Summer 2024 Oregon Adventure, 7.22.24 - 8.01.24, Part 2 of 2, Steens Mountain, Diamond Craters, Lake of the Woods, Crater Lake National Park
By the end of our second day at Newberry Volcanic National Monument, the smoke was just getting thicker. We hoped that our next destination might be a bit clearer. On July 25th, we left Newberry and headed back up towards Bend. Turning east, we followed 20 towards Burns. There were two large fires just north of Burns in the Mahleur National Forest. The smoke in the Bend area was horrible and didn’t get much better as we drove towards Burns. In Burns we headed south on 205 to a wonderful RV Park in the middle of nowhere called The Narrows RV Park. I had picked this place to stay because it was the closest RV Park to the area we wanted to explore and it turned out to be a real gem. The owners, Scott and Tina were incredibly great hosts. The place was immaculate and had everything we could need. They sold ice, gas, propane, snacks and ice cream. They also ran a restaurant with great food and a bar. The sites were very well taken care of and had small shade trees in each site. Being so close to the Mahleur Wildlife Refuge, there were tons of birds all over the place. Even the air was a bit clearer than up in the Burns area.
The reason we were here was to explore Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert. Steens Mountain is the seventh highest peak in Oregon and rises to 9,738’. A dirt loop road goes from the desert floor at Frenchglen up to just below the summit before dropping back down on the south side. It is the highest road in Oregon. The Alvord Desert lies almost six thousand feet below the summit of Steens on its southeast side. It is a dry lake bed and during dry season the cracked mud surface is safe to drive on. The Alvord Desert looks particularly beautiful at sunset, so as you might imagine, all this had piqued my adventure gene. We had tried to visit Steens Mountain in June of 2023 when we had traveled to the Owyhee Canyonlands and Leslie Gulch but the upper portion of Steens Mountain was still snowbound. Now we were back for another try.
More smoke had moved in overnight but with nothing better to do, we decided to drive up Steens Mountain and smoke be damned! About thirty-five minutes south of our campground we came to Frenchglen. This is pretty much just an old historic hotel and not much else. At Frenchglen we turned onto the Steens Mountain Road. The dirt road was mildly washboarded but not too bad. We made our way up the road and at about the two mile mark we passed by Page Springs Campground. I had considered staying here but was glad we hadn’t. I think the road was just bumpy enough that the Navibahn would not have liked it. Shortly past the campground we came around a corner and were suddenly in the midst of two hundred fifty runners wrapping up a race. I can’t imagine what a drag it must have been trying to run in all the thick fire smoke. We had to drive really slow so as not to kick up road dust as we passed the runners. Once we left them behind we began to climb out of the desert into aspen groves and flowery meadows.
At around the fifteen mile mark we passed another campground called Fish Lake. Gaining even more altitude we entered a tundra zone above treeline. Just over twenty miles from Frenchglen we came to a short side road that led to a spot called the Kiger Gorge Overlook. I had been really looking forward to seeing this. We parked and hiked just a few yards down a trail over to the rim of the Kiger Gorge. The smoke was so thick we could barely see anything but we saw just enough to tell it would look really cool in clear weather. Snow lingered on the north facing slopes and jagged pinnacles of rock lined the gorge.
Continuing on, we reached the top of the loop. We knew that due to a previous landslide the lower loop was blocked from going all the way around. However, another road at the top of the loop went even higher to a turnaround just below the summit of Steens Mountain. This was called the Wildhorse Lake Overlook. We were now at about 9,600’. A half mile trail gained another two hundred feet to the true summit. We had planned to hike up there but the smoke was so thick there was really no point. I did hike over to look down another gorge that held Wildhorse Lake but it was so smoky I could barely see the lake. Not much else could be accomplished so at this point we headed back the way we came up back down to Frenchglen. Despite the smoke, we had seen enough to know that we will have to return once again when conditions are more conducive to sightseeing.
Kiger Gorge Overlook, Steens Mountain
East Rim Overlook, Steens Mountain
East Rim Overlook, Steens Mountain
Kiger Gorge Overlook, Steens Mountain
When I plan a trip, part of my research involves just looking at a map to see what is around the area we are visiting. Such was the case with Steens Mountain. Right near where we were staying at the Narrows RV Park, I saw on a map a place called Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area. Having never heard of it, I drilled down a little deeper and ended up putting it on our possible “to do” list. We had spent less time than planned on Steens Mountain due to the smoke so we had some extra time to kill before going back to our camp. Diamond Craters fit the bill.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, Diamond Craters has some of the most diverse basalt volcanic features in the country, all packed into a small area of twenty-three square miles. It boasts an incredible array of craters, vents, cinder cones, spatter cones, lava tubes, driblet spires (whatever they are) and even a water filled maar. I had downloaded a Gaia track and it’s a good thing I did because there was not much in the way of signage to get there or to navigate once in the area.
Map of Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area
There was a sign off Highway 205 that said Diamond Craters, but where you take a left off that road there was nothing. Only Gaia told me where to turn. Then once you actually arrive at the area, not one sign could be found. You just basically turn off the road onto a dirt two track. And here’s where it gets a little better. The only signage in the entire area are little posts with numbers on them. These numbers coincide with a brochure you can download off the internet that tells you the name of what the numbers represent. We didn’t have the brochure but my Gaia map had a few of the names on it.
