fe Railroad, Which You Will Eventually See In A Panorama Photo, Forthcoming.

…Click Here To Bring Up The /\Above/\ Satellite View, And Do Your Own ClickDrag To Explore => The Valley Of The Crooked River: Obviously Wide, Flat, And Fertile, Agriculture Productive, Valley, Especially With Easily Available Irrigation Water From The Crooked River. .

File = ScrnCaptGoogSatt CrookedRiverValleyWideFlatFertile AtPinPtRt370O’NeilHighway

Monday, July 22, 2024: … A First General Panorama View Along Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), Which MUST Be The Road Which Author Robert Pirsig Followed In 1968, We See A Panorama View Of The Valley Of The Crooked River:
… Obviously A Wide, Flat, Valley, That Is Fertile and Agriculturally Productive, Especially With Easily Available Irrigation Water From The Crooked River!
…And It May Be Irrigation Water Seen In The Ditch.

…It is said that the Crooked River got its name from being “crooked”. And although the Crooked River does much meandering both South & West of Prineville, Oregon, its ”crookedness” is hardly more than most rivers.
…Many rivers are named “crooked”, such as Crooked River (Florida), Crooked River (Georgia), Crooked River (Idaho), Crooked River (Maine), Crooked River (Machias River), but again these rivers can’t be much different from most other rivers, crooked or otherwise,

… For This Oregon Crooked River, Wikipedia Has 5 Good Photos, 2 Of Which Are Dramatic, Plus Much Good Information About History, Native Fish & How Electrical Power Plants Ruined Fish There. Click Here.

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Monday, July 22, 2024: …A Close-Up Of Vegetation Along Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway). You Can Also See What May Be Irrigation Water In The Ditch.
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In The Scenic Crooked River Valley. … Click Here to see Google Street View of River, on West side of Prineville, Oregon..

…NOTE1: Using Google Street View (GSV), To Access And Then “Drive” Rt-370 Wast, And View The Crooked River Valley.
… First Click On The /\Above/\ Blue link, AFTER the above Blue Link comes up, you will see a Google Street View (GSV) of the Crooked River Valley, on West side of Prineville, Oregon, seen from atop the bridge, looking Southeast over the river, back toward Prineville.
… In this GSV, you may 1) ClickDeag the screen so you rotate the view so you see the highway at the RIGHT. 2) Click-on the highway to move forward, and off the bridge, 3) Keep clicking, until you are opposite the right turn off-ramp. 4) ClickDeag the screen so you rotate the view so you see the off ramp. 5) You can many times, Click on this Highway, and “GSV Drive” west on Rt-370 to see what this Scenic ZMM Route here looks like.
… In The Crooked River Valley, you will see a wide flat valley with distant hills on both sides. This valley has moisture and irrigation water from the river, and thus is greener than other highland areas of Central Oregon.
… Some places you will see the highway and Prineville Railroad run side by side, and several other places the highway crosses over the tracks.

NOTE2:
…. In going FROM Prineville, Oregon TO Prineville Junction, Oregon => Both Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), AND the City of Prineville Railroad, travel in Crooked River Valley.
…Leaving Prineville, Oregon, the railroad goes NW approximately a mile North of the highway, but the river, highway, and railroad become quite close in going through the town of O’Neil Oregon, and continuing side by side going West for ~3 miles. The rest of the way to Prineville Junction, OR they remain not too far separated.

NOTE3:
…. Since the Narrator (and Robert Pirsig in July 1968) must have traveled this Rt-370 Highway, it necessarily becomes “The ZMM Route”: And rightly so, since it is a narrower, slower, less traffic, less populated, & more scenic route. In other words => A Higher ZMM Quality Highway And Travel Experience!
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Monday, July 22, 2024: … Seen In This Photo => ..An Old Horizontal Volcanic Lava Formation:
…Which, In Creating This Crooked River Valley, The River Has Cut Down Thru It.
…..This Formation, Is Especially Interesting, Because The Once Molten Lava, As It Cooled, Made (As You Can See Looking Closely At Small Lower Part), Vertical Columns, Which Are Called “Devil’s Post Piles”.
These So-Called “Devil’s Post Piles”, Are Most Noteworthy, And May Be Seen At =>
…A) The Dry Stone Garden WebPage Has Explanation And 12 Good Photos. Click Here.
…B) The Devils Postpile National Monument, a U.S. National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain in Eastern California. To See Wikipedia Article, Map, And 4 Photos, Click Here.
…Other Ancient Volcanic Lava Formations Are Seen All Over Oregon State, And Southern Washington State. See NEXT Photo For More Detailed Information.
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… But, As ALSO Seen In This /\Above/\ Photo, Henry Gurr’s Brother Philip Gurr, Spotted The Quite Unusual One Million Volt, Direct Current Electrical Power Transmission Line, Having Only TWO Sets Of Main Wires. This Is Quite Different From Usual Alternating Current Electrical Power Transmission Line, Having THREE Sets Of Main Wires.

