In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Today we leave Crescent Lake and Gary’s family. And we part ways. Gary is headed to Eugene to see friends then home. My original plan was to drive up to Seattle to see Kari but she is behind on work projects, so I head home.
On the way to Bend, I take a detour to Lake Paulina which I thought was near the Newberry Volcanic Monument but turns out to be a bit south. It does look like another lake with paddling possibilities and there are Forest Service campgrounds nearby. I take photos then head back toward Bend and skip the volcanic area as I am hoping to get as far as the Yellow Pine campground tonight.
In Bend, I pick up US 20 and head east toward Burns, then pick us US 395 North to John Day.
The landscape along this route is much more arid and desert-like than the northern route. But very rural and very open with very few areas of trees. There is a sign for the Oregon Badlands that sounds interesting and goes on the mental list of places for future outings.
I gas up in Burns, than backtrack to US 395 and head north. Very scenic and rural, off and on crossing gulleys of lava rock. I am gaining elevation. There are areas of National Forests and signs for campgrounds so another place to check out.
But it’s getting late so I stay on the main road, arriving at John Day at twilight and head east on US 26 toward Yellow Pine. There are a couple of other campgrounds I pass by and put them on the list to check out next time as it would have been good to have an alternative overnight destination.
I get to Yellow Pine. It is already dark but camp in the same spot so the tent is up in no time.
Monday, September 4, 2023
Today is warmer, sunnier and calmer. A better day for paddling, but today we hike to Fawn Lake, an outing we’ve done before. It’s six or so miles, round trip. The trail is back out toward the main road, so we drive there. It’s a nice straightforward hike, well-signed. There is another lake that creates a loop hike but we do just the out and back to Fawn Lake.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
We are now on Pacific Time. We were up around 8 AM, making coffee and breakfast. I sit and catch up on my journal for most of the morning.
At about 1, we hop on the bikes and ride around camp. There is a paved nature trail to Wetmore, the campground to the east. We take that and check out Wetmore. The trail is in good shape, though there are a half-dozen sharp switchbacks, shape enough that I walk each one. Eventually, we are at the bottom and bike along the roads in the campground. The uphill sections are a bit steep, and I end up walking at least one.
We come out at the west entrance to Wetmore, cross the highway, and head up the gravel road on the other side, which is also steep in spots. We tool around a bit and finally come to a dead-end. We retrace our steps and cross the highway back into Wetmore, follow another set of roads and come out at the east entrance to Wetmore.
We again cross the highway. This is a better gravel road and has a sign for the Middle Fork of the Burnt River. We continue along for about 15 minutes. I am edgy to go back to camp and journal so decide to turn back. Plus, I have not been training for long bike rides so do not know how much endurance I have. I wonder if I will be pushing my bike all the way back up that nature trail but it turns out to be doable though I still walk the switchbacks.
Once at camp, I have a bit to eat then ride around this campground but there are no new roads to explore. I return to camp and proceed to work on capturing our outing.
Thursday, August 31, 2023
On the road again!
We have another leisurely morning, getting up around 8, making coffee and breakfast, doing dishes and packing up. We are on the road around 11 AM.
We head west toward John Day, OR thru the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. We pass by the third of the three campgrounds , then more Forest Service Roads. There is a sign to Austin, then for Oregon Hwy 7. This area looks like it would be a good place to camp and simply explore. I had forgotten how much public land there is thru here.
But on we go, thru Prairie City, then John Day, where we gas up, and continue west. Prineville is at roughly 100 miles, but still most of the area we travel thru to get there is rural. For a long way, we drive along the John Day River, bordered by fields of green. We also wind thru John Day National Monument and cuts of volcanic rock; Up and over the brow of mesas, thru stands of grass and pine and sage; then back down again.
There is a large lake and state park we pass and I wonder if it is a worthwhile paddling stop.
Suddenly, it is no longer rural and we are in Prineville. We do not stop, but my thoughts go back to the Storm King Fire, west of Glenwood Springs where several firefighters based on Prineville lost their lives.
Now, we turn off US 26 and pick up OR Hwy 126. Our destination is Redmond, OR where Gary’s brother Brian lives. Its rural between Prineville and Redmond; We drive thru Redmond, staying on HWY 126 going past Cline Falls State Park. The surroundings are desert-like but there are lots of juniper trees which always make me think of cedar trees back east.
