Click on any picture to get the full-size version.
Kelli and I headed out for a few days in May to take a roundtrip
through south and south-eastern Oregon. We didn't really have a
plan, but there was lots of new stuff to see!
On the way south, we stopped by the bridges north of Redmond. Here's
a nice picture of one of the bridges and the mountains that Kelli took.
On the way up to Newberry Crater... a nice view of 3 sisters
Snow!!! Near the falls leaving the caldera.
Look at this big rock I found!
Kelli in the Obsidian flow, with Paulina Peak in the background.
Here is our campsite. It was a beautiful evening. There also weren't
many people around, so we had the lakeshore to ourselves!
The next day, we headed towards Christmas Valley. Here is 'Hole in the
Ground' (not to be mistaken for 'Big Hole'), which is basically a big
hole in the ground :)
Fort Rock, which is hot and dry in the summer! Hard to believe that the
whole area is snow-covered in the Winter.
Next up was 'Crack in the Ground'... the folks that named things here
didn't have the greatest imaginations. Pretty cool though.
Kelli, clearing the way for us to go further.
A more shallow area of the crack.
Next, we went searching for the sand dunes. Through lack of signage
and bad maps, we got close, but not quite there. Ironically enough,
we had to turn back when this road got too sandy!
Did I mention it was dry out?
We finally made it to the Dunes...
Here's a video of Kelli and Duke playing on the Dunes... watch out,
it's big!
Cool picture of my Chaco track in the sand.
A nice sunset as we left... but it took us 3 more hours to find the
nearest hotel!
The next morning, we stopped by the 'gyser'... which strangely came
out of a pipe in the middle of a pond?
Kelli, making friends and clearing the way again!
On the way to see some antelope. A nice overview of the lakes north
of Plush, OR.
Now, we're trying to find the Oregon sunstone fields. Again,
not the best maps or signs. This time, we used the GPS to get us there
on back roads. After a lot of little roads like this, and a few gates
that we had to open to get through, we made it there.
The car... just a little bit dirty from the search!
Here are the sunstones (the pale glass-like stones), just sitting on
top of the ground.
Kelli was in heaven... how cute!
Another movie of my funny girlfriend (this file is big too!).
Our gourmet dinner, while camping in a parking lot ;)
The next day, we headed south from Burns. Here is Princeton... all of
Princeton, OR. And our friends' place, the Jones'.
We drove down by Steens mountain... pretty!
East of the mountain was the Alvord desert. And some hot springs...
We drove down onto the Alvord desert... you could drive for miles
without touching the wheel!
Gravity does strange things down in the heat!
A video driving across the desert. Note how excited Duke is, and the
appropriate music in the background.
Another fun road-trip with my beautiful girlfriend!
Copyright 2007, Ross Segelken