……Philip Went On To Say This Is Likely The DC Power Line, Bringing Lower Cost Power FROM The Grand Coulee Dam On The Columbia River TO Los Angeles, a distance of 1200 miles!. Click Here.

…Since Philip Had Extensively Worked At The Sylmar Converter Station” Click Here. , Which Is Located At The Los Angeles End Of This Extremely High Voltage Direct Current Electrical Power Transmission Line. He Can Spot Them Instantly!

…Please Know That This “Converter Station’s”, Purpose, is to convert the One Million Volt, Direct Current Electrical Power, into the usual Alternating Current Electrical Power, for distribution around Los Angelus.

EXPLANATION:
…Alternating Current (AC) Electrical Power is nearly always is used for modern electrical power, This is because AC Power can use Transformers to raise the voltage, and reduce current and thus reduce wire resistance losses tor long distance transmission. … Also THREE Phase AC Power, is very wonderfully effective for star-up of Electrical Motors, particularly very large motors.
,,,Thus for a variety of good reasons (including sentence above), AC Power uses THREE-Phases, on THREE larger equal size wires, AND if you see three equal sized current carrying power wires, then this is almost certainly AC Power.
. By contrast, if you see only TWO equal sized main current carrying power wires, then this is likely DC Power. And this is what you see in above photo, with the understanding that each of the two current carrying power wires, happen to be made up with two close- by parallel wires, both at the same voltage: Which in this case, a Positive 500,000 Volts on one side and a Negative 500,000 Volts, on other side, making this a One Million Volt DC Electrical Power Transmission Line!!!

Please Know That The REASON For Making This A TWO WIRE Direct Current One Million Volt DC Electrical Power Transmission Line, Is To Save The Considerable Cost Of The THIRD WIRE, Which Is Required In Alternating Current Transmission Lines.

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Monday, July 22, 2024: … A Second General Panorama View Of The Valley Of The Crooked River: The Big Stack Of Hay (Or Straw) Shows How This Wide, Flat, Valley, Is Fertile and Agriculturally Productive.

