Campout to Eastern Oregon

Hi All,

On Friday, Sept 13, Rosie and I took off for a week vacation in our truck and camper.  We had started out 2 days earlier, but sprang a leak in one of our power steering lines.  We were heading to the south coast and southern Oregon, but were able to return home where Rosie’s brother fixed the problem.   Then we were faced with a decision on where to go as a huge weather system was coming off the ocean affecting much of the state.  We decided to head up into the mountains to start with and camped at Big Lake, which is straight east at the summit of the Cascades.  The lake is probably a mile long and half mile wide, with Mt Washington easily seen towering over the north side. 

It was clear on Saturday and we went for a long walk on a trail.  I had misunderstood just how long it was, and we made the mistake of hiking 9+ miles, way too far for us anymore.  We were quite sore for the next day or two.  In the afternoon a Golden Eagle flew over the lake as well as our campsite, providing an addition to my Linn County list.

Big Lake with Mt Washington in the background at 7677 feet elevation

There are huge dragonflies in the Cascades

A Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

This one likes my grapes

The next day was cool and cloudy and we were faced with another decision - where to go to escape the coming rain.  We wanted to continue east down the eastern flank to Bend and then go south, but it was looking too wet that direction, so we decided to keep heading east to 130 miles to Burns, and then south to the Malhuer NWR.  We had camped at the south end of the refuge, another 60 miles, many times in the 80s and 90s, so the particular campground would certainly bring back memories.  

But before we would ever reach there, every birder must stop at HQs.  The place is at the south side of Malhuer Lake and contains many trees of various sorts, providing a much needed stopping place in the desert for migrating birds.  Plus, there was a huge bonus to sidetrack here: the states 3rd record of a Broad-billed Hummer had been here for a few days and would be a wonderful addition to my state list.  I also ran into Nolan Clements, a young birder now attending OSU, with his dad and mom.

Sure enough, the hummer was still there and came to the feeder right after I located it.  Photographers prefer to photograph birds in a more natural setting, but I had to settle for getting him on the feeder.  At least you can see how beautiful he is.  Also present was a young Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  These types of places in the desert are also great spots for Great-horned Owls, and this one allowed a close approach. 

Broad-billed Hummer

Great-horned Owl

About a mile south of Frenchglen in the junipers

A small juniper tree

Juniper Berries

While heading south we heard from Nolan that the campground was full, so we stopped at the small town of Frenchglen and went into the hotel to ask for advice for where to head to park our truck for the night.  The owner said if we headed up the hill for a mile there were some short side roads to accommodate us, so we did just that.  We were now in juniper country, and many trees were full of berries. 

In the morning we meandered back to Frenchglen and walked up and down the main street birding, and then headed over to Page Springs to see if it cleared out a little.  It did, so we found a space to camp for the next 3 nights.  There had been many “improvements” made since we were last here.  I think some time in the past there was no fee, but now it was $10.00 per night.  But now that I am a senior and have a senior pass, all the governmental campgrounds are half price.

We missed the rain until the last night here when it poured pretty good.  However, the weather was fairly decent otherwise.  We walked around the area often just enjoying the scenery and reminiscing of former times there. It turned out that Nolan did not go home with his parents, but linked up with Russ Morgan, a birder and photographer from LaGrande where they both live.  Russ has been a great help to me in learning photography, taking the next step.  And they arrived at Page Springs late in our first day there.  The shot of the Plumbeous Vireo was taken with the camera steadied on Russ’ shoulder.  These shots are around the campground. 

Plumbeous Vireo.  A pair bred at Page Springs.  These are  very rare in the state,
so it was great to actually photograph one.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Warbling Vireo

A young mule deer

The deer are almost tame here. 

Grazing in the grass

It was looking like the next day, Tuesday the 16th, was to be the best day weatherwise, so we made plans to head up Steens Mountain, or a geologist would say “Massif.”  Any trip to the area in the fall is incomplete without a trip up to the summit.  It is considered a fault-block mountain and stretches some 50 miles from north to south and reaches a hight of 9733 feet, and then the east side simply drops off down to the Alvord Desert, a mile below or so.   It is set aside as a wilderness and so no cattle graze there, at least not very high up.  One has to wait until the snow has melted enough to drive the 20+ miles to the top, which is usually sometime in July.  

For the birder, the star of the show is the Black Rosy Finch.  Steens is the only place in Oregon where they are consistently seen.  They prefer the cliff faces, of which there are many, and birders were reporting them almost 100% of the time.  Turns out Russ and Nolan left before dawn as they had a long day ahead of them.  It was nice to have cell service with them.  A couple hours later Nolan said it was 25 degrees and the wind was really blowing, making it “brutal,”  and that there was a little crust of snow up there.  

