The Steens

Recently, Molly and I filled up the truck with a bunch of toys and headed down into SE Oregon. It is about as remote an area I have seen in the lower 48 and it was wonderful. We spent most of our time in The Steens Mountain Wilderness Area. The west side of the range has gradual elevation gain and is green whereas the east side of the range is very drastic with steep elevation gain that reaches up from the dry Alvord Desert..The peaks reach to about 10,000ft, the open prairies are filled with wildflowers, and the crystal clear lakes are surrounded by beautiful Aspen groves. We were lucky enough to get a primitive campsite right on Pate Lake(more like a pond by MN standards but none the less beautiful)...We did a little canoeing,some unsuccessful fishing, hiking, running,biking,and lots of reading with beer drinking! On our way home we decided we would head back into the nearest town of Frenchglen and get some supplies. This is a neat little town that takes you back in time where time has not seemed to change a thing. From there we went south to the next town of Fields, OR...Once again these small town/villages are filled with character and wonderful people....We had a world famous shake and split a burger for lunch here before we were to drive north for 60+miles of dirt road skirting the scenic side of The Steens..This side of the range is filled with many geothermal pools and we had to stop at a few as the drive was slow and the scenery was amazing. To the west The Steens to the East other small ranges with The Alvord Desert and its salt flats..As we continued north we decided it was too hot and dry to camp with the dogs out here so we followed the road(only option going north) to Hwy 78. From there we started to head back west towards Burns...We happened to have a hot spring book from a friend and saw that one of the springs on the way back was a "rustic" resort by the name of Crystal Crane Hot Springs....check them out at www.cranehotsprings.com. As we rolled in, the place was dead so we decided to get a little cabin for the night and enjoy the springs and scenery...We will definitely be going back sometime as it was truly relaxing and the main spring was great! This small resort has has been in business I believe they said since 1929...the people were friendly and surroundings just wanted we were looking for.

I love outhouses and this one was worthy of getting a photo of..It was at the Frenchglen Hotel.

This is the historic Frenchglen Hotel..

The Frenchglen Mercantile..The only place for miles and miles to get some fuel and supplies..They only take cash but I talked the nice lady into taking a check..Nothing a good smile cannot get ya!!

There were many sheep grazing up in The Steens...In the 1800s this area was very popular with The Basque People who had thousands of sheep they herded in this area. If you search you can find carvings in the Aspen trees from these people.

Molly enjoying the view in one of the many beautiful groves..

Molly on one of our many runs..There were endless trails and two track roads and nobody to share them with but ourselves!

kaia doing what she does best..

This was our campsite for a couple of days on Pate Lake..at about 7800 ft. We really enjoyed this site with lake and trail access.

The campsite with the old Winona Echo in the background..

The road to Frenchglen was about 20 miles down this road from our campsite.. We got a handful of miles on our bikes cruising on this road and other two track roads..

Out for the morning canoe...Kaia decided she wanted to swim behind me this morning..she rarely does this..Usually she wants to be in the boat with us..she must have been hot!

The bikes after a dusty day on the road..

Kaia and I after another session out in the boat..

The dogs and I almost to the top on the west side of The Steens..

Molly and the dogs.

Finn loves snow!..He was so excited to see that there was some left on the hike to the top..

One of the many views of Aspen filled gorges..

Molly..

After a few days camping at the lake we decided to drive further southeast to Fields, OR..This is all the town is made up of..Let me tell you the best thing besides the remoteness of this town was that they were very friendly and made a hell of a good chocolate shake..

The east side of The Steens...It is much more dramatic than the west side..It is on this side that many head to in the winter to get some steep lines in skiing with some nice dry snow...It reminded me of The Bridger Range.

Another shot of the east side of The Steens..

Alvord Lake...all dried up after the spring...Lots of racing goes on down there..

These were the Alvord Hot Springs...We soaked here for about half an hour before getting back on the road north up the 70 mile dirt hwy..the only road between The Steens and Alvord Lake..

This trippy little picture was up at The Alvord Hot Springs...wish I knew the story behind it.

Further north up the hwy was Mann Lake..a large bird sanctuary...there were many pelicans and egret's..This view is looking south.

Molly and I at our last stop of the trip which was Crystal Crane Hot Springs...They are located 25 miles east of Burns, Oregon...We had no idea we were going to go here until about half an hour prior to the stop..We decided we were not ready to get back to Bend yet so we rented a small cabin at these wonderful springs..

A view of the spring looking from our little cabin..Probably the largest natural hot spring I have ever been to.

Little "D," our cabin for the night..It felt good to be back on a bed after a handful of nights in the tent..

The sunset from our cabin...looking west towards home..

And another....what a nice way to end the day..

And this is the last.....Southeast Oregon has so much natural beauty it is hard to take it all in...Cheers and I hope you all get a chance someday to explore this wonderful area of the US....