From Wikipedia More Information About => Ancient Volcanic Lava Formations Are Seen All Over Oregon State, And Southern Washington State.
Formation.
…Sometime during a 10–15 million-year period, lava flow after lava flow poured out of multiple dikes which trace along an old fault line running from south-eastern Oregon through to western British Columbia.[citation needed] The many layers of lava eventually reached a thickness of more than 1.8 km (5,900 ft). As the molten rock came to the surface, the Earth's crust gradually sank into the space left by the rising lava. This subsidence of the crust produced a large, slightly depressed lava plain now known as the Columbia Basin or Columbia River Plateau. The northwesterly advancing lava forced the ancient Columbia River into its present course. The lava, as it flowed over the area, first filled the stream valleys, forming dams that in turn caused impoundments or lakes. In these ancient lake beds are found fossil leaf impressions, petrified wood, fossil insects, and bones of vertebrate animals.[5][6]
,,,In the middle Miocene, 17 to 15 Ma, the Columbia Plateau and the Oregon Basin and Range of the Pacific Northwest were flooded with lava flows. Both flows are similar in composition and age, and have been attributed to a common source, the Yellowstone hotspot. The ultimate cause of the volcanism is still up for debate, but the most widely accepted idea is that the mantle plume or upwelling (similar to that associated with present-day Hawaii) initiated the widespread and voluminous basaltic volcanism about 17 million years ago. As hot mantle plume materials rise and reach lower pressures, the hot materials melt and interact with the materials in the upper mantle, creating magma. Once that magma breaches the surface, it flows as lava and then solidifies into basalt.
Transition to flood volcanism
…In the Palouse River Canyon just downstream of Palouse Falls, the Sentinel Bluffs flows of the Grand Ronde Formation can be seen on the bottom, covered by the Ginkgo Flow of the Wanapum Basalt.
…Prior to 17.5 million years ago, the Western Cascade stratovolcanoes erupted with periodic regularity for over 20 million years, even as they do today. An abrupt transition to shield volcanic flooding took place in the mid-Miocene. The flows can be divided into four major categories: The Steens Basalt, Grande Ronde Basalt, the Wanapum Basalt, and the Saddle Mountains Basalt. The various lava flows have been dated by radiometric dating—particularly through measurement of the ratios of isotopes of potassium to argon. The Columbia River flood basalt province comprises more than 300 individual basalt lava flows that have an average volume of 500 to 600 cubic kilometres (120 to 140 cu mi).
…The transition to flood volcanism in the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), similar to other large igneous provinces, was also marked by atmospheric loading through the mass exsolution and emission of volatiles, via the process of volcanic degassing. Comparative analysis of volatile concentrations in source feeder dikes to associated extruded flow units have been quantitatively measured to determine the magnitude of degassing exhibited in CRBG eruptions. Of the more than 300 individual flows associated with the CRBG, the Roza flow contains some of the most chemically well preserved basalts for volatile analysis. Contained within the Wanapum formation, Roza is one of the most extensive members of the CRBG with an area of 40,300 square kilometres and a volume of 1,300 cubic kilometres. With magmatic volatile values assumed at 1 - 1.5 percent by weight concentration for source feeder dikes, the emission of sulphur for the Roza flow is calculated to be on the order of 12Gt (12,000 million tonnes) at a rate of 1.2Gt (1,200 million tonnes) annually, in the form of sulphur dioxide (SO2). However, other research through petrologic analysis has yielded SO2 mass degassing values at 0.12% - 0.28% of the total erupted mass of the magma, translating to lower emission estimates in the range of 9.2Gt of sulfur dioxide for the Roza flow. Sulfuric acid, a by-product of emitted sulfur dioxide and atmospheric interactions, has been calculated to be 1.7Gt annually for the Roza flow and 17Gt in total. Analysis of glass inclusions within phenocrysts of the basaltic deposits have yielded emission volumes on the magnitude of 310 Mt of hydrochloric acid, and 1.78 Gt of hydrofluoric acid, additionally.
Cause of volcanism
Major hotspots have often been tracked back to flood-basalt events. In this case the Yellowstone hotspot's initial flood-basalt event occurred near Steens Mountain when the Imnaha and Steens eruptions began. As the North American Plate moved several centimeters per year westward, the eruptions progressed through the Snake River Plain across Idaho and into Wyoming. Consistent with the hot spot hypothesis, the lava flows are progressively younger as one proceeds east along this path. Previous to this eruptive period, it is believed the Yellowstone Hotspot created features like Smith Rock in Central Oregon and perhaps another flood basalt event known as Siletzia which underlies much of the Pacific Northwest coast with exposures in the Oregon Coast Range.
…There is additional confirmation that Yellowstone is associated with a deep hot spot. Using tomographic images based on seismic waves, relatively narrow, deeply seated, active convective plumes have been detected under Yellowstone and several other hot spots. These plumes are much more focused than the upwelling observed with large-scale plate-tectonics circulation.

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Monday, July 22, 2024: … A Third General Panorama View Of The Valley Of The Crooked River, Including Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), An- Old Horizontal Volcanic Lava Formation, And The Prineville Railroad Tracks.

