Wandering Central OR

[Riverrunner]

Kinda long and while it starts in Washington...it is mostly about the central part of Oregon. We were truly wandering.

http://outcastimagery.com/blog/2013/11/wandering-central-oregon

 

[clikrf8]

Central Oregon, in fact, all of eastern Oregon, is one of our favorite places to wander. Friendly ranchers who help you when you are lost on BLM land, much less traffic, beautiful vistas and warm sunny days. Thank-you for sharing your travels. It looks like we approached it much the same way. We passed by the new Cottonwood Canyon state park while it was being built last April. Gorgeous area worthy of a few days exploration. We would love to take a rafting trip down the John Day (I think that's the river). The Painted Hills are a photographer's dream landscape, so surreal. Did you go to the other units (Sheep Rock and Clarno)? The plan is to revisit in April for 3 weeks.

 

[takesiteasy]

Cool shots of the hills. Looks like a good trip. Thanks for posting!

 

[highz]

That was a good read and not too long at all. Nice Painted Hills pics, too.

 

[N'kwala]

Wonderful country. Thanks for the report. Gottoo check out the new state park one day.

Thanks.

 

[ski3pin]

Thanks for letting us tag along. What treasures central Oregon holds!

 

[Riverrunner]

Did you go to the other units (Sheep Rock and Clarno)?

I have been to Sheep Rock years ago and by the time we got to Dayville it was late afternoon. The visitors center would be closed the next day for the holiday so we elected to move on. I haven't been to Clarno but I figured it's an excuse to make a couple more trips to the area in the future.

I wish I had the time to be there when the lighting was better but I get what I get. The photos turned out ok considering the terrible light.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the ride along.
The Painted Hills photo was great.Almost unreal.
Looks like a nice trip was had by all.
Frank

 

[4buckeye]

Cool trip! As everyone else has said, your capture of the hills is unreal!

 

[craig333]

Very nice. First trip report from those parts I've seen.

 

[super doody]

Awesome rig and trip report. Kokanee is a cute pup. How old he/she? What's her/his story?

 

[Smokecreek1]

Nice TR and pictures! That whole area is sort of geographically neat, last time I made that run is when I got bored of making the 395N SV to Pasco run and took 26W to Dayville, then north on 19 instead of staying on 395N - I forgot to top off my gas tank in John Day before i entered the Fossil Beds area-got to find out which of those dots with a town name & really had people/gas station and which didn't! Even drove into a county fair in one of those dots. Lot's of neat country with scattered BLM CG's, the river and lots of views and even one CG on an isolated hunk of FS land in the far north. Another neat run is to go east from 395 on 244 to Ukiah and points east -lot's of surprises. Need to do it again!

Smoke.

 

[Riverrunner]

Awesome rig and trip report. Kokanee is a cute pup. How old he/she? What's her/his story?

Kokanee is a Aussie/Heeler...more on the Aussie side. She's almost 5 months old. My girlfriends daughters dog (Heeler/Mom) had the puppies so I kinda had to take one in. It was one of those "mistakes" as she was only 10 months old when she got preggo. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid so it's been interesting. She's pretty good tho and I try to take her everywhere. I tell people I'm "one of those dog people now". haha.

Smoke - There are lots of neat places. I've been to almost every part of this state along the highways and paved roads, but haven't spent a lot time in the little nooks and crannies which is what I can do now. The area around Ukiah is on my list. I love the small FS and BLM campgrounds that are scattered around. I look at maps and sometimes just pick a CG to go to. That's how we ended up at Elkhorn.

For the upcoming holiday weekend we'll bum around the area from Cape Arago to Cape Blanco. Probably will stay in state parks but will see what we can find. A bit more of a civilized trip but fun and adventure none the less.

Thanks for comments.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Kokanee is a Aussie/Heeler...more on the Aussie side. She's almost 5 months old. My girlfriends daughters dog (Heeler/Mom) had the puppies so I kinda had to take one in. It was one of those "mistakes" as she was only 10 months old when she got preggo. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid so it's been interesting. She's pretty good tho and I try to take her everywhere. I tell people I'm "one of those dog people now". haha.

Smoke - There are lots of neat places. I've been to almost every part of this state along the highways and paved roads, but haven't spent a lot time in the little nooks and crannies which is what I can do now. The area around Ukiah is on my list. I love the small FS and BLM campgrounds that are scattered around. I look at maps and sometimes just pick a CG to go to. That's how we ended up at Elkhorn.

For the upcoming holiday weekend we'll bum around the area from Cape Arago to Cape Blanco. Probably will stay in state parks but will see what we can find. A bit more of a civilized trip but fun and adventure none the less.

Thanks for comments.

Riverrunner

Getting a FWC sort of opens up a whole new world doesn't it? It sounds like you are retired or close now, so enjoy following those signs to all sorts of adventures. And-since your are going to be around Cape Blanco- and if the State CG's are to full/to many people-try the two primitive BLM CG's on the Sixes River-it's just past the Cape Blanco on the right heading north. I followed the signs to them, the lower one is more civilized than the upper one (really primitive-complete with logging trucks)-just another one of those unknown places that someone (Mark BC maybe) on this site mentioned and I saw the sign and reacted. I picked up a Coos Bay District BLM/FS area map the other day and intend to visit as many neat places as I can-thanks again to this site, someone id'ed this whole area and taking a break from my usual desert/No Cal coast is a whole new adventure. Yep the Ukiah area has a whole bunch of dry FS CG's from there to 84. So have some adventures and just follow your nose and enjoy.

Smoke

 

[Riverrunner]

Retired?

I wish...I'm a long ways from it. I work for a small municipality and have been here long enough that I get a few days off now and then.

I'll have to look for these BLM CG's on the Sixes. Thanks for the heads up! Been busy so I really haven't looked around much.

If you get out this way there are some very nice FS CG along the Rogue out of Gold Beach. Qusantana is our favorite. A group of us spend a few days there in the spring to play on the river. The South Oregon coast is one of my favorite places and will require more exploring.