Our drive up to the summit of Steens Mountain

If you ever have the opportunity to drive to the top of Steens Mountain, by all means, do so. It is an awesome drive. If you drive a hardy vehicle and one that has some ground clearance, go up on the south side of the loop and come down on the smoother, less steep north side. If you lookiing for adventure , the Rooster's Comb is the answer. Heading east fro Steen's Campground it is less than a mile until you begin to experience the "fun" of the RC. For next ten or so miles, (I'm not sure because I was too busy trying to avoid the bigger rocks and ruts while pushing up the steep grade [10+ % no doubt]but it took us over an hour including the stops for pictures and looks) . It is worth the blood, sweat, and tears once you get there because it is somethng you don't see on Oregon's other mountains. At 9700+ ft, it is the highest place you can drive to in Oregon. From the summit, you can look over the edge, to the east and look almost straight down onto the Alvord desert, white and dead flat, 5000 feet below. Quite a day!

The Steens

Wednesday was an exploration day for us. We headed south from the Headquarters down 205 through Frenchglen and turned onto a gravel road that marked the south end to the Steens Mountain Loop road. After traveling about twenty miles east on a nice but dusty road, we reached a turn-off for the Riddle Brothers Ranch. The road is goes north for 2 miles to a gate which is open Thursday thru Sunday. However, as we were reading the information signs at the parking area, the BLM archealogist, Scott drove up. I introduced myself and had a chat with him and he volunteered to let us come in a look around. I followed him through and shut and "sort of " locked the gate and drove the 1.2 mile into the ranch site. The road is ROUGH. It is not a road for a family car and would be inpassible in the rain because of the rocks and dirt (that would become mud ) in wet conditions. Anyway, we made it and walked around the place. There were three Riddle brothers ( relatives of the people that Riddle, Or is named for) the moved into this area in the early 1900's. The big cabin was occupied until the 50's or so. We met the caretakers who have been there for two months and are being replaced with a new couple at the end of Aug.
If you are interested in the job, there's no running water,(they go a mile to get fresh water and to take a shower), no electricity (propane only), and it's 2 1/2 hours to drive to Burns for groceries. But the area is beautiful; in a valley with the Little Blitzen River running alongside the cabin and absolutely nobody around for miles! It perfect for the latent hermit in you.

Tuesday 8/26/08

We have reached our "Friday" today even though it is only Tuesday. R & I work Sunday, Monday & Tuesday and have four days off, that's why. Yesterday, Monday was a wierd one. It dawned clear and calm. The radio station said 30% chance of rain and I thought , " Yah right." Well about Noon the wind came up and it blew steadily and hard from the south. About 1:30, it switched to a west wind and it really got going. It had to be a steady forty mph with gusts higher yet. Several of the doors at the ranch were being blown open so we decided to lock up a half-hour early and head back to headquarters where, because of the hill to the west, it was not as bad. However, the wind blew until the middle of the night. (No rain though, so they were wrong.)
This morning it was clear and cool ( in the 40's) when I got up to walk the girls. It had warmed somewhat when we drove to the ranch but we wore jackets until about Noon. Saw a three-point buck near the gravel road into the ranch. He was a beauty! We will see more as the season progresses. There are a lot of does and fawns that hang around the headquarters area. We had 13 vistors at the ranch today. R & I are really enjoying being docents. We have found that we are learning something from everyone that comes to the ranch. For instance, a gentleman today had worked as a buckaroo at a ranch near Riley in the 80's. He explained to us how several of the horse powered machines worked. We had reasd some information, but it really became clear when he explained it. Another visitor was a photographer and while we were looking at some of the old pictures, I commented on how stern everyone looked. He said that the film back then was so slow that people had to sit immobile for quite some time. There were braces that would be put behind the person to help him stay steady for the several minutes needed to the picture to "take". Modern film has an ASA of 200 or 400 and even faster. Early film from the times of the ranch (late 1890 - 1900) had a ASA of 2 , so that explains a lot.