….These tracks come from Prineville, Oregon, to a location that The ZMM Narrator called “Prineville Junction”, which in reality is not a town, But MERELY & ONLY, The Location Of A RR Junction Of =>. The Prineville Railroad, To The Main North-South Santa Fe Railroad.
…You Will Learn More About The Railroad Tracks At “Prineville Junction” In Two Forthcoming Photos.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRINEVILLE RAILROAD, Which Runs FROM The West Side Of Prineville, Oregon, At The Junction US-26 and Rt-126 … TO … Prineville Junction, Oregon, By Way Of The Very Scenic Crooked River Canyon, ….Which Somewhat Parallels The Route Of The O'Neil Highway (Rt-370).
….This rail line, one of the USA’s oldest city owned lines, operates freight service and the "Crooked River Dinner and Excursion Train" for you to enjoy should you ever get out here. This 17 mile Railroad ends at a true Railroad Junction, where it joins the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Main Railroad Line which runs from Pasco, Washington to Modesto, California. (( More From Wikipedia. Click Here..))
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….Or You May Want To Try The Excursion Train Ride!
Click Here To Go To The Website of City of Prineville, And “Buy Dinner Train” By Ernestine Bousquet, Jan 31, 2020..Click Here.
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Monday, July 22, 2024: … A Blossoming Shrub Seen Along Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway). You Can Also See An Old Horizontal Volcanic Lava Formation, And The Prineville Railroad Tracks, Which Are Extensively Discussed & Shown In Forthcoming Photos..

File = DSC 0533 Resize602x400

Monday, July 22, 2024: … A Fourth General Panorama View Of The Valley Of The Crooked River.
…At The Left End Of The Panorama, Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), Is Seen To Curve Left And Go Up Over A Valley Edge Buff.
…Several Miles Further West From Here Rt-370 Will Leave The Valley Of The Crooked River, Because The River Turns North.
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SIDE NOTE: When Closing Internet Browser Tabs, Henry Gurr finds … Click Here For AN OH WOW Photo Of Smith Rock, At The Edge Of A Dramatic DEEP Gorge, Of The Crooked River.

File = DSC 0534 1 PhotoSetOfHGUpLdJan14 20252ndGenVuCrookedRvValleyNo Resize2235x400

Monday, July 22, 2024: … The Left End Of This Panorama, Shows Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway) Heading South, Because The Road Here, .Has Suddenly Turned Left.
…Scrolling Right, A Petroleum Distribution Center Is Seen. In 1968 Author Robert Pirsig May Have Stopped Here To Inquire About Gas For His Cycle.

The ZMM Narrator Says =>
…“ ”I fill up the tank at the corner

SO YOU WILL HAVE NEEDED INFORMATION FOR NEXT 2 PHOTOS, PLEASE REMEMBER =>
…THE PREVIOUS PHOTO EXPLAINED THAT =>
…In This Satellite View Of The Valley Of The Crooked River, And Looking Closely At The Red Pinpoint, You Could See A Road, Which Is Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway): This Road Connects US-26 In Prineville, Oregon > TO > US-97 (Seen Lower Right, Upper Left Of “Full Circle Farms).
…AND AS STATED THERE PREVIOUSLY
… ..As You Will Learn (In Forthcoming Photos), Rt-370 (O’Neil Highway), MUST BE The Road Which Author Robert Pirsig, Would Have Followed In 1968: This Is The Only Effective & ZMM Quality “Way” To Go From US-26 In Prineville, Oregon, > TO > To A Place That Author Robert Pirsig Called “Prineville Junction”. This Place, In Reality Is Not A Town, But MERELY & ONLY, The Location Of A Junction Of The Prineville Railroad, To The Main North-South Santa Fe Railroad.

File = DSC 0540 1Sb547 PhotoSetOfHGUpLdJan142025PrinevilleJn~!stPirsigStop Resize3067x400

Monday, July 22, 2024: … Interesting Vegetation Along The Road.

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ZMM ROUTE RESEARCH RESULT #1:
…Searching For Businesses Within A Mile of the Prineville Railroad Junction =>
……This Google Street View #1 (GSV1) Shows The ONLY Business That Looks Somewhat Like A Gas Station:
….This Is About Half Mile Away From US-97 And Is At Least, Where Robert Pirsig Could At Least Could Ask About A “Gas Station”.

….[ “We arrive in Prineville Junction with only a few hours of daylight left. We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, and I fill up the tank at the corner and then am so tired I go around in back and sit on the yellow-painted cement curb with my feet in the gravel and the last rays of the sun flaring through the trees into my eyes. “ ] (Cont. Next)

Traveling West On Rt-370 From Prineville, OR, The First Business Where Robert Pirsig In 1968 Might Ask For Information As He Was Arriving At, Prineville Junction, OR. As discussed in the previous photo => The above ZMM Passage takes place in Prineville Junction, OR some 17 miles West of Prineville OR. And to get there most efficiently, The Narrator’s ZMM Route follows the O'Neil Highway, Rt-370, in the scenic Crooked River Valley, somewhat paralleling the route of the Prineville Railroad.

