I’ve been a long time lurker, and now I feel that I should add to this site instead of just taking. Granted I may not be adding much, but who knows. Hope you enjoy this amateur attempt.
The trip to the Alvord Playa began when my wife and a coworker were chatting about the summer plans. Kirk (my wife’s friend) mentioned that he was going to drive to the Alvord Playa in eastern Oregon. I’ve met Kirk a few times before and we chatted about going together. The travel plans were solidified.
We left early and drove to Bend Oregon. An important stop was to be made. We needed to watch the US play in the World Cup. The bar was packed at 9AM be we found a place to sit and eat some bisquits and gravy and breakfast beer. I am on vacation and no children don’t judge.
Soccer game ended, beer finished driving began. The drive is what is expected for eastern Oregon.
We made the turn to the playa and the clouds were setting in. Rain maybe in the future.
Driving just a few miles down the road the weather changed for the better. Or at least it was more dramatic.
One of the reasons I wanted to go the the Alvord is to fish Mann Lake. I’ve read about it and I’ve always wanted to camp and fish the lake. Well, that was’t going to happen. It was low water there was about deep mud for a good 15 feet before you ever reached the water. Not to mention the wind whipping down the mountains. I did not want to camp here. It was pretty but not worth the mud and wind.
After some searching we found a great campsite down in a bowl, out of the wind and surrounded by old peach trees. The turkeys kept us on our toes. Never saw them but heard them all the time. Steak with a morel mushroom cream sauce was eaten followed a glass (or two) of scotch. Who could ask for more. Not I.
The next morning we drove to Fields, Oregon to get gas and a treat.
The next morning we packed camp and split ways. Kirk was continuing on to Moab. I on the other hand, had to start the trip back home.
I drove to Shaniko, Oregon. It’s a town up in the high desert that has nothing around it for miles.
I mean nothing.
It was cool nonetheless, the cafe makes a killer sandwich. I spent some time walking around and taking some pictures.
The rest of the drive home was uneventful. The trip on the other hand was amazing. If you ever have the chance to make it the Alvord desert and the Steens mountains it’s completely worth it. Make sure you keep an eye on your gas.
I hope you enjoyed this and I think in the future I will be doing more of this. You all will be the first to find out.
For the camera geeks, images were shot on Canon 5D, Fujifilm X-Pro 1 or the Iphone.
This is my first post. I'm hoping the images show up with the text and not just a link as shown in preview. If they show up as a link I would love instructions on how to have them show up as images.
Thanks for your time,
Nathan
The trip to the Alvord Playa began when my wife and a coworker were chatting about the summer plans. Kirk (my wife’s friend) mentioned that he was going to drive to the Alvord Playa in eastern Oregon. I’ve met Kirk a few times before and we chatted about going together. The travel plans were solidified.
We left early and drove to Bend Oregon. An important stop was to be made. We needed to watch the US play in the World Cup. The bar was packed at 9AM be we found a place to sit and eat some bisquits and gravy and breakfast beer. I am on vacation and no children don’t judge.
Soccer game ended, beer finished driving began. The drive is what is expected for eastern Oregon.
We made the turn to the playa and the clouds were setting in. Rain maybe in the future.
Driving just a few miles down the road the weather changed for the better. Or at least it was more dramatic.
One of the reasons I wanted to go the the Alvord is to fish Mann Lake. I’ve read about it and I’ve always wanted to camp and fish the lake. Well, that was’t going to happen. It was low water there was about deep mud for a good 15 feet before you ever reached the water. Not to mention the wind whipping down the mountains. I did not want to camp here. It was pretty but not worth the mud and wind.
After some searching we found a great campsite down in a bowl, out of the wind and surrounded by old peach trees. The turkeys kept us on our toes. Never saw them but heard them all the time. Steak with a morel mushroom cream sauce was eaten followed a glass (or two) of scotch. Who could ask for more. Not I.
The next morning we drove to Fields, Oregon to get gas and a treat.
The next morning we packed camp and split ways. Kirk was continuing on to Moab. I on the other hand, had to start the trip back home.
I drove to Shaniko, Oregon. It’s a town up in the high desert that has nothing around it for miles.
I mean nothing.
It was cool nonetheless, the cafe makes a killer sandwich. I spent some time walking around and taking some pictures.
The rest of the drive home was uneventful. The trip on the other hand was amazing. If you ever have the chance to make it the Alvord desert and the Steens mountains it’s completely worth it. Make sure you keep an eye on your gas.
I hope you enjoyed this and I think in the future I will be doing more of this. You all will be the first to find out.
For the camera geeks, images were shot on Canon 5D, Fujifilm X-Pro 1 or the Iphone.
This is my first post. I'm hoping the images show up with the text and not just a link as shown in preview. If they show up as a link I would love instructions on how to have them show up as images.
Thanks for your time,
Nathan
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