I did not mention, the temperature is in the 60’s much lower than other times we’ve traveled out here around Labor Day. By the time we arrive at Brian’s, it is sprinkling.
We shower then go out for dinner at a close-by bar and grill which is very good.
We returned to Brian’s. The guys watch a ball game. I call Kari then read.
Friday, September 1, 2023
We are up around 8:30 and Brian makes breakfast.
It’s very overcast outside and we are not enthused about heading to Cresent Lake and camping in the rain but decide on a 1 PM departure time.
In the meantime, I read, finishing yet another Amazon Prime First Reads. And write. And then its time to pack up.
Its 1:30 when we drive away, making a stop for groceries and supplies at Fred Meyer. Then we are headed south on US 97, thru Bend, La Pine, Crescent, Gilchrist to Hwy 58, which we take west to Crescent Lake, arriving by 4 PM or so.
As it turns out, we sleep in the cabin instead of setting up the tent. Grilled chicken and vegetables are on the menu for supper. Then off to bed for me.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
In the morning, I start water for coffee while breaking camp and am packed up and on my way east, thru Vale then Ontario then I-84 headed east.
My plan to stay at City of Rocks tonight.
But I do want to detour to Bruneau Dunes which I do. I do not go to the Dunes proper but stop along the access road and photograph. What strikes me is this: These dunes are in an area of rolling hills of the Snake River Valley. But they are solitary, and the only dunes in the area. I wonder why.
Back to I-84 and eastward bound. Up ahead the traffic is stopped and thick smoke is in the distance. Up ahead is a vehicle fire. The jam does not last long.
Once past the Twin Falls area, I begin to think about exiting and heading south to City of Rocks but the sky in that direction and westward is black and indeed I pass thru a downpour. The thought of exploring in the dark and cold and rain is not appealing, so I change plans and decide to stay at Bear Lake.
So I stay on the Interstate, turning south on I-15 near Pocatello, then exiting at US 30 and heading to Montpelier; then US 89 to Bear Lake. I turn in at the state park on the Idaho side but a reservation is needed. I decided to head to the Utah side, as a reservation was not needed when we stayed there 2 years ago. At the Cisco Beach side there are plenty of empty sites and no reservation is needed. I pick a site that is a stone’s throw from our last outing here.
It is near dark so I quickly setup the tent. It’s been 11 hours since I left Yellow Pine, so not a bad drive.
My kind of camping. Warm enough to sit out with a beer. The stars are out. I picked out the Big Dipper. It’s been a while since I’ve stayed up late enough to see stars!
Saturday, September 2, 2023
We sleep till almost 8:30. Gary makes breakfast and we do dishes. Then head back to LaPine for Oregon AIS stickers and more supplies. We have lunch when we get back to the cabin. Our plan was to paddle on the lake but the weather does not hold. So, here I am writing.
However, later in the afternoon, it is nice enough for a paddle to the west end of the lake. Seems like it is lower this year than previous times. And coming back, we miss our end point. But, no problem we just turn and head back.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Overnight, I hear the wind come up and hope it will be calm by morning.
We roll out of bed, get up and make breakfast – scrambled eggs with vegetables and cheese – clean up, then get ready to paddle.
It’s still quite breezy.
We head to the reservoir and put in at one of the coves (owned by the Shoshone-Piute Tribe) that we checked out yesterday. It’s definitely windy but seems doable if we stay close to shore.
Our first destination is across the cove to the boat ramp that is associated with the closed marina that we checked out yesterday. We are still in the protected cove as we cross so the wind is not bad. We paddle out into a more open part of the lake. As expected, the wind and waves pick up. As we paddle further away from the cove, the wind and waves pick up more and more and finally I am not moving forward at all. There is a quiet spot by the shore that I paddle toward and able to get Gary’s attention and he joins me. I say I am paddling back. He considers continuing but then decides we should both paddle back, break camp and move on. As it turns out, by the time we are loaded up and driving away, the wind has picked up even more.
Back to camp we go. As Gary contended yesterday, this is not an unsafe place, and none of our gear has been disturbed. We quickly break camp, load everything into our two vehicles and heard north.
At the small town of Owyhee, NV, there is a boat inspection station where we stop. There we see we needed an AIS sticker before we launched at Wild Horse, something I will check on when we get back home.
Then north again, a short distance, to the town of Brueneau, ID, near Bruneau Dunes where we camped in 2021.