But we figured that after the sun came up and warmed things up, it would not be so bad, so we started out.  The gravel road is really pretty good as it winds up and up and up.  About a mile from the east rim (where the birds usually are) we reached the snow and eventually the parking area.  Nolan and Russ arrived shortly after, having gone to another location looking for the birds.  After just a few minutes a flock of about 15 flew in.  They were all within about 40 feet of the crest where we were and were scouring the scree for food. 

It appeared they were working their way south, so Russ and I positioned ourselves accordingly and waited for them, which paid off quite well.  I hope you are viewing pics of them on the big screen as this is best to see the intricate coloring of them.  But as the wind was still strong and the temperature still low, our fingers were froze within short order.  I suspect I took some 150 pictures, and these are the best ones.  I have to admit I got carried away a little, but simply had to overdo it with hopes that some would turn out great.  The pic of the male, well, he was close enough so I had to back off on the zoom, so must have been under 10 feet from me.  What a morning!

These next shots are of the summit area and of Black Rosy Finches.

A young Black Rosy Finch

This young Rosy Finch is eating a grasshopper, which,
due to the temperature, must have been quite sluggish.

A young Black Rosy Finch

An adult male Black Rosy Finch

A young Black Rosy Finch

We saw this Mourning Dove en route back to the campground

After lunch we hiked up on the bluff overlooking Page Springs to take some pics, and then hiked up a ravine which takes off from the far end of the campground.  That would eventually lead us to higher ground where sagebrush and juniper dominated the landscape.  That night, our last night there, the heavens let loose and it rained and rained.  

From the bluff overlooking Page Springs Campground

A Great Blue Heron in the sage overlooking the marsh

A red-breasted Nuthatch at HQ on the way out of the refuge

A rabbit somewhere along the line

Not a great pic, but we saw a few White-faced Ibis on the way out as well

We were once again faced with the dilemma of where to go to avoid the rain, and ended up going north of Burns to a place called “Yellow Jacket Lake.”  One has to wonder how it got its name, but near the end of September we did not have to worry about getting stung.  We camped here back in ’84 with 2 young boys, Mark and Brian, who I’m sure remember that campout.  We did not remember much about the place.  It was “only” 35 years ago.  But it was remote and quiet, and I finally heard an owl at night, a Long-eared Owl, the first for this year.  

Before heading out the next day, we went for another long walk.  But this one was only some 5 miles or so, and we ended up going to a recent burn looking for woodpeckers,  so you can see dead trees in some of the pics.  It is nice when you have cell service way out in the middle of nowhere.  I brought up google maps and we found a shorter way back to the campground.

Yellow Jacket Lake

The next couple shots are of the burn area we ventured to.

Here are 2 more shots near the burn area.

Another shot of the lake

I planned to take the nearby connecting road north to the east-west hwy, but found that the road turn to gravel and washboard, so ended up turning around and going a different route.  So it took us much longer to get to Prineville where we planned to stay that night as a result, but the scenery could not be beat, unless you were on the Steens on a clear day.  

We ended up south of Prineville along the South Crooked River Hwy where along a river there were a string of BLM campsites.  The river was in a large ravine surrounded by rimrock, of which you can see in some of the pics.  We built a fire and roasted hot dogs, a nice way to close out our week of camping here and there.  

The next day we stopped at the Crooked River Wetlands, a newly created place quite attractive to shorebirds and waterfowl, and has already developed quite a good reputation for such.  There were 2 Red-necked Grebes here, which were a nice addition to my Crook County list.  

The rest of the trip was uneventful, chugging up the east slope and gliding down the west one.  While I was away, a friend of mine found a rare bird at the local refuge, so I went there and not only found that one, but another one which was new for me in my home county, a great way to end the trip. 

Here is where we stayed the last night.

Downy Woodpecker

Looks like this turned into a long blog with lots of pics.  A lot can transpire in one week.  I suppose a long blog could be written on the Steens experience alone.  Some go up there just to see the aspen trees in their yellow autumn color.  One advantage to going this late in the season is that there were hardly any mosquitos.  The desert can be loaded during summer and should be avoided unless one can deal with them, somehow.   Which reminds me, I was once at a weekend gathering at the refuge and on one evening there was a speaker who gave a wonderful dialogue of the history of the area.  Afterward, during the Q&A period, someone asked him how the Indians dealt with the mosquitos.  He kindly and tactfully explained that they were not affected due to their body odor.  So I guess that is something one can try if they feel so inclined…………