….Click Photo To Get The Largest View, Then Look Closely =>The Bottom Strip Map Shows =>
…1) Green Highway Line having Ovals with 370. This is O’Neil Highway, Rt-370, and The ZMM Route from Prineville, OR, 17 miles to the East.
…2) At Left: The Double Green Highway Line is US-97.
…3) The Narrow Green Lines mark irrigation ditches.
…4) The Narrow Very Faint Gray Lines Are Railroad Tracks.
…5) Above the words “Charles Every Trucking”, you see Gray Line Railroad Track Lines that form kind of a curved triangle. There you can see where the Railroad Track =>
……a) From the North switches into a curved track that goes EastNortheast. AND
……b) From the South switches into a curved track that joins into a) above.
……c) The approximately North-South Tracks are the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad,
….6) SUMMARY =>: This is literally A "Prineville Junction" , achieved by Railroad Tracks Joined!
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SIDE NOTE:
In The /\ Above /\ Photo, Bottom Strip Map Shows => “ Gray Line Railroad Track Lines That Form, Kind Of A Curved Triangle”. This Can Also Be Seen In Satellite View =>
In This Satellite View => The Red-Brown Triangle, Just Right Of Center, Marks The Location Of The Railroad Tracks For The Literal “Junction” => Of the City of Prineville Railroad Track, there to join the North-South tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, and apparently also the-Union Pacific Railroad.
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The Next Photo Has A Full => EPILOGUE: CONCLUSION SUMMARY.
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(Photo = GoogStVu RrXferFacilityTankTruckRt495OnielHy StpMapN-StrackJunctionTriangleTracks.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 293 ...... WayPt = NotAssigned )

Monday, July 22, 2024: … A Panorama Showing The Two Way Junctions Of The Prineville Railroad, To The Main North-South Santa Fe Railroad RR Track, Which Is Seen At The Left Panorama End, Which Is Looking South.
…Scrolling To The Right, You See A Second RR Track, Which Is A Second Set Of The Main North-South Santa Fe Railroad RR Tracks.
…Beyond The Buildings In The Distance, And This Side Of The Red Hill, Is The ZMM Narrator’s Very Busy North-South “Highway 97, where we’ll turn south,”
…Scrolling More To The Right, You See Both RR Tracks Disappear North, Into The Distance.
…And Below The Distant Gray Hill, Looking Closely, You Can Barely Discern, Curved RR Tracks: These Are The Prineville Railroad Tracks, Which Junction To The North-Going Santa Fe Railroad RR Tracks. And, To The Right, These Disappear Into The Distance Beyond The Clump Of Large Trees.
…Scrolling More To The Right, You See RR Tracks Below The RR Track Warning Lights & Gate Arm:
…These Are Also The Prineville Railroad Tracks, Which Will Junction To The South-Going Santa Fe Railroad RR Tracks.
…Scrolling More To The Right, You See These Prineville Railroad Tracks Join To The South-Going Santa Fe Railroad RR Tracks.

…NOTE: AFTER The Below Blue Link Comes Up, You Can Study => How The Prineville Railroad Tracks, Join Int The Santa Fe Railroad RR Tracks. <
… For A Close Up Satellite View, In Which You Can See At The Red PinPoint,=> How The Junctioning RR Tracks, Form A Rough Triangle => A) One Way The Tracks Curve To The North, And B) The Other Way Curve To The South, As They Come To The Main Tracks Of The Santa Fe Railroad. Click Here.
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SUMMARY:
…As Mentioned Previous Photos, What The ZMM Narrator Called “Prineville Junction”. Is In Reality Is Not A Town, But MERELY & ONLY, The Location Of A Joining Of The Railroad Tracks From Prineville, Oregon, To The Main Tracks Of The Santa Fe Railroad.

The ZMM Narrator Says =>
…“We arrive in Prineville Junction with only a few hours of daylight left. We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, …. ”.