North again to Mountain Home, ID where we get gas, then north again to I-84 where we head west. Now, we are headed directly into the wind, an bit easier for Gary who is hauling the boats on the roof.
Next stop is Fruitland, ID for more gas. We are approaching the Oregon border, and the gas stations here are more accessible than those in Ontario, OR.
Next stop is the Oregon Welcome Center. In years past, there has been a boat located here but not today. We continue west on I-84 to the 2nd Ontario exit, HWY 120, and head toward Vale, where we pick up US 26. Our destination is the Yellow Pine Campground, the middle of 3 campgrounds, east of John Day, OR. From previous trips, it seems like its about 100 miles from Ontario, with a driving time of about 2 hours, so it will be getting dark as we arrive.
And it is dark as we setup the tent. We have headlamps and solar lights so all is well though I am glad its not raining!
The temperature in western Idaho was around 84. It cooled as we approached Ontario and continued to drop as we drove and was in the high 50s when we arrived. Downright chilly!
Once the tent is organized, we sit up for a few minutes, then crawl in. There is not too much traffic out on the highway. I sleep well.
Monday, August 28, 2023
We had a good nights’ sleep. Our room was facing east and in the morning, I opened the privacy curtains and was surprised at how hot the sun felt coming in the window.
After another shower, we pack up and head out, first to McDonalds for breakfast then to Smith’s grocery for food and gas. I am taken with how stark and dry the landscape is, especially the mesas that border the city.
We are on our way by 10:30 or so, headed toward Elko, about 100 miles further, where we will turn off I-80 and head north on NV235. Elko, with a population of just over 20,000 and is larger than I expected. We stop for gas, then north toward Wild Horse Reservoir which is about 70 miles further.
I did mention how stark the area around Wendover seemed. Once we left Wendover, traveling west, we were heading uphill and before long we could see the ridges in the distance supported scattered brush and some evergreen. The valley floors were covered with green and tan field grass.
We are gaining elevation as we head north. The landscape is reminiscent southeast Oregon – hills with ribs of lava, rolling hills and worn gulleys.
After an hour or so, we see a huge body of water in the distance. There is a small town on its southern shore, but we did not investigate. Gary pulls off the road and I pull up alongside him. I guessed we had another 10 miles or so to the camping area (which turned out to be wrong) so we continued. We are looking for two places in particular, the Wild Horse State Park and the Wild Horse BLM camping area.
Gary drives by the sign to the state park. Off to the left are a number of parked trailers which do not seem to be occupied. The lack of activity is not surprising since today is Monday; as in other places, I expect people will park their trailer and come up on the weekends. The trailer area does not seem to have an outhouse and I do not see a BLM sign.
We drive on. The canyon narrows and we soon pass the dam. Below is the Owyhee River, which is more like a creek than a river. The creek bed is narrow and without much gradient and with lots of black, basalt looking rocks, all worn down by water.
Trees line the creek bed, mostly juniper and some deciduous, though there do not seem to be any cottonwood. Many of the trees are dead; it looks as though a wildfire raged here at some time in the past.
The road and basin widen, though still bordered with high ridges and lava outcroppings. There is a forest- service-looking restroom off to the left and I wonder if there is a campground. There are no signs, though there is a sign for a wildlife viewing area and a large turnout that we pull into and park. A bridge crosses the creek though there is a truck parked there, blocking the way through.
We walk into the campground. The restroom is open and well maintained. Camping is $5/night; that would be $2.50 with our senior pass. Such a deal!
We walk the loop. Gary found an ideal spot tucked in a grove of aspen. I am leery: too close to the road, too isolate and no other campers. He is not worried about any of that and offers to replace my belongings if anything is taken.
We want to do another driving tour of the reservoir, and take my car, leaving his truck at the campsite. We pass the first large area of campers and pull into the next which is smaller. It has a number of parked motorhomes and a restroom. We look for a place to launch the boats but the shores are pretty rocky. So on to the next site which is even smaller and does not have a restroom. It turns out, these sites are managed by the Shoshone-Piute Tribes and not the BLM as I had assumed. Next destination is the state park but I turned too soon, at a sign for a marina. We check it out anyway. There is no active marina but there is a boat ramp and an occupied trailer. This site is also managed by the Shoshone-Piute Tribes.
Back we go. Next is the state park. The cost would be $20 per car per night, so $40 for the two of us. The camping area is pretty barren; no trees at all. We drive down to the boat ramp. Its cost would be $5 for each of us to launch our boat.
