South Side of the Steens #adventure #backroads

Mother's Day morning hubby asked me what my plans were for the day.  I said the usual, writing, research, taking a walk.  He said, "I thought we'd make the trip around the south side of the Steens we've been talking about."

South side of the Steens Mountains

So we made sure Blueberry, my volkswagon, was full of fuel, tossed in some snacks and drinks in case the restaurant in Fields wasn't open, and headed south on Hwy 78. We've been down 78 before on our many trips to Nampa, ID.  But after thirty miles we turned onto a road with a sign that pointed to Fields.

A ways down the road it turned to gravel and we kept on going. The hills were shades of light green, tan, and spattered with gray, white and pink rocks. Wild flowers were scattered and in large bunches. We passed a solid yellow field. The flowers, I think, were goldenweed.

One of the Valleys I'd like to explore.

I loved the the canyons heading back from the valley into the Steens Mountains. I kept telling hubby we need to spend a day and hike into one or two of them. The photo above had a building at the bottom of the wide section of vegetation. I came up with so many story ideas for that. Some had shear rock walls and others had springs and trees.

Alvord Desert

We came upon the dry lake bed called Alvord Desert. Hubby couldn't resist driving the car out onto the bed and messing around like a race car driver.

Moseying on, we came to Fields and had a yummy lunch of cheeseburgers and hand made shakes. With our bellies full we headed into Catlow Valley. There are large meadows of grass and small clumps of willows.  The valley is watered by natural springs that trickled down the sides of the hills,most likely coming from the melting snow on the Steens Mountains.

Krumbo Reservoir

Following the road through Catlow Valley we snaked our way down to merge onto hwy 205 near French Glen. Down the road from small community of French Glen we took a road back to Krumbo Reservoir. The small reservoir is hidden behind a knoll but had a quiet solitude that appealed to me. On the road into the reservoir we saw two Sandhill cranes in a field.

After viewing the reservoir we returned to 205 and a short distance turned east onto the Diamond loop road, turning before Diamond, we headed north past the Peter French Round Barn and on home.

It was a delightful day of discovering more of the country where we now live.

Wildflowers of SE Oregon

Yesterday I hiked around in the hills on our property and took photos of the wildflowers that abound among the sage brush, rocks, and bunch grass.

This is Large-flowered collomia. It's of the phlox family. The flowers are usually a pale salmon color. they are an annual that can grow up to three feet tall.

This I believe to be Common Larkspur. This grows in many regions and the flowers can be anywhere from white to purple.  

This sunshiny yellow flower is microseris.  It resembles the common dandelion. the flowering heads close early in the day, especially during hot weather.

I'm not positive about this one, but it has several of the same characteristics of the Oregon sunshine. It has bright golden-yellow flowers and whitish-woolly leaves.  Grows low to the ground and thrives in many habitats but likes dry sandy plains and fine talus slopes.

I loved finding this flower as a child. Indian paintbrush.  Or in this case, Desert paint brush. 

This is a Plains daisy. They like to grow in dry, thin rocky or gravelly soils. 

The Prairie lupine can  be find in nearly all geographic locations. They adapt to the area in which they are growing. 

The blue of this Blue penstemon is the first thing that caught my eye. This particular color is most abundant in the sandy sage brush plains of eastern Idaho. We aren't' that far from eastern Idaho. ;) 

The pale yellow and long graceful stalks of this plant reminded me of a dancer. However, the name is Thread-stalk locoweed. Locoweed can be a threat to livestock. Certain species can accumulate large amounts of selenium and when the animal eats the plant it gets selenium poisoning. These plants also have an alkaloid substance called "locine" which if eaten in large amounts can also kill an animal. While most livestock don't eat the plant unless they are low on food, some can become "addicted" to the plant. If eaten in small amounts it can cause lack of coordination and muscular control and violent, unpredictable behavior when aroused. Animals rarely recover after having loco poisoning. 

This delicate, pretty flower is Yampah. It was named by the plains Indians who used the plant's starchy bulbs to eat. The can be eaten fresh, cooked, dried, or ground into flour for baking.  It has a carrot flavor and is one of the most nourishing wild plants. It flowers through out the summer months.

I used the book, Sagebrush Country- A Wildflower Sanctuary by Ronald J. Taylor to identify the flowers. 

Diamond loop, backwards.

Our place in eastern Oregon is off the Diamond Loop loop. Today when I should have been writing, I decided to take the loop. I had specific reasons to take the drive.

First I had to go by the post office in Princeton and pick up a package sent to me for a prize for the conference I'm headed to tomorrow. So I drove off the loop long enough to pick the package, visit with our neighbor who works at the Post office, and then get back on the loop.

This is where I ended up backtracking. Because I wanted to hit Narrows for lunch, I went to the Peter French Round Barn visitor center/book store/museum, which was the opposite direction of my next stop. At the visitor center as always happens I bought a book. I always buy books when I'm there because they have the best collection of nonfiction historical books. I always find one that pertains to what I'm working on at the time I visit. They also have western clothing, knick knacks, dishes, cards, and snacks.

View from Malheur Refuge parking lot

Then I backtracked to drive the thirteen miles of gravel road to get to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. This has a wonderful visitor center with a gift shop, a building that houses taxidermy birds of every species on the refuge in a building, picnic areas, and a great few of the Malheur Lake with resident birds.

From there I drove twelve paved miles to Narrows and had a wonderful lunch at the cafe there. Also had a great conversation with the owner of the store who loves her kindle and was ready to look up my books when I left. ;) I brought home with me a mini cherry pie to eat tonight while I watch a movie.

Lava escarpment with Steens in background

I left Narrows, turned south and continued to the turnoff to Diamond. Before reaching Diamond, I turned back north and stopped to stand awestruck at the Diamond craters once again. It is such an odd site to see bubbled up lava and deep craters in the middle of sagebrush and bunch grass.  continuing on, I by-passed the Round Barn and returned home.

I love the diversity of the country in the one loop, the wildlife that abounds, and the way my mind conjures up how it must have been in the late 1800's when people first started homesteading the area.

One of the craters formed by volcanic activity