Sunday morning we awoke knowing we'd be heading toward home. Mom really wanted to check out Alvord Hot Spring, a few miles north of our campsite. So, after packing up camp, we headed up there. Through the morning, several thunderstorms had passed through the area, though fortunately for us, mostly on the east side of the desert, allowing us to watch on without getting much rain.
From the hot springs, we could actually see two separate cells coming north.
From there we headed almost directly across the road and up an old mining road. We found an old cabin up there which had clearly seen better days.
We were able to find the remnants of an old tram, used to get the gold from the mine down to the area of the cabin. You can't tell but I'm looking nearly straight up in this picture.
While checking out the base of the Tram area, we could see another storm coming up the valley.
And a view back toward the mountain behind us, somewhere above is the old mine.
We quickly hopped back in the truck as we got hit by a heavy downpour which actually made the road pretty treacherous, especially in that big truck. But just as quickly, the sun came back out, as can be seen as we crossed a creek headed back down to the main road.
On the way down to Fields, we slowed for a picture of the old school at Andrews, all of which appears to be privately owned now.
Finally, we were in Fields, prepared to eat a famous Fields Burger! Here, Sandy is taking an order as our burgers sizzle away on the grill behind her.
Man, what a delicious burger!
We crossed back over to Catlow Valley and headed north, prepared to hear further west, through the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. First we had to pull over and check out some massive thunderclouds towering over Steens Mountain. In less than five minutes, we saw at least 10 flashes of lightning.
After an uneventful drive through the refuge, we dropped down toward Plush, where we saw this old house, with Hart Mountain towering overhead
After passing through Plush, we headed southwest, into the Fremont National Forest where we turned west, coming out on hwy 395 north of Lakeview. We turned north, passing Lake Abert and the Abert Rim, several thousand feet higher than the valley.
We stopped at a small rest area a few miles north of there. A rest area that was totally desolate. The only sounds were the occasional passing semi and the wind rattling a sign. Though there was nothing there and not much of a view, I for some reason found comfort in the area and would happily return.
We then continued north, passing through several stretches of road without a single curve for ten or more miles
That night we returned to the same area we'd camped at the first night south of John Day, though we chose this time to camp in an established campground. We were the only ones there, though some time during the night, an RV showed up and set up camp.
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