Thursday night we made it as far as Soda Gulch, south of John Day. Camp was next to Vance Creek, which couldn't actually be seen, just a nice burbling sound. We woke up about 630am and quickly broke camp and got on the road.
Most of the group met at RJ's Restaurant in Burns before the official meetup. RJ's has EXCELLENT bacon, just sayin... We headed to get gas, diesel actually, then met up with the rest of the group at Hines Park in the center of Hines. Nice place.
From there we headed east and south, our first stop of the day being the Peter French Round Barn.
The Round Barn was built in the late 1870's or early 1880's the date isn't known for sure. It was used to train horses during the long and miserable winter. The roof was rebuilt in the 1920's using 55,000 wood shingles. Its got a few holes in it now.
The view off in the distance shows there is nothing around, just a barn.
From the center, you can see the all wood construction. Many of these trees had to come from a long way aways as there are no forests in the area.
Our next goal was the Diamond Craters, just a few miles to the south. Diamond Craters is a series of small craters created by a shield volcano.
My brother Keegan, along with Ben(?) stand near the edge of the crater.
Keegan peering over the edge, looking for rattle snakes.
We then headed for Frenchglen. Too many bugs, the gas pumps were out of service. We didn't stay for long.
The portion of the group not eating in Frenchglen decided to head up the hill a bit toward Steens Mountain to get away from the bugs. We found a wide spot in the road where we were able to hang out and wait for the paying for lunch crowd.
The sun was hot that day, it was our hottest day of the trip and while there were a few clouds in the sky, they never seemed to be in front of the sun.
One group decided to head up early while a couple of us waited for the stragglers from town.
Our leader for the trip told us about a grove of aspens where basque sheep hearders had carved notes into the trees. We stopped to find some but couldn't find any ourselves. At this point we'd climbed from from 4,200 feet to over 6,500 feet and the cooler air was allowing wildflowers to still bloom into July.
Just a few miles up the road, we stopped at Kiger Gorge, where you can walk out to a viewpoint at the edge of a 2,000 foot deep gorge, which was carved by glaciers. Pictures can't even do the location justice, you really have to see it for yourself.
One of our new friends Matt took our picture for my Mom so I thought I'd return the favor and get one of him along the edge.
We followed Mick up to the east rim of Steens Mountain. the road stretches out along the ridge and the cars running along it are the only way to get a good idea of the size of this area.
The east rim allows a good view of the valley stretching out below us. Our group leader takes a picture from the top.
The Alvord desert is below the summit of Steens Mountain. The Summit of the mountain is about 9,750 feet while the desert below is about 4400 feet, over a vertical mile below. The slope drops away that elevation in just three miles, one of the steepest drops in the state.
Not much life can survive on the wind swept ridge that is Steens Mountain but a few wildflowers are just starting their bloom in mid-July.
Matt standing near the east rim viewpoint
Bob headed out to the summit parking area ahead of us
Then we followed Mick out.
From the summit, you can look down into Wildhorse Gorge and to Wildhorse Lake, I believe the second highest lake in Oregon. Can you see the people camping down there?
Looking back along the ridge from the summit to the parking area.
We chose to complete the Steens Loop by following the road down the Rooster Comb. Spectacular views
My Mom had read about the Kiger Mustangs and other wild horses in the area and was anxious to see some. After watching carefully, Mick (or his wife Joey) spotted one about a half a mile off to the left side of the road.
A few miles further, we were greatly surprised. A herd of 28 wild horses were standing right next to the road! They were extremely calm and were comfortable with my Mom and Keegan getting within approx. 20 yards.
We noticed this small group of horses that were up the hill a bit and they decided to head down toward the main herd
We quickly discovered the alpha male of the herd as he came galloping over, letting the others know they weren't welcome with the herd. It was so cool witnessing the natural hierchy in the wild, definitely one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had.
We got down to the highway and continued on into Fields. Mick continued to lead the way through the Catlow Valley.
We went our separate ways, Mick and his wife were staying at the hotel in Fields while we planned to camp out at the Alvord Desert. There was a group who were planning on camping at the desert and we decided to join them. We didn't know there location but after scanning the desert with binoculars, I spotted them on the other side, headed up into an area called Big Sand Gap. Since Keegan had just gotten his instruction permit, we decided to let him drive across the desert.
On the east side, we discovered the desert didn't end abruptly but rather slowly faded into islands of bushes which we had to maneuver our way through.
My GPS showed there was a road that came out to the desert floor so we tried to track it down. Its out there somewhere
Oh, we found it!
We eventually caught up with the group, playing around on some sand dunes. Of course, it wasn't long before somebody got stuck in the sand. It was Rod...
Matt quickly winched him out and they continued playing. I was very envious that I wasn't out there with my Jeep.
James and Ben made there way back down to the sand and joined in the fun.
We headed back to camp where everybody got set up. Bob in his Land Rover with the rooftop tent were particularly cool.
The moonrise was particularly nice too.
Thus ended our first full day of the trip. We covered a lot of ground, our route for the day
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