We took our first trip down to SE Oregon last week. We're slowly working on checking off as many of Sullivan's featured hikes as we can so we started our trip by driving from Salem to Bend via Biggs Junction to hike the Deschutes River Trail at Deschutes Park. I know that's a long way from SE Oregon but it did involve sagebrush .
We took the River Trail to Gordon Canyon and then the Ferry Springs Trail on the way back.
After a night in Bend we drove to Burns and headed down to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. We took the short Overlook Trail down to the Park HQ. The museum there was great. After speaking with one of the volunteers who gave us some suggestions for our visit we did a portion of the driving tour to the Buena Vista Trail (a short trail up to an overlook) then stopped at the Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area and the Peter French Round Barn before ending up in Caldwell, ID for the night.
The third day we hiked at Jordan Craters then drove to Leslie Gulch and hiked in Slocum, Timber, Juniper and Dago Gulches.
We stayed in Caldwell again that night then the next morning did the short .7 mile RT hike to Jump Creek Falls in Idaho before driving down to Three Forks and hiking along the Owyhee River.
We stayed in Jordan Valley at the Basque Station Motel that night and in the morning visited the Pillars of Rome (just outside of Rome, OR) then drove the horrible dirt (and rock) road to Chalk Basin for a spectacular off trail hike there.
Pillars of Rome
From Chalk Basin we drove to Fields Station via the East Steens Road where we stayed the night after having one their bacon cheeseburgers and milkshakes. On the drive we spotted a couple of sandhill cranes.
The following day we did three shorter hikes at Borax Hot Springs, Big Sand Gap, and Pike Creek before ending the day in Burns. Somewhere along the way we picked up a small nail which the good folks at the Les Schwab in Burns patched up for us.
We did our longest hike of the trip the next day with a 14.2 mile out and back on the Myrtle Creek Trail 35 miles north of Burns in the Malheur National Forest.
After Myrtle Creek we stayed in Bend again and visited the Cove Palisades State Park the next morning before returning to Salem.
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Unbelievably we didn't see a single rattlesnake the whole trip, just a lone garter snake at Chalk Basin. We were lucky enough to see a badger on our drive back to East Steens Road from Borax Lake but it didn't stick around long enough for me to get a picture.
The trip involved a lot of driving and the roads to Three Forks and Chalk Basin were ugly in spots and require high clearance vehicles. We walked the final mile plus of road for the Jordan Craters, Three Forks and Chalk Basin hikes. The road to Pike Creek was also in pretty bad shape.
As for other hikers the only ones we passed were on the Deschutes River Trails and at Juniper Gulch but we do tend to get early starts and I am sure if it hadn't been 6am when we were at Jump Creek Falls we would have run into people there at least.
SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
- derwoodynck
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SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Last edited by derwoodynck on June 21st, 2018, 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Beautiful photos! You covered a lot of ground!
I imagine the reason you didn't see too many people is that many avoid that area from June through August - just too hot. I love that country, but I like to go September through April.
No mustangs or golden eagles?
I imagine the reason you didn't see too many people is that many avoid that area from June through August - just too hot. I love that country, but I like to go September through April.
No mustangs or golden eagles?
- derwoodynck
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Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
We spotted one golden eagle on a telephone pole from the car but no mustangs. Sure could see evidence of them at Big Sand Gap though.
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Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Wow, you got some beautiful photos! I've explored some of those areas, but would love to go back and see more.
Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Thanks. My bucket list just got longer.
Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
I think BLM removed about 150 mustangs last year in SE Oregon due to not enough grass. Drought is hitting hard.derwoodynck wrote: ↑June 21st, 2018, 4:21 amWe spotted one golden eagle on a telephone pole from the car but no mustangs. Sure could see evidence of them at Big Sand Gap though.
I see you got up high at Big Sand Gap. My son and I were camped at Big Sand Gap a few years ago in March and happened upon Gary? (can't recall his last name) who gets paid to do a golden eagle count in Oregon every year. He drives around in a 4x4 with Cuervo (raven in Spanish) painted on the side and does a survey of all the nesting sites in the state. What a cool job. His survey was largely responsible for nixing plans to put a large wind farm somewhere north of Steens.
Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Great road trip!
Where is this? It looks like Smith Rock, but presumably is in SE Oregon somewhere.
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased
- derwoodynck
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Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Timber Gulch at Leslie Gulch down by Jordan Valley. Same type of volcanic formations as at Smith.
- BurnsideBob
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Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
An amazingly beautiful photo voyage. Thanks for sharing.
I keep making protein shakes but they always turn out like margaritas.
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Re: SE Oregon Vacation 6/9-6/16/18
Wonderful TR, quite a lot of variety in terrain. Great bird and animal photos. A couple of horned toads? I saw 2 babies near Yakima, WA earlier in the spring this year, first time I've ever encountered them. They were ridiculously cute.