Pat Welle - Southeastern Oregon

"...open land of grass, sage, basalt rims, and dry lakes." (from 'Remote Wonders' by Melvin R. Adams).

The opening of Remote Wonders is an apt description of southeastern Oregon, where I recently took a week to explore. Views that don't stop... open skies... and plants rarely seen on our wet, west side of the mountains. The trip was well worth the long miles traveled!

Alford Desert from the top of Steens Mountain

Summer Lake and the Lost Forest in Christmas Valley

I began with an evening at Summer Lake. Getting there was a treat... once leaving Highway 97 south of La Pine and heading southeast, the road emptied of cars, slipping past Fort Rock and Silver Lake, before it crested a small pass and dropped with a wide view down to the lake. This is an edge of the Great Basin, and evening winds drove dust over the dry lake bed.

Summer Lake National Wildlife Refuge sits at the north end of the lake, and offers a road tour and multiple walking areas through wetlands. Many times of the year the birdlife here will be abundant. There is also good hiking on nearby ridges.

Driving north and east of Summer Lake rolling ridges are visible through Christmas Valley, and a short detour leads into the Lost Forest Research Natural Area. This stand of old growth trees sits on very sandy soils underlain with a thick hard layer that retains water near the tree's root zone.