Today dawned clear and cool. (This picture was taken yesterday. ) It was been several days of scattered clouds, wind, and cool temperatures ( 60's and 70's) with even cooler nights. I heard it was in the 30's in Burns last night ( Thursday night). But today it has started to warm up to the mid-80's today and tomorrow and maybe the 90's by Sunday when we go back to work. The cooler weather lessened the misquitoes so we will see if the warmer weather will bring them back. They haven't been too bad except some evenings. We discovered that Peaches has been developing some allergic reaction to the bites. Last week she started fussing and scratching and her face swelled up. She was miserable until R split up an anti-histamene tablet and gave it to her. She settled down and went right to sleep.
Wednesday night we organized a potluck supper with the refuge volunteers that live in our rv area. One person stays in the house that the refuge provides for non-RV people. It has a living area with kitchen and 3 bedrooms for people to use. These rooms can be used for visitors if anyone wished to see the desert. There were a total of 10 at supper and lots of talking and lots of food. I hope we can do it again because everyone is from different parts of the country and have unique experiances.
Thursday we drove to Burns to get groceries. We took our bikes and rode around town checking out some of the residential areas. There is a small bicycle shop in town so we stopped by and they raised R's handlebars a few inches so that she does not have to bend over so far when she rides. We are so happy to be riding together again. Had lunch at a deli on Main street. Don and his wife had moved to Burns in 1947 so just he knows everybody. He shared some history of the area with us.
Today we did some domestic chores and then drove over to the Double O ranch area of the refuge. Totally different area with different birds types to observe. We will go back over when the sub-station manager is on duty. On the way we passed what is left of the town of Narrows. It was a pretty big town at one time but flooding did it in. All that is left is what remains of the dancehall and a stone building in the distance.
It is hunting season around here right now. Antelope is what folks are looking for. R & I have been on our own hunt. So far we have bagged two mice that decided to live in our storage area under the trailer. I have set the trap again to see if any more are hiding there. Last night a great horned owl flew directly over my head as I was wiping off the gas grill. It is a juvenile that is not happy that the parents have started to wean it from the free food service they provided. It was quite a sight.

Happy 100th Birthday Malheur! Today is the 100 th anniversary of the establishment of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by the signing of the act by President Teddy Roosevelt. It was an exciting day for us at the ranch.
In addition to helping several families learn about the place we got to be observers of a spectacular storm. It dawned clear this morning but the radio said 30% chance of rain. ( yah right!) About 2pm we started hearing some distant thunder and saw a couple of flashes of lightning. Then we watched a huge dark cloud to the southeast and could see the dark lines of rain streaking down. As the storm approached you could hear this unusual sound and as the cloud got closer, the sound got louder. A drumming noise. Louder and louder the sound got as it approached us, the hills to the southeast disappeared into the grayness. Soon the storm was upon us and one, then three, then many hailstones hit the grass. Soon the roar was all around us and the stones , the size of gumballs, were raining down. We stood in the sodhouse office and just watched in awe. The wind blew, the rain came forcefully and the hail piled up on the ground. Ten minutes went by and then the deluge lessened, then subsided and turned to just rain lasting for a few minutes more. Then it was gone, moving northeast to deliver more ice to other areas. No damage was done to the buildings on the ranch. Oddly enough, the Visitors Center, which is about 2 miles east of the ranch, just had a few sprinkles. We were again made of aware of the wonder and beauty of Mother Nature.
J

Friday 8/15/08

We are now at Malheur National Wildlfe Refuge which is located about 25 miles south of Burns, Or. It may be wierd to think of a refuge in the middle of Eastern Oregon but there are many lakes and ponds in the area and birds and other creatures have been here or migrated through here for centuries.

We left Eugene about 10:15 on Tuesday and arrived at the refuge about 6:15. (approx. 260 miles) We are provided with a paved site with full hook ups to park our trailer at the park headquarters. Wednesday was spent getting settled in and Thursday our supervisor took five of us volunteers on a tour of the refuge from one end to the other. Lots of country to see with lots of history in its past. R & I will be docents at the Sodhouse Ranch Sun, Mon, & Tues each week. The ranch dates from the 1880's and had 9 of the original buildings along with corrals and fences. There will be about a dozen cows and calves there to help make the display more real. I will elaborate further in the days to come.