**AHA** => How I, Henry Gurr, Finally 5 Years Later, Found Out WHERE Prineville Junction, Oregon, Just Happened To Be Located!!
…In above passage the ZMM Narrator’s “ Prineville Junction.“, readers would assume is a town’s name.
…. But In my Henry Gurr’s 2002 ZMM Route Research, the 1988 Rand-McNally Map I carried with me, did NOT show any apparent Town of Prineville Junction, Oregon.
...And thus unfortunately in 2002, I missed going to (or photographing) this location, because the “town” and the Narrator’s road to go there, were NOT marked on the map I carried with me.:-((.
,,,But belatedly & 5 years later => With the help of TopoZone Maps, I accidently discover, that there was indeed A Prineville Junction, Oregon, 17 miles West of Prineville, Oregon, and is/was located very close to the Narrator’s => “Highway 97, Where We’ll Turn South,“.

But Even Much Later, By Happenstance, I Belatedly Discovered Prineville Junction, Oregon Was Indeed ALSO Marked On A Road Map, Along With Also The Town Of O’Neil, Oregon.
….This was on my 1964 Rand-McNally Map, just 4 years older, and old enough to still show Prineville Junction, Oregon.!
…Thus, eventually I learned that => What I had supposed was a “town” was MERELY, LITERALLY, & ONLY => An Actual True Railroad Junction, where The Prineville Railroad, joins the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Main Railroad Tracks.
…AND this ORIGINALLY was no more than “A Dot On A Map”, which is/was just 0.36 mile East of the ZMM Narrator’s US-97, and four miles North of Redmond, Oregon.
….AND, of course, old maps are likely how Author Robert Pirsig first knew of “Prineville Junction” and wrote it into his ZMM Narrative.
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Thus Confusion & Doubt Are Banished: All This Above Agrees With The Narrator’s Above Passage, AND Tells Us =>
…A) Practically The Only Effective & ZMM “Quality” Road Robert Pirsig Could Have Use In 1968, To Travel From Prineville, OR > TO > Prineville Junction, Oregon, Was The “O’Neil Highway” , Rt-370, AND =>
…B) This, In Turn, Tells Us The ZMM Route Follows The O’Neil Highway, Rt-370, Along The Back Country Scenic Byway. In The Crooked River Valley, And Somewhat Parallels The Route Of The Prineville Railroad..
….To go to Prineville Junction, OR from Prineville, OR MapQuest.com shows => You follow US-26 to the West side of Prineville, then turn left onto Rt-126. Within 500 feet, cross the Crooked River and then turn right onto the O’Neil Highway, Rt-370, which soon turns directly West, following the VERY Scenic Crooked River Valley!!
….Here we must mention that this => VERY Scenic Crooked River Valley, is in terms of Robert Pirsig and The ZMM Narrator, a “High Quality Road”, to be sought out by the ZMM Enthusiast!

….So NOW You Understand Where This Name Prineville Junction Came From!!
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ZMM ROUTE RESEARCH RESULT #2 => A GOOGLE STREET VIEW SHOWS =>
...WHAT’S AT THE INTERSECTION OF US-97 & O’NEIL HIGHWAY (Rt-370).
….At The Northeast Corner => This Google Street View #2 (GSV2) Shows The ONLY Business (Within A Mile) => That Is Remotely Similar To A Gas Station Where The ZMM Narrator Could “Sit & Watch Drivers On US-97.”
……Studying This GSV#2, You Can Imagine => How This Building & Property Lay-Out, Could Have Once Been A Gas Station, Albeit Unusual In Appearance.
….The Other Three Corners Are => a) Bare Red Dirt, b) Dry Grass & Trees, and c) Homes Surrounded By Dry Grass & Trees.

