2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
2014 Trip across the US
2015 Trip to Alaska
2015-16 Southwest Trip
2016 New England Trip
2016 - 17 Southwest Trip
Thursday, September 14, 2017 - Page Springs BLM Campground, Frenchglen, OR, Day 5, 0 Miles, 678.9 Towing Miles For the Trip
After breakfast I got ready to drive through the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Before I left I took a picture of some Hemlock plants. I had alway thought the poisonous hemlock resembled one of the evergreens, but it is a stalky plant. They have signs identifying sections of Hemlock that are all over the campground.
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| Sign | Hemlock |
The Center Patrol Road tees into the Steens Loop Road that runs to the campground (and over the mountain). They have CD's that explain around 20 stops along the road, but unfortunately, it goes from the north to the south, making it difficult to use when starting from the southern end of the road. I stopped at the P Ranch & photographed the long barn, and followed the road to Krumbo Road & out to the Krumbo Reservoir.
After that I drove to the town of Diamond (population 9) and tried to get to the Kiger Wild Mustang Viewing Area, but it was 12 miles of rough dirt road. While the Tacoma did fine on the road, there were many roads branching on all directions with no signs, so I finally gave up & headed back to OR 205. By the way, I ran into another cattle drive, this time on Diamond Loop Road, again, in both directions. The last one was black cows heading east, this time it was brown cows heading west!
Since I was at least half way there, I headed to Hines to mail a couple of cards to the grandkids, get gas ($2.99 vs $3.69) and some food at the Thriftway. On the way back I stopped at the narrows for a couple of bird photos. I couldn't identify it with my bird app, but it was a large tern like bird that did lots of diving into the pond.
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| P Ranch Long Barn | Along the Center Patrol Road | A Distant Great Blue Heron | Krumbo Reservoir Spillway |
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| Bird - Caspian Tern? | Bird - Caspian Tern? | Bird - Caspian Tern? |
It was dinner time when I got back to the trailer. Rather than cook anything, I had a couple of tuna fish sandwiches & chips. I suspect it will be a cool night - it is only 59°F now with a high today of 67°F with a bit of rain.
Until next time -
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Last Update:
September 15, 2017