So off we went. Looking at the map above, we started at the question mark and basically followed the red line to the left. Each time we saw a numbered post we would get out to see what there was to see. We found twelve numbered posts as we worked our way through the area. At the far end of the left hand side we parked and hiked over a little hill to see what Mahleur Maar was all about. It turned out to be a water filled crater but not spring-fed. We also saw several basalt craters, some larger craters that looked older since they were covered in sage. I know a couple of the larger craters had fairly decent sized lava tubes but it was really hot and smoky so we weren’t in the mood to go wandering around on black lava rock in ninety degree weather.
From the Mahleur Maar, we turned onto an unimproved dirt track that went over the north end of Central Dome and North Dome. The road eventually just petered out and I almost got stuck trying to turn around but thanks to my superhuman driving skills (and 4WD), we turned around and went back the way we came in.
On the map it shows a trail going between Keyhole Explosion Crater and Oval Crater but it turned out to be a jeep track so we drove up between the two and up a fairly steep hill to a hilltop above South Dome. By the way, during this entire tour of Diamond Craters we never saw one other person or vehicle. It’s out there. On our way out we did finally come across a sign on the far eastern side of the area.
Big Bomb Crater
Mahleur Maar. Weird thing to see in the middle of hundreds of miles of pure desert.
Dragonfly that landed on my antenna
Not sure what these are called but they were all over the hillsides. Cindy?
Hill above South Dome
Better take a selfie to prove we were there!
Throughout the day the smoke just got worse. The next day we had planned to drive two hours south to see the Alvord Desert. With the forecast calling for more smoke, we decided it was time to get away from the area. I texted Doc and Shirley and they said it would be no problem to come a day early so we forfeited our final night at the Narrows and packed up to leave the next morning.
Waking up on July 27th, the smoke was even worse. A quick check said the air quality index was over three hundred which is in the highest bracket of not good for you. Things like angel dust, swimming in Florida swamps and wearing “Bikers are pussies” t-shirts in east L.A. are on that same level. We checked out and drove back up to Burns. Our eyes were stinging and watery, we couldn’t take a breath without it tasting like smoke. It was really bad. Heading west out of Burns, we turned south on 395. The further south and west we went the better the air quality got. It really stayed pretty bad almost all the way to Shirley’s, but any improvement was welcome.
395 is one lonely highway but we love the backroads of this country and even the most desolate of roads has a unique charm all its own. As long as you don’t run out of gas. Somewhere way down 395 we turned west and headed to a little town called Christmas Valley. Eventually we got back to Highway 97, then south to Upper Klamath Lake and finally over to Shirley’s cabin on Lake of the Woods. I think it took us around five hours to get from Burns to Lake of the Woods. Oregon is a big state!
Shirley’s cabin is my idea of the ultimate dream. A log cabin on a mountain lake with mountain views. The place was simply amazing. We couldn’t find anywhere level enough to park the Navibahn, but a quick text and we were able to park it at the neighbor’s cabin (thank you again!) who weren’t up there that week.
Lake of the Woods is a beautiful setting. It’s a natural lake about three miles long and three quarters of a mile wide. It is completely surrounded by pine forest. There are about two hundred homes around the lake, a YMCA camp at one end and a resort at the other. It sits near the crest of the Cascades at 4,949’. From her cabin, a very short trail through the woods leads to her dock where you have a stunning view of 9,493’ Mount McGloughlin.
The cabin
This side faces the lake
Interior
View from the dock
9,493’ Mount McGloughlin
The next five days were as good as it gets. Saturday and Sunday the four of us just sat on the dock, swam, ate, played guitar and just talked, talked talked. Turns out Shirley and Bridgit had the exact same childhood. Both had grandfathers that built summer cabins on a lake many decades ago. Both spent every summer at the lake house growing up. Meanwhile Doc and I have also become great friends since meeting over a year ago. We played hours and hours of guitar either out on the porch or in the living room every day.
Bridgit and Shirley
Jon and Doc
The other bonus was the the weather was much clearer than what we had been experiencing throughout the trip. Then things got even better. After two days of just the four of us, on Monday Karen and Deano arrived. These two are also good friends from our open mic community. It’s one thing to get acquainted shouting to each other over a table at an open mic. Having several days all day and night to just hang out together was incredible. Great conversations, lots of great food, plenty of warm air and cool water and of course three guitars playing late into the evenings was about as quality of time as you could ever dream up.
Oh, and did I mention that Crater Lake National Park was in her back yard? Since the park is barely an hour from her cabin, we took a field trip for one of our days up to Crater Lake. All of us had been there before so we didn’t spend the entire day there. We did go up to Mazama Village and walked along the rim a bit. We also drove out the East Rim Road and down the Pinnacles Road to Pinnacles Overlook. Bridgit and I had been to Crater Lake twice before but each time that road was closed due to snow so I was glad to finally get to check that part of the park out.
Wizard Island, Crater Lake National Park
Phantom Ship Overlook, Crater Lake National Park
The Pinnacles, Crater Lake National Park
The Pinnacles, Crater Lake National Park
Doc, Shirley, Jon, Bridgit, Karen, Deano
We hated to leave, but with a gig on the horizon, it was time to go. We drove home by taking 58 west past Diamond Peak to Eugene and then up I-5. That’s about a ten hour drive but it took us a bit longer with traffic, two gas stops and a lunch stop. Despite the smoke, we had a wonderful trip and the timing of ending the trip with the stay at Shirley’s cabin with good friends was perfect.