This was the last stop on our return to Oregon. Eastern Oregon is vast, rugged, and remote. There is plenty of “elbow room” out here, and it is quite beautiful. The amazing diversity of landscape is one of the many things I love about Oregon.  Steens Mountain is a fault block mountain with an elevation of 9,733 feet, looming over the Alvord desert to the east, over 5,000 feet below. I would like to come back here in summer to hike. The highest road in Oregon takes you near the summit of this beautiful mountain.

We stayed at Alvord Hot Springs on the eastern side of the mountain. The landscape of the Alvord Desert, a dry lakebed, with Steens Mountain rising dramatically above it is surreal. The hot springs were rustic and nice. The temperature was perfect the evening we arrived, but the next morning, one was way too hot and the other too cold. We stayed in an army MASH unit that had electricity and heat as well as furniture; you provide your own bedding, and there’s a bathroom located by the office. We drove through periodic snow on our drive along the western side of the mountain, through The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and into Bend. We realized that winter had not yet released her grip in central Oregon, but summer would arrive soon enough.

It has been a very long time since I made a post for a variety of reasons. I will do my best to catch things up and get back on track. So, the dates will be (way) off for a while.

Arco, Idaho’s claim to fame is being the first city in the world powered by nuclear energy. The Idaho National Lab is still alive and well in the area, and though many have been decommissioned, they boast the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world. The peaceful application of nuclear energy began here and research continues today. As interesting as it may be, we did not visit Arco because of it’s atomic past, present, or future; but because of it’s proximity to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Three major lava fields that lie along the Great Rift of Idaho are encompassed by the park. Some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world are found here, including the deepest known on earth at 800 feet. In addition to rift cracks, there are examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava, tree molds, lava tubes, and volcanic cones including outstanding examples of spatter cones. The lava flows range in age from 15,000 to just 2,000 years. The Snake River Plain was created by a series of volcanic eruptions which began some 15 million years ago. It is believed that this “hot spot” has migrated southwestward with the North American Plate, and is thought to currently exist beneath Yellowstone Caldera. The volcanic fissures of Craters of the Moon are considered dormant, not extinct, and are expected to erupt again in less than 1,000 years!