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.
10 miles south of Wallowa, Oregon is an 8 site free USFS campground on Bear Creek with trail access to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It might be the jackpot of all spots. Quiet, a beautiful stream for dipping and cooking water, great trees to hang our hammocks, pack animals with hikers and hunters, and friendly neighbors and staff. What more could we ask for in a place to hide from the very hot summer heat.
Bear Creek: gushing, soothing, and refreshing.
I guess we looked like trouble
Elk for dinner! A mainstay of this region is elk. An elk in the freezer will easily feed a family for the winter. Tonight we got a taste courtesy of Kurt, a US Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer, who stopped by for a visit with fellow State Trooper, Mark, and returned later with a package of elk and some great conversation.
Before the handcuffs came out 😁
Best neighbors ever
Rhylee and 3 generations of her family camped down the way in the next site. Rhylee gave us the distinguished title of ‘Best Neighbors Ever’ when we returned one of the family dogs and told her we would love for her and her cousin, Taylor, to continue building their fort between our 2 sites (I guess the previous occupants hadn’t been kid or dog friendly). During our stay, Rhylee’s grandmother and aunts told us stories about their family’s journey west on the Oregon Trail to settle in Wallowa and the Nez Perce who once lived in this valley, Chief Joseph being the most well known for his continuing quest to protect his people and their homeland. One story told how their family sheltered a pregnant Nez Perce woman during the purge of the Nez Perce. The baby died during childbirth and was buried on Rhylee’s family land in a small unmarked grave.
Rhylee made us a cheat sheet so we would know who was who.The small unmarked grave of the Nez Perce baby.
The friendly blonde
Yesterday, while having coffee after groceries, we had a card declined due to one of those computer hackers. We raced around trying to figure out how to get the new card sent out without an address. Enter Jay, proprietor of the Blonde Strawberry Coffee Shop in town. Jay not only served us delicious coffee and food, he let us use the Blonde Strawberry as our address for the card’s delivery.
If you are ever in Wallowa, stop in for good food and coffee, and really bad jokes.
The real deal
Every once in a while you meet people who really walk their talk, Dennis and Virginia were two such people. Staying at Bear creek while they scouted the wilderness for the upcoming elk hunt, we were lucky enough to spend time. Furniture maker, hunter, gatherer, flintlock handcrafter and caregivers…we were blessed to have met them.
Dennis and Virginia, good people we were lucky enough to spend time with.
While waiting out the heat in Wallowa, we think we had the ‘Best Neighbors Ever’! Thank you Kurt, Mark, Jay, Rhylee, Dennis, Virginia, and many others!
A beautiful crystal clear stream Great trees for lounging in the hammocks A screaming baby It is always something…
Warm dry weather Kind and friendly neighbors Logging trucks at 2 A.M, It is always something…
A nice flat place to park the rig A beautiful secluded spot to skinny dip A terrible stench from the out house when the wind shifted It is always something…
A beautiful spot on the North Fork of the John Day River! Beautiful blue skies A gorgeous view The place to ourselves And then the thunder storms rolled in It is always something…
A beautiful canyonA gorgeous riverCool water to beat the 100 degree heatAnd noisy neighbors
Oregon has become a bit of a black hole for us, a beautiful and amazing black hole filled with many new friends, but a swirling vortex nonetheless. So, it is somewhat ironic that we found ourselves driving down beautiful Route 380 today right into Post, Oregon…the claimed center of Oregon.
A few weeks ago, we almost made it to Idaho, but the Oregon vortex decided we should make a quick trip back to the Oregon coast to visit a friend with a medical emergency. Now, we have once again started back toward the Oregon border and Idaho…perhaps this time we will find a way to break free of the black hole’s gravitational pull…beam me up Scotty!
So D’s bud Mike gets him into hammock camping several years before we hit the road. The reports were that hammock camping was comfortable, with the following caveat…you have to fiddle, adjust, level, refiddle, readjust, relevel, over and over! Then if everything came together, it was super!
This week, we camped at a major launch point for raft trips on the Rogue River. Coming from a canoe camping background our first thought was how much crap they were piling onto each raft. The 40 mile trip, for a single rafter, from what we observed, may require: (2) 5 gallon jerry cans of water, instead of a simple water filter, a 4 inch thick waterproof mattress, cot, tent, chair, bbq, a couple of coolers, and several bins of food and gear…well you get the idea (aka ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ as one rafter told us laughing)!
All of this is piled on the beach, then the real fun starts. It seems, from our observations, that everything from the pile, must, go into, and out of the raft at least 3 times before the raft is ready to launch! In, out, lashed down, unlashed, removed, replaced, lashed down.
The people who we spoke with who were “really, into rafting” would start the process the night before. They would get the raft all set up as noted above, then repeat it all over again in the morning. The key take away was, on a raft that could carry 4 to 6 people, a single person can bring as much as they could pile on. On a river without any portages, that may not be too bad…no weeks of canoeing on pb&j for this crowd! Perhaps they have the right idea!
The drive in should have been our first clue.The afternoon of day 2…not too bad.The afternoon of day 3. I’m starting to sense a pattern.We thought day 4 was going to take down our tent and tarps. The hail was giant marble size and came down with a fury. I am happy to report we survived with no damage!
From a distance, the heart carved into the tree makes me first think of young love. A pair of starry eyed teenagers pledging their love for all time under their favorite tree, something right out of a 1950’s movie, ahhhh…
And then close up, I feel anger that someone would hurt a tree by carving into its skin. How could someone be so thoughtless and inflict such pain on another living being…
And ultimately I am sad that the tree, or any other being, has to endure something so painful that isn’t their choice, something that causes them to continually weep…
And were completely humbled Hundreds of thousands of people Desperate, hopeful, unprepared, running away, running towards, ever westward 2,000 miles 6 months 10 to 20 miles walked every day Snow, rain, hail, scorching sun, wind Plains, rivers, mountains, plateaus Mud, dust, ruts, rocks Rattlesnakes, buffalo, antelope, bears Cholera Indians 20% died…in some areas a grave every 80 yards Dead and abandoned animals all along the way
These are the people of the Westward Migration, the Oregon Trail, the California settlement, and eventually the gold fever
Today, we visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center outside Baker City, Oregon. We actually walked a small section of the trail. It is mind blowing what they endure and conquered for a piece of land to call their own.
6 months, your family and all your possessions inside 1 tiny wagon. Many possessions thought to be essential were abandoned along the way as the hardships of daily life on the trail became a reality. Miles to go. Parts of the trail are still visible and walkable today.The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is a well thought out and informative museum.Oh my who do we have here?Ever westward.
