Along for the ride: Yellowstone

As we cross the border into Oregon, the high plains ranch lands continue.

Welcome to Oregon

Ranch lands in eastern Oregon

Needless to say in this kind of country, we pass our share of barns. All kinds of barns, some painted and some not, some in good repair and others need some TLC.

Well weathered barn in good repair

Brokeback Barn

We stop for diesel in the neatly kept small town of Lakeview OR. Not only is fuel much cheaper in Oregon than California (minus all the extra taxes California adds on fuel), but we also get a smiling Oregonian to pump fuel and wash the windshields. Yes, Philip - Oregon does have its advantages, but weather isn't one of them.

A few miles past Lakeview, the road follows the edge of the Abert Rim, one of largest fault scarps in North America stretching over 30 miles. The Abert Rim is almost 2500 feet high topped by an 820 foot sheer basalt cliff. The southern region is popular with hang gliders who hold summer festivals there.

Lakeview OR

Hwy 395 by Abert Rim

Abert Rim

The aptly named Alkali Lake also runs alongside Abert Rim. Not far away is one of the nation's most notorious chemical waste dumps. Ehew!... glad we didn't know about the toxic waste dump until we were well past it. We then head out over open country and lonesome road.

Alkali Lake

Wide open spaces in eastern Oregon

... and by lonesome road, I mean really LONESOME road. We hardly ever see any other motorists along this stretch of Hwy 395, except for a few burners still winding their way back from Burning Man in their colorful, but streaked alkali playa dust vehicles (sorry - I didn't get any good shots of these, but think 60's era hippy vans crossed with Mad Max).

We finally see some signs of civilization in passing through the small town of Riley OR, and then the much bigger town of Burns OR. About 25 miles east of Burns we reach our day's destination of Crystal Crane Hot Springs. Yes, as a matter of fact, some burners beat us there and are already recuperating.

Riley OR - don't blink

This is cowboy country where Black Angus is king


Crystal Crane Hot Springs

Rainbow's end at Crystal Crane Hot Springs

Our campsite

Peter relaxing after drive

Hot Springs source

Bather relaxing in the main pool

Large clouds building

That evening we are treated to an amazing sunset. After dark the night show continues with thunderstorms to the east and south of us. We watch the many lightning strikes in the eastern sky and even though they seem so close they are about 20 miles away (counting the seconds between strike and thunder). Later, the storms from the south catch up with our camp with a big bang. Not only is the lightening and thunder all around us, but the wind hits XSC8POD so hard we are rocking back and forth (hummm.... I wonder how common tornadoes are around here).

Sunset puts on a show over Crystal Crane Hot Springs

After all the night's excitement, we are greeted with a rather tame morning and are off to an early start. The road ascends into volcanic hills with billowy clouds overhead. For much of the time we follow alongside the Malheur River ("misfortune" in French or more literally "bad hour" - some early explorer must have had a hard time in this area) until descending into a wide agricultural valley centered around the town of Vale OR.

Malheur River

Clouds over volcanic hills

Volcanic outcrop near Vale OR

Historic Vale OR boasts many large murals depicting life along the Oregon Trail.

Modern western wagons are sure easier and faster

After stopping in Vale, we are back on the road which soon follows the wide Snake River to our destination of Farewell Bend State Park ($22/night for a site with hook-ups, hot showers, and an excellent view - you gotta love the Oregon State Parks). Farewell Bend marks the spot the wagon trains left the Snake River after following it for over 330 miles. Since they needed to endure many days without water until the next river, it's easy to see why they were loathed to say good-bye to the Snake.

A Farewell Bend park Ranger told us one place the wagons forded the river was by the park entrance where there's a wide shallow bend with a large island in the middle. We wondered how they got their wagons across such a wide river before a ferry service was available. She said they took the wheels off and floated the water proof wagons across. Wow - these hardy souls were pioneers of amphibious vehicles as well.

If you're interested in the Oregon Trail, BLM's Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker OR is well worth the stop. Although we didn't make it on this trip, I stopped there on a previous camping trip with the girls. Fascinating original diaries describing incredible hardships are on display for visitors to read. Most of us live in such cushy and comfortable lives it's hard to imagine making, or even surviving, this journey ourselves. Even our easily bored pre-teens were amazed by their stories.

Snake River

Authentic covered wagon at entrance to Farewell Bend

Yet another beautiful Oregon Park

Thunderstorms have recently come through the park, so the grounds are still wet with rain. We find a great site overlooking the Snake. Our afternoon is spent napping through minor thunderstorms and that evening we stroll around the park and find a well lived in bird house. It's inhabitants have so feathered their nest it's now bursting at the seams (sounds like some of us humans).