….[ "We arrive in Prineville Junction with only a few hours of daylight left. We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, and I fill up the tank at the corner and then am so tired I go around in back and sit on the yellow-painted cement curb with my feet in the gravel and the last rays of the sun flaring through the trees into my eyes. …. " ]
….“I watch the cars go by for a while on the highway. Something lonely about them. Not lonely—worse. Nothing. Like the attendant’s expression when he filled the tank. Nothing. A nothing curb, by some nothing gravel, at a nothing intersection, going nowhere." (Cont. Next)

Traveling West On Rt-370 from Prineville, OR, Google Street View #2 (GSV2) of => The Only Business That Is Remotely Similar To A Gas Station Where Narrator Could “Sit & Watch Drivers On US-97”, Prineville Junction, OR. As discussed in the previous photo => The above ZMM Passage takes place in (or near) Prineville Junction, OR some 17 miles West of my Photos at WayPt = 354. And from Prineville, OR the only way most efficiently to get there, The Narrator’s ZMM Route follows the O'Neil Highway (Rt-370), in the scenic Crooked River Valley, and somewhat the route of the Prineville Railroad.
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Repeating Previous Photo Concerning Bottom Strip Map =>
….Click Photo To Get The Largest View, Then Look Closely =>The Bottom Strip Map Shows =>
…1) Green Highway Line having Ovals with 370. This is O’Neil Highway (Rt-370), and The ZMM Route from Prineville, OR, 17 miles to the East.
…2) At Left: The Double Green Highway Line is US-97.
…3) The Narrow Green Lines mark irrigation ditches.
…4) The Narrow Very Faint Gray Lines Are Railroad Tracks.
…5) Above the words “Charles Every Trucking”, you see Gray Railroad Track Lines that form kind of a curved triangle. There you can see where the Railroad Track =>
……a) From the North switches into a curved track that goes EastNortheast. AND
……b) From the South switches into a curved track that joins into a) above.
……c) The approximately North-South Tracks are the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad,
….6) IN SUMMARY: This is literally a Prineville Junction, achieved by the joining of Railroad Tracks! AND you can see how close this Railroad Prineville Junction is where The ZMM Passage says => “ We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south “ is described to take place.
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Due To The Narrator's Severe Depression And Fatigue, And Based On Evidence presented in the Previous 4 Photos & and above, I Believe that the Narrator, RIGHT HERE, at this /\ Above /\ Google Street View “Business” (or similar) Enterprise) => Makes an abrupt and major change of travel plans => Right here, to no longer travel West, but suddenly turn South !! As he sat on that => "nothing curb, by some nothing gravel, at a nothing intersection." .
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For Deeper Understanding, Please Read Our => ZMM Research Examination => Why ZMM Narrator’s Abrupt 90 Degree Turn South, At Prineville Junction, Oregon?
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EPILOGUE: CONCLUSION SUMMARY.
….The Narrator says => “We arrive in Prineville Junction." This leads us to expect that there is a real town here.
….However, in Searching Satellite Images (Previous Photo Blue Link near Bottom), all around the literal Junction of the Prineville Railroad to the North-South Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad => It is discovered that there is certainly no town at all, nor any form of population center!
….In fact, there is hardly anything, except bare earth, scattered dry trees & weeds, and widely spaced businesses or homes, mostly stretched out along the busy US-97, a bit further North or South.
….As Variously Stated In The Previous 4 Photos =>
…A) This Prineville Railroad Junction (Is Just A “Dot On A map”). And is found mostly only on OLD Road Atlas Maps … which is likely how Author Robert Pirsig knew of it ... and wrote it into ZMM.
…B) Since Prineville Junction, OR Is No Longer On Current Day Maps, Nor Hardly Ever Really Existed as a town! => This is why it is so hard to find out anything about "Prineville Junction" Oregon by using Google …OR …Find its exact location using traditional paper maps.

INDEED SINCE THE 1974 PUBLICATION OF ZMM, PRACTICALLY THE ONLY INFERRED EXISTENCE OF “THE TOWN OF” => "PRINEVILLE JUNCTION" Is IN The Book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”!!
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(Photo =GoogStVu FauxGasStationNwCornerUS97Rt370 StpMapN-StrackJunctionTriangleTracks.jpg ...... ZMM Page = 293 ...... WayPt = NotAssigned )

Monday, July 22, 2024: … “ Not Lonely — Worse. Nothing. Like The Attendant’s Expression When He Filled The Tank. Nothing. A Nothing Curb, By Some Nothing Gravel, At A Nothing Intersection, Going Nowhere. ”

