Steens Mountain, Oregon - July 2020

[ski3pin]

Wow, what a good time we were having! In this installment we return to a favorite place - Steens Mountain - and explore new territory for us. The story and photos are now posted to our blog -

Steens Mountain, Oregon - July 2020

We hope are still enjoying being in the backseat and tagging along!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Ok, I’m ready to go back... it’s been almost two weeks since I left.
Wonderful TR, thanks for sharing!

 

[Vic Harder]

great stuff.... 18 miles in a day? Wow, you must be getting stronger as you get older!

 

[kmcintyre]

We backpacked into there about 3 weeks ago. Awesome place.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Absolutely one of our top favorite places to visit...my profile pic was taken near the summit. Our last visit was several years ago in mid-June, following a particularly wet winter. I’ve never seen so many mosquitoes! They were so bad that Jill and I opted to rent a “cabin” rather than camp out of the truck. ‍

Just an observation in regards to the comment about COVID being a mostly urban problem: I agree. But when we urbanites escape our SAH and flock to rural areas, it quickly becomes their problem also. And the limited medical resources of the area can quickly become overtaxed. Sounds as if they’ve taken precautions and I wish them the best of luck; we miss visiting!

Rant off...great report as usual! What a fabulous trip.

 

[Fernweh]

Sounds like another place to mark on the map. Thanks!

 

[slash2]

Great fun trying to trace your route on the map just based on your descriptions, and you completely lost me after leaving Hole in the Ground, but I assumed you were being especially coy to protect the locations of the petroglyphs, however when you mentioned milkshakes I knew where you were headed.

The Steens surprised me because I figured it would be too crowded, maybe the playa instead, but you always seem to find a beautiful secluded spot worth the effort.

Now the fun is trying guess where you are headed next. Robbers Roost maybe?

 

[craig333]

The milkshake clue was one of the easier ones

 

[slash2]

Or maybe east to Three Forks? Another location on the Oregon Military Wagon Road where the original stone works are still visible. It's scenic, and WAY out of the way.

 

[ski3pin]

Ok, I’m ready to go back... it’s been almost two weeks since I left.
Wonderful TR, thanks for sharing!

We want to go back also! Thanks for the kind comment.

 

[ski3pin]

great stuff.... 18 miles in a day? Wow, you must be getting stronger as you get older!

Thanks for the nice comment, Vic! Stronger? I'd say staying up to specs.

 

[ski3pin]

Absolutely one of our top favorite places to visit...my profile pic was taken near the summit. Our last visit was several years ago in mid-June, following a particularly wet winter. I’ve never seen so many mosquitoes! They were so bad that Jill and I opted to rent a “cabin” rather than camp out of the truck. ‍♂

Just an observation in regards to the comment about COVID being a mostly urban problem: I agree. But when we urbanites escape our SAH and flock to rural areas, it quickly becomes their problem also. And the limited medical resources of the area can quickly become overtaxed. Sounds as if they’ve taken precautions and I wish them the best of luck; we miss visiting!

Rant off...great report as usual! What a fabulous trip.

MDR, thanks for the nice comments. Steens is an incredible area and offers a lifetime of exploration.

Your covid comments are appreciated. We go out of our way to show we are taking all the precautions. Yeah, there still a bunch of people who want to make a scene that is all a joke. Sad.

 

[ski3pin]

Mark away Fernweh!

Sounds like another place to mark on the map. Thanks!

 

[ski3pin]

The milkshake clue was one of the easier ones

Yup.

 

[ski3pin]

Great fun trying to trace your route on the map just based on your descriptions, and you completely lost me after leaving Hole in the Ground, but I assumed you were being especially coy to protect the locations of the petroglyphs, however when you mentioned milkshakes I knew where you were headed.

The Steens surprised me because I figured it would be too crowded, maybe the playa instead, but you always seem to find a beautiful secluded spot worth the effort.

Now the fun is trying guess where you are headed next. Robbers Roost maybe?

Steens was busy. We talked with a BLM guy who told us us since before Memorial Day campground use is up four times from past years.

Or maybe east to Three Forks? Another location on the Oregon Military Wagon Road where the original stone works are still visible. It's scenic, and WAY out of the way.

It was warming up at the lower elevations, 80 at the South Steens Campground. We headed for higher and cooler terrain. Thanks for the nice comments.

I haven't done much research on the Oregon Central Military Road yet. I suspect we will.

 

[ski3pin]

We backpacked into there about 3 weeks ago. Awesome place.

Yes, it is an awesome place. We were surprised with the number of overnight backpacking groups up in Big Indian Gorge. One husband and wife team were our heroes. They did the loop up Little Blitzen Gorge - climbing out the Wet Blanket trail to the top and then dropping into Big Indian to complete the circle. As we were hiking out four overnight groups were coming in. There were already three groups in ahead of them with camps set up.

We had a different adventure planned, dropping into Little Blitzen Gorge but when we arrived at the primitive road access there were vehicles all lined up to drive in along with dust trails of vehicles ahead of them. We went to plan B.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for taking the time to give us the visit to another of
your special places. What a beautiful area.
Frank

 

[ski3pin]

Thanks for taking the time to give us the visit to another of
your special places. What a beautiful area.
Frank

You are most welcome, Frank!

 

[Happyjax]

Always enjoy your trip reports and wonderful pics!

 

[CoreyTrevor]

I think I'm going to have to stop looking at your trip reports, because I'm getting more and more envious with each one, and I still have a long way to go before my camper and my truck are ready to use, and I may start to cry.