If you look at the map of southeastern Oregon you see an empty quarter with one significant geological formation: Steens Mountain. We kept hearing about The Steens while travelling around Oregon. ‘You have to see The Steens’, people would say. Then we camped with a guy who said you need to see the wild horses on The Steens! Cool, wild horses!
It turns out, one of the few remaining herds of wild horses left in North America are there. But, it just looked too empty, too hot, and too distant, so we wrote it off for another day or another trip. Fast forward and we are poking around northern Nevada and we see Steens Mountain is only a jump north (a couple of hundred miles jump). We have to go!
On the way there, we wild camp at a remote hot springs in northern Nevada after driving over the mountains and through a snow squall (see previous blog). In the morning we set off through the beautiful snow ringed mountains north into the empty quarter, and up Steens Mountain to see the wild horses!
We were not disappointed! To see something so wild living in its natural state is always a gift. We have been lucky in our travels to see many such creatures but for me, this was by far the most majestic. The independent, free spirit of these magnificent souls was clearly evident in their eyes.
