donkey engine

We drove the Copper Canyon logging road along the Chemainus River, forty kilometers west. Remote wilderness. The occasional pickup truck carrying firewood and a grader working the road. We wanted to drive to Jump Lake and also see El Capitan mountain peak. We began our trip at noon, which is too late because the gate closed at 4 pm.

We stopped when we saw the abandoned donkey engine. After photographing this large machine, we drove back to the Trans Canada highway near Chemainus.

An other photograph of the donkey engine

"A donkey engine was an integrated machine consisting of a powerplant and gearing that turned one or more drums or winches containing wire rope. Designed to lift, drag, and move logs from the stump to an accumulation point. Donkey engines were also used to load logs on cars that transported logs to distant mill sites." Oregon Encyclopedia