Day 2, The Long Road To Jordan Valley
After a wonderful evening (maybe a little cold) we decided to head down the twisty narrow road known as the roosters comb to see the other Gorge overlooks and head to Fields and the southeast side of the mountain. The morning started with no coffee... we planned on using a little Keurig to plug into our 110 outlet in the back of the new car for morning coffee, not great but easy and no cleanup. But it needs more voltage than our outlet could give so we were coffee-less dangit! But with a view like the one we woke up to, who needs coffee. The sun hitting our little overnight spot on the ridge between the massive gorges was a beautiful wake-up call, it felt like we were balanced on the edge of the largest half pipe skate park in the world. But it was time to go as the skeeters were already finding our secret spot so it was down the road and a couple of short hikes to the gorge viewing spots before driving off Steens Mountain. On the way down we got to see the Kiger Mustangs, a very unique wild horsey.
The next stop was the little frontier outpost of Fields Station for an excellent burger and coffee malt and to see the small oasis across the street where we got to see one of the owls that lives there. After spending 10 minutes looking up in the trees Ang looked down and it was right there 12 feet in front of us. With a brief stop at Borax hot spring (which we walked around but didn't find, it was hot) and some crazy research project going on out in the desert with more than a dozen tents, crazy. Down the road was Pike creek where we saw a tree sticking incomprehensibly out of a huge rock, an old door to a uranium mine, mind boggling views of the desert below and an apricot tree growing right out of the edge of the creek loaded with ripe fruit, which Ang loaded her shirt with hence providing snackage for the rest of the day.
The rest of the day went like this. Drove to Rome and saw a sign that said "Pillars Of Rome" hey let's go see that I said and it's a good thing. a few miles off the highway it was one of the coolest erosion displays we've ever seen. Got perfect iced tea at the Station, and looped out to Owyhee Canyon Overlook and Three Forks. We braved the crazy 1.2 miles of intense rocky road down to the bottom and decided to not stay, possible rain coming, too hot and too many bugs. So we completed the 80 mile wildlife loop that headed to Jordan Valley where we got gas at the SHell and a Motel room for the night. It was amazingly spacious and clean and the shower was appreciated. Did not think there were Basque settlements in Oregon. And we finally got to use our Keurig.
The next stop was the little frontier outpost of Fields Station for an excellent burger and coffee malt and to see the small oasis across the street where we got to see one of the owls that lives there. After spending 10 minutes looking up in the trees Ang looked down and it was right there 12 feet in front of us. With a brief stop at Borax hot spring (which we walked around but didn't find, it was hot) and some crazy research project going on out in the desert with more than a dozen tents, crazy. Down the road was Pike creek where we saw a tree sticking incomprehensibly out of a huge rock, an old door to a uranium mine, mind boggling views of the desert below and an apricot tree growing right out of the edge of the creek loaded with ripe fruit, which Ang loaded her shirt with hence providing snackage for the rest of the day.
The rest of the day went like this. Drove to Rome and saw a sign that said "Pillars Of Rome" hey let's go see that I said and it's a good thing. a few miles off the highway it was one of the coolest erosion displays we've ever seen. Got perfect iced tea at the Station, and looped out to Owyhee Canyon Overlook and Three Forks. We braved the crazy 1.2 miles of intense rocky road down to the bottom and decided to not stay, possible rain coming, too hot and too many bugs. So we completed the 80 mile wildlife loop that headed to Jordan Valley where we got gas at the SHell and a Motel room for the night. It was amazingly spacious and clean and the shower was appreciated. Did not think there were Basque settlements in Oregon. And we finally got to use our Keurig.