This State Park located on the John Day River has been on our bucket list for some time. This former working ranch is the second largest & newest park in the Oregon Park system. (note: newest park that offers camping).
Top Pic: Forest Service Bridge 99 over the Metolius River. Fishing upstream of this bridge is fly fishing only — downstream from the bridge is fly fishing & lures.
We found a cool campsite on the Metolius River banks in Lower Bridge Campground next to Forest Service Bridge 99. Bridge 99 Brewery...
To conclude Labor Day weekend, we headed over to Dry River Canyon (about 16 miles east of Bend) for an afternoon hike. It’s located just outside the boundary of Oregon Badlands Wilderness. The canyon is closed to visitors from Feb 1st to Aug 31st to protect nesting birds of prey. It was an enjoyable...
We took a drive up to Three Creeks Lake, Just north of Sisters, to check out the campgrounds today. We happened upon the Tam McArthur Rim trail and decided to take a hike. It was a great trail with lots of eye candy.
Steelhead Falls, which is included in the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area, was on today's books.
The Old McKenzie Highway opened on Monday after the Milli/ Separation fires & winter closure. This sounded like a good excuse for a little auto touring. It was interesting to see the fire areas as they backed up to the lava flows. We decided to drive the whole loop around Mt Washington and, in the...
We traveled 1,802 miles over a period of almost seven weeks (it turns out that we were only one day short of seven). During this period, we had thirteen stopovers.
Top Pic: Blooming Lilacs throughout the campground.
Bonus stop. One more night on the road before returning to Bend. We swung a tad out of our way so we could check out the area & lakes along Hwy 31 on the way home.
Top Pic: Entrance to Golden Dome cave. Some of the caves (lava tubes) have steps at the entrance, but most don't.
This place has been on our bucket list for some time & we’re glad that we finally arrived. I think I see some lava tube/cave exploring on the horizon.
When ”plan A” didn’t work out, we moved on to ”plan B.” Needless to say, that didn’t play out either. Down the road, we found a great dispersed site at Rocky Point West - BLM on Eagle Lake. ”Plan C” rules!
We had a very windy 145-mile drive today and, in the process, traded Jeffery Pines for sagebrush with great views.
After a month of dry camping in the desert, it's sweet to be back in trees. The campground is tucked in a grove of Jeffrey Pine Trees & is easy walking distance to Mammoth Lakes.
Top Pic: Mount Tom peaking through the clouds. It was one of those travel days that should have been easy, but... After adjusting plans a couple of times, we ended up at Horton Creek to avoid the storms at higher elevations.
Alabama Hills has been on our Bucket List for some time. We scored a scenic (but perhaps not that level) site just off Movie Road. Over 400 movies have been filmed in this area.
We have a sweet spot in the Mesquite Spring campground. Unlike the overcrowded main campgrounds, there are only a few campers here each night.
Top Pic: The Last Supper (1984) by Albert Szukalsk, Goldwell Open Air Museum.
Top Pic: On the self-guided tour, the Toiyabe Mountain Range can be seen.
Top Pic: Sunset as seen through a dust storm settling in the valley below us.
We found a great campsite in Water Canyon BLM. The campsites are scattered along the road & creek. We took the first site. Looking up the canyon, only one other RV is insight.
A rustic campground with a naturally heated pool & showers located in the Virgin Valley within the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. A great location for exploring & finding fire opals.
We found a gem for our first stop of this trip. A very scenic & well cared for BLM campground located near both the Steens Mountain & Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