We make our way back, pretty much nixing the idea of staying at the State Park.
Next, we cross the highway unto a gravel road, headed east, with a sign for another Forest Service Campground (named ??). We drive for a bit and turn unto a dirt road with a prominent nesting pole which turns out to be on private property. We continue further but there does not appear to be access to the lake so we backtrack to the gravel road and continue east. There is another dirt road, going north. We turn, drive for a bit, but it is unclear where it goes and again we backtrack to the main gravel road and back to the highway.
The next destination is the BLM recreation site. The map shows it on the north side of the highway, just beyond a spot where the road crosses one of the creek arms. We drive over an arm and take the first right which turns out to be a gravel storage area.
We exit at the far end, back on the highway and take the next right. I look up and see a bunch of metal shelters, similar to what Colorado State Parks use to shelter picnic tables. So that must be the BLM site. We drive up the road, and sure enough it is! The charge here is $10 per site. We drive around. None are occupied. None of the sites are particularly appealing, set in the same barren landscape as the State Park and the Shoshone-Piute parks.
There are 2 big group sites and I wonder if they are ever used.
We decided that our site up the road is the best, so we head back up there. In our absence, another party or two have arrived and set-up camp. After a rest and a beer, we setup camp and make supper. The aspen grove provided nice shade. As the sun sets, shadows are cast on the far hill. Once its dark, the moon rises and I am taken with the amount of light reflected off the far ridge and take a photo.
Eventually we turned in and I slept well.
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Today is our paddling day! It is not overly warm and sunny but good enough to give it a go. Our boats are already down at the beach so we gather our gear, head down there, and hop in the boats. Today are plan is to paddle around the outside of the lake.
We head east today, down toward the dam where I take pictures. I don’t remember paddling the outlet cove in the past but we do today, as far as we can, though there are logs blocking the end of the channel.
We retrace our steps; sticking close to the east shore, we head southward. Before long, the wind picks up, so I begin to diagonal toward the south edge, picking a line that is at least a bit into the waves as opposed to parallel to them.
It going to be a long paddle back! But, at least I do not feel desperate and just focus on paddling steadily. We made our way along the south shore, heading west. Again, the lake is low and many spots where we paddled into a cove in previous years are now dry.
We continue, now near the west end. There is an island I head toward, hoping to get some relief from the waves, though I decide getting closer to the west side might be the better scheme.
Now we head to the north shore. At higher water, there is an island at the end, but today it is a peninsula. Now we head south and before too long are back at the start, and today do not miss it.
Pacific Northwest
26 August 2023 thru 7 September 2023
Saturday, 26 August 2023
Packing is needed. I am under-motivated today but finally get to it, finishing up just before midnight and slept soundly.
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Today is our departure day. Wake-up time was 8:15, so I had 8 hours of sleep, enough to begin a long days’ drive. I called Gary at 9; he was here by 9:50. In those 50 minutes, I finished loading my car then move it out of the garage. Next we lower the boats and load them on Gary’s truck. We are driving away by 10:30. Gary is in the lead, heads east to US 287 then north toward Loveland, west to Wilson Ave, north to Ft. Collins picking up US 287 again, and north to Laramie and the boat inspection station.
Once we have our inspection papers, we continue north to I-80 then west, with a stop at the Flying J truck stop just past Green River. Then west again, past Rock Springs, Green River, and another stop in Evanston. We continue west again, toward Salt Lake which we pass. Our destination today is Wendover, where we hop off the interstate. We check google maps, then head south, then east to a reasonably priced Best Western, on the Utah side of Wendover. It nice to shower after today’s long, hot drive.
As we drove through Salt Lake City in the twilight, I was taken with the landscape. It would be fun to do a driving tour and just take pictures. Though I think I probably want a wide-angle lense.
Thursday, September 7, 2023
I should be home this evening by 8 at the latest.
I drive south along the lake, take UT 30 east to US 30 and on to I-80 near Little America where I stop for an ice cream. East again which a stop at Flying J (I was concerned I would run out of gas! And chide myself for getting this close to empty!) then on to Laramie when I exit to US 287 south to Ft Collins with another ice cream stop at The Forks for another ice cream, which is the best ice cream around. Carrie H., a colleague from my Dothill/Seagate days is there with her husband Tommy.
And home again! A good trip even though I did not get to see my daughter. .