Nine intrepid vehicles, fifteen adventurous humans and four brave doggos, set off into the Eastern Oregon Owyhee Canyonlands to get a taste of some of Earth's amazing geology, Oregon's breathtaking topography and a mixed bag of what Mother Nature's PNW weather systems could throw at us.
This is The Owyhee Canyonlands...
Our group set out on Friday morning and started the long trek Southeast, over The Cascades and into the Inland Empire of South Central Washington. Our destination was Vale, OR. A sleepy little town that was reminiscent of a Steven King novel location; a little dark, few amenities and just enough eerie character that made it just interesting enough, but you didn't want to live there...
Below, The vibrant Starlight Cafe in downtown Vale, OR. Our setoff point into the unknown.
After a brief breakfast, the group set out for Snively Hot Springs, about ten miles South of Vale. As we entered the canyon on the Owyhee River, we were already awestruck with the topography.
Below, we enter The Owyhee Basin in route to Snively Hot Springs. The skies started to turn a dark gray. Definitely a Steven King added touch.
Once we hit Snively Hot Springs, some folks enjoyed a few minutes of warm, fresh hot spring water while others, modestly opted out. I took some pictures at Snively Hot Springs, but there was nothing really notable there to document. That and my Mac Book Air will not save images as jpg's, only HEIC file extensions. Which pisses me off. But, I digress.
Here's a cool image of us as we left the meandering road along the Owyhee River and found a place to put in and air down.
The day went from cool and hazy to cold and drizzly, then the rain picked up and quickly captured our attention, as we headed over the top of the ridge line, we were met with increasingly ugly weather and the road conditions began to deteriorate.
Below, as we hit the top of the ridge line, the minimal views we had became amazingly obvious.
We decided we had been driving long enough and that a short respite was in order. So we found a tall hill with some antennas on it and chose that spot to gather. Opening up a couple 270 degree awnings to create shelter.
Below, looking down on the Owyhee Reservoir. Breathtaking...
Here, Scott, Brandon and Kevin enjoy the torso slicing sideways rain and wind...
As we departed our lunch spot, the wind and the rain picked up a bit, so we decided to pick up the pace a little. Only to realize, the road conditions started to deteriorate. However, we did proceed with caution.
What else can you say? Slop, slop and more slop...
We called this "Rototiller Mode"
Here, Nathan's trailer's fender was actually pushed out of shape because of mud buildup.....Crazy!
So, this is just a little taster bite of what's more to come. Please stay with us for episode 2, coming soon!
Dan
Such an amazing trip! Here is a link to a video, That I, Regina made. Some of the footage is shaky and I did my best in post to clean it up. Can't wait to get out and explore more!
Episode 5:
The next day was going to be pretty incredible. Heading out of the Owyhee Reservoir area brought us up to the top of a plateau, where we spent the better part of the day making our way out to the town of Jordan Valley for some resupply. After getting the necessary provisions, we decided to go look for this evening's camp. Although we had some idea of where we wanted to wind up, we had no idea what we were about to find was truly remarkable in geologic and topographic terms.
We proceeded to head out of Jordan Valley and took a turn off onto Curley Lodge Road and started our blind trek West. I say blind, because we didn't really know what to expect other than is showed an overland route across a very large valley. We drove for quite a while when out of nowhere; Coffee Pot Crater. We were awestruck with our new discovery.
The long flat drive across the valley.
Coffee Pot Crater is essentially a surface caldera in the middle of the Jordan Craters Volcanic Field. At an estimated 4500 feet above sea level, The Coffeepot Crater volcano was born when mildly explosive eruptions constructed a cone from overlapping lobes of dense and fragmental ejecta (the material thrown out from a volcano). Rising magma occupied the volcano’s conduit, creating a lava pond, and leaked out along a 0.7-mile linear subsurface crack (fissure) extending southwest from the main crater. Within 0.2 miles of the main crater, chimneylike structures up to 20-25 feet tall (spatter/driblet cones) formed atop this fissure as pasty blobs of magma were ejected and fell to the ground.
Fluid basalt outflow from Coffeepot Crater was fed by lava pond spillover and an extensive tube system that infilled topographic lows to build a prominent smooth to hummocky to ropy surfaced (pahoehoe) flow field that extended up to 10 miles from the crater. Sections of the original crater wall were rafted away by lava from the pond, which was later infilled by thin pahoehoe sheets as the pond was reestablished. Backflow of the lava pond into the conduit marked the final activity at Coffeepot Crater, leaving behind pahoehoe crust on the crater floor and vertical striations carved into the inner crater walls. Jordan Craters is a small but outstanding illustration of the processes, materials, features, and landscape exemplified by Kīlauea in Hawai’i.