..The ZMM Narrator Says =>
….“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be "out there" and the person that appears to be "in here" are not two separate things. They grow toward Quality or fall away from Quality together.
….We arrive in Prineville Junction with only a few hours of daylight left. We’re at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, …. .“
…“I watch the cars go by for a while on the highway. Something lonely about them. Not lonely—worse. Nothing. Like the attendant’s expression when he filled the tank. Nothing. A nothing curb, by some nothing gravel, at a nothing intersection, going nowhere. …”
….“Something about the car drivers too. They look just like the gasoline attendant, staring straight ahead in some private trance of their own. … “
….“Chris comes and sits down too, and we don’t say anything, but this is the worst depression yet. All that talk about gumption traps and I fall right into one myself. Fatigue maybe. We’ve got to get some sleep.
.... I watch the cars go by for a while on the highway. Something lonely about them. Not lonely—worse. Nothing. Like the attendant’s expression when he filled the tank. Nothing. A nothing curb, by some nothing gravel, at a nothing intersection, going nowhere.”

The Above ZMM Passage Most Likely Fits To => Intersection Of Rt-370, At US-97, 0.36 Mile West Of Prineville Junction, Which Is Some 17 Miles West Of Prineville, Oregon. Which Is Shown In The Previous Google Street View Photo.
….And STARTING at US-26 IN Prineville, Oregon, practically the only road Robert Pirsig 1968 could have used to travel West and most efficiently arrive at US-97 near Prineville Junction, would be to follow Rt-370, also called the O’Neil Highway:
…This 18 mile road, is a slower, low traffic, scenic, back-country byway, i.e. A ZMM High Quality Road, which travels FROM Prineville, Oregon TO Prineville Junction, Oregon,
… For the first ~9 miles, the road stays just south of the Crooked River’s wetlands. Soon after the 4 or 5 house town of O’Neil, Oregon, the road continues approximately West, but the river trends off to the Northwest.
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SUMMARY: The ZMM Narrator says=>
“…arrive in Prineville Junction … at the intersection with Highway 97, where we’ll turn south, and I fill up the tank at the corner … “
….But, from this ZMM Passage, it is un-certain just where could have been that => “gas station … at the corner” along “Highway 97”.

BUT WHAT IS FOUND AT THE ZMM NARRATOR’S =>
…“ at the corner” along “Highway 97” ??

A) Seen In The /\Above/\ Panorama See in panorama, Photo =>
….1) The ZMM Narrator’s Busy US-97 (Four cars & big truck).
….2) And One Third Panorama, See The ZMM Narrator’s “Gas Station”: Where Back In 1968, This Building Could Have Been, A Gas Station, and Most Likely What Author Robert Pirsig Saw.

B) AND In The Satellite View, Blue Link Below => We Can See What, 2026, Is Currently At => The. Intersection Of US-97 & O’Neil Highway (Rt-370). Plus, This Satellite View, Is Good Way To Project, What Was There Back In 1968.
….1) Southeast Corner a) Bare Red Dirt, b) Scatter of Trees, and c) Business Buildings & Parking Lots, none of which look like a “gas station”. By Dry Grass & Trees.
….2) Southwest Corner a) Open fields b) Scatter of Trees, and c) Farm Buildings. . ….3) Northwest Corner a) Scatter of roads with red dirt between. b) Truck parking lot. , ….4) Northeast Corner a) Scatter of Trees, and Green Forest. b) Scatter of Business Buildings, AND

C) Closest by the corner of this intersection, is the pavement & Small Building, Also Seen In The /\Above/\ Panorama Photo.
…This is clearly the most likely location where => The ZMM Narrator Could “Sit & Watch Drivers On US-97.”
……Studying This /\Above/\ Panorama Photo, You Can Imagine => How This Building & Property Lay-Out, Could Have Once Been A Gas Station, Albeit Unusual In Appearance.
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A SIDE NOTE Concerning Western Culture’s => Dualisms, Such As The Habitual Separation Of Subject From Object.:
,,,The above “ are not two separate things. ”, is an example of Author Robert Pirsig’s continuing stance against “dualisms”: => Google AI Finds Click Here.This =>
…”Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance . (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals(1991), built his philosophy, the
… Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ), as a direct challenge to the fundamental dualisms of Western thought. He argued that separating the world into rigid binary oppositions—most notably subject/object, mind/body, and romantic/classic—creates a fractured, "sick" society that fails to understand the true, unified nature of reality.”
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