Bob DenOuden's Pacific Northwesterner: 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.