Our arrival at Coffee Pot Crater just before sunset.
Here is a birds eye view of the crater itself.
Now look at the magma field it deposited! CRAZY! That's Coffee Pot Crater in the upper left of the image.
Here is a Panoramic image looking into the crater itself.
For perspective, the humans in the background walking on the ledge of the mouth of the caldera.
A quick walkaround tour.
Settling in for the night.
Stay tuned for Episode 6!!
Danno
Episode 4:
Owyhee Reservoir and Crazy Rock Formations...
As we left G.O.A.T Camp and started our journey towards the access point to The Owyhee Reservoir, we noticed the topography started to change, drastically...
The ages of wind, sun and inclemate weather, had turned much of the landscape into a spooky, craggy backdrop to this amazing part of the country...
Weathered Rocks Near Owyhee Reservoir...
The Slow, Steady Pace Departing The G.O.A.T. Camp Area...
An Amazing Display Of How Articulate The Topography Is In The Owyhees...
The Drive Down To The Reservoir Is Filled With Amazing Geology...
Here, Brandon And I Give You Some Perspective Of The Landscape...
There is a pull off about halfway down to the reservoir, where you can get some amazing pictures and if you have the motivation, getting a closer look by hiking a little ways in is definitely worth the energy.
The intrepid hikers take a closer look...
The Pull Off Near The Owyhee Reservoir...
Below, you can see just how vast the Reservoir is. There is a boat ramp in the foreground that extends down at least 300 yards when the reservoir level is low.
Reach The Beach...
Lunch at The Reservoir.
More to come!
Dan
Episode 3...
G.O.A.T. Camp...
You may ask, "What is G.O.A.T. Camp?" Well, due to the fact that our entire expedition group was sworn to complete secrecy and had to verbally sign a NDA, I can't tell you. But, rest assured, it was, without a doubt, The best.
Finally, out of the mud and into camp.
With a little help of our solar system's only star, The Sun played an integral part in the visual experience of G.O.A.T Camp. The layers were just never ending.
Good morning, G.O.A.T.'s
Nestled in a cove of craggy monoliths, the G.O.A.T. campers are welcomed by an amazing array of colors.
Looking down on the camp.
An old corral made from local stone.
I called this "Amphitheatre Rock" due to its obvious shape.
Another spectacular display of Earth's goodness...
Departing G.O.A.T. Camp on Sunday AM.
Stay tuned for the next episode; The Boat Ramp at Owyhee Reservoir!
Dan
Very kewl trip yall! The mud part looks so much like the trip we took with Brandon and GUY up into the Douglas Creek. I will guaranty Brandon will never forget that trip!
Episode 2...
Speaking of mud, Here are a few more examples of what we were actually dealing with...
The Queenan's Land Cruiser
Brandon Schmitz Jeep and trailer combo, generously being de-mudded by Nick Parsons.
Yours truly sporting about 100 lbs. of mother nature's finest crude.
In fact, the mud was so prolific, that the sheer weight of the stuff ripped off my PS rear fender...
It seemed at each turn, the slippery slopes got increasingly more off-camber and more challenging...
Then it finally happened. A stuck. We quickly realized that Nate's 4 Runner/trailer combo was just too heavy and the slope too slippery to risk the trailer and worse; Nate's 4 Runner sliding off this section of trail, down into the embankment. So, we erred on the side of caution and broke out the winches. Now, unfortunately, the winch line on the 4 Runner wasn't long enough to hook up to the anchor vehicle at the top of the hill, so we had Scott in his Tacoma, meander down the hill part way to hook up to Nate's winch line. It was a mechanically sound but unconventional pull, as we hooked two winch lines together. As Nate would winch up to the end of his winch line, Scott would then, winch Nate and the trailer combo up the rest of the way. We would up doing this sequence roughly 3-4 times until we got the 4 Runner/trailer combo towards the top of the hill and The 4 Runner was able to power up the rest of the way on its own power.
The double winchline pull.
Then, the rain started coming down in buckets. We were definitely in it now...
Once the winching evolution was complete and all vehicles made it to the top of the wet and slimy hill, we gather for a moment to conduct and vehicle safety check.
Next episode, onward to G.O.A.T. camp!
Dan