Steens Mountain

We have seen Steens Mountain from a distance for years, but this year we decided to load up the trailer and get a little closer.  

Steens Mountain, named after Enoch Steen, is in the middle of a big empty area in south eastern Oregon. If you look at the map there really isn't much there. Just a big mountain, dramatic basalt flows and marshy areas that are sometimes called lakes. We drove to Frenchglen and then took an 18 mile gravel road to Fish Lake Campground.

The scenic loop road around the mountain was still closed to cars, but Calvin hopped on his bike and headed up the gravel road. 

I drove up the road until it was gated off and then walked up the road to meet Calvin. This is the view from the west side. 

 It was early spring at this elevation (7, 500 feet) and very beautiful with little pockets of aspen everywhere, but to my surprise, no pine trees.

 I met Calvin about 1 1/2 miles up the road, so I turned around and saw this amazing vista.  I didn't notice until after I took the shot that I could see Calvin riding down the road to the car. You'll just have to trust me that Calvin is that little black blob. You could see for miles and miles.  The white streak in the far distance is a dry lake bed.

We decided to drive to Burns to see a little more of the area and get some gas. We stopped at a viewpoint to get a better look at some marsh/lake.

 What looks like a mountain range below is the view of Steens Mountain from the north and it is just one big mountain.

On our way home we took a short 18 mile detour, only about 5 miles on dirt, to see the Alvord lake also called Alvord desert. In the far right you can see a few black dots on the playa.  This was a whole big group of people sand sailing, racing around pylons.

 And this is what Steens Mountain looks like from the south.

Our BLM campground offered few amenities and was pretty remote, but it was full both nights.  The only minor irritation was the mosquitos, but a little bug spray and sleeping in the trailer helped with that.