Oregon and Washington west of the Cascadian Mt Range extensions is coastal influenced weather = warmer Winters; with TONS of people...East of that is generally cold, well below zero cold, in winter and hot in summer but with lots of room to roam..., but hey it is a dry cold!
I live in NE corner of Oregon....remember to consider elevation: colder higher in Winter....I doubt if on East Coast considering altitude is significant, well, except on White Mountain...
Gerlach, if not BFE you can see it from there....alkali desert...2022 YTD 1.86 " rain...tough, hard scrabble and isolated; but close to Burning Man if you dig that...
I grew up in Nevada and love the sagebrush country, but in Gerlach the jackrabbits carry canteens...
Canyon City is adjacent to John Day and very hot in summer; I drove through there at end of this June and it was an oven....Winters are as stated, cold...unfortunately drugs are becoming a big issue in many of these small central Oregon towns...mostly meth.
Your quest
will be fun....but everyone is looking for what you are looking for; a place to escape to with solitude...currently we are seeing mass exit from the insanity of metropolitan centers in Ca, Or and Wa...but like the song: "sometimes you might get what you need"....
Enjoy the journey! And good luck to you....
Phil