The Oregon Great Basin

Looking north somewhere between Christmas Valley and Wagontire

I arrived home from Kansas late Wednesday night, went to work Thursday, and headed out again with a friend after work that day. Our destination; Oregon's Great Basin country. We spent a night east of Christmas Valley (which is a hellhole) out in the desert with a billion stars. Great way to start off a weekend. The next day we moved camp to the northern Abert Rim area and spent the day hiking up Juniper Mountain. Enjoyed a beautiful sunset that evening and explored some canyons the next day. We also saw the namesake of Valley Falls to the south of Abert Lake. A 15 foot water fall on the Chewaucan River as it drops into the lake. Somehow I'd never noticed that - something about a 2,000' sheer fault block cliff that takes your attention away from the immediate vicinity. The winds picked up that afternoon and made Abert Rim a bit stormy for us so we headed north and explored the Silver Creek drainage to the northwest of Burns. Nice to see some new stuff - and great to get out.

The northern stretches of Abert Rim

Petroglyphs along Rabbit Creek

Sunset in the Great Basin