Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Charles Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge

Greaser Petroglyph

I have been feeling a bit disconnected as of late.  The holidays often do that.  The passing of a year, particularly one as challenging as 2017 turned out to be, often results in a bit of a mental lull for me.  Happily I mustered up some energy and convinced a Eugene friend to come over and join me for a road trip to the Charles Sheldon Wildlife Refuge in Nevada.  It turned out to be a perfect cure for my listlessness.  It helped that the weather turned out to be absurdly pleasant for mid January.  It also helped that this place is so full of wonderful surprises.  In a three day trip we "discovered" an eight hundred foot deep canyon, two hot springs (well, one was more of a warm pool, but still nice), and some interesting cabin ruins.  We also got to see the Greaser Petroglyph, which had been on my list for years, and we got to travel a back road loop of the Pueblo Mountains which included ascending Domingo Pass for a view into this range that I had (embarrassingly) not yet seen.  Throw in a visit to Borax Lake, some great campfire sitting, and amazing starry nights and it made for a perfect weekend.  The Sheldon Refuge, paired with Oregon's Hart Mountain Refuge, combine to form a huge tract of potential discoveries not too far from home, but certainly off the beaten track.  I feel much better about 2018 already.  And we'll be back.  There are many discoveries we left on the table out there in northern Nevada.


Thousand Creek Canyon

Bog Hot Springs

In the Pueblos

Pueblo Mountains

Borax Lake

Virgin Valley Hot Springs

Thousand Creek Canyon from the rim

Monday, January 01, 2018

New Years Eve at Steelhead Falls

One last camping trip of 2017 and the first of 2018

We spent New Years Eve at the Steelhead Falls campground on the edge of the Deschutes River canyon.  It was cold, but beautiful when we got there.  Unfortunately, the fog rolled in that evening and stayed with us through New Years Day.  I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come in '18!

The Deschutes from our campsite

Deschutes River canyon looking upstream

Steelhead Falls

Christmas 2017 on Whidbey Island, Washington

Ebeys Prairie trail
I spent Christmas in Washington this year.  First it was Whidbey Island where we had beautiful weather and I enjoyed some beach time as well as one of my favorite trails anywhere: the bluff at Ebeys Prairie near Coupeville.  It was great to get out of the temperature inversion and stagnant air that we have had so much of in Central Oregon. 


Looking across sound to Olympic Peninsula