Harney County, Part II

Part I of Harney County was climbing into the Steens Mountains and taking in amazing views. 

A bit of confusion was caused because Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is in Harney County, not Malheur County.  Just outside of Fields, we were thinking we were crossing into a new county, which was our goal.  It worked out OK, but my gubernatorial support may be dictated by the candidate that will change that name to Harney National Wildlife Refuge. 


Milkshakes inside


Fields: It was a 9 year old girl birthday day and the party consisted of getting a shake at the Fields General Store.  "The best burgers and shakes within a 100 miles." Knowing the remoteness of the place really enhances the slogan.  The shakes were great.

Clean living!

Alvord Hot Springs: This is a roadside attraction not to be missed.  We had the place to ourselves.  Long ago, someone constructed concrete pools and piped in hot water in.  There is a changing area clad in corrugated sheet metal and an indoor/outdoor pool (indoor also clad in sheet metal).  After several days in the desert, it was very refreshing to clean the dust off.  The 'seats' in the pools were upside down washing machine drums.

Alvord Desert

Alvord Desert: An old dried up large lake bed provided a safe place for our 3 kids (ages 13, 11, and 9)to drive under heavy supervision.  The 9 year old birthday girl was first and she sat on my lap.  She was content with driving maybe 100 feet.  The oldest went next and she was white-knuckled and topped out at 25 mph.  The middle child (the boy) was the most comfortable with driving and went as fast and far as we would let him.  The oldest child was white-knuckled in the backseat and wanted him out. 

Imagine a day being a kid that begins with milkshakes, then hanging in hot springs, followed by driving on the desert?  I never had a day like that, but my kids did! 

Harney County Part 1

Kiger Gorge in the Steens Mountains

Harney County is big.  You could probably 20 Rhode Islands in Harney County.  But why would you want to?  For the Naragansett Beer? 

We had 2 very good days in Harney so I will break it into 2 parts.

We arrived on a Friday night at a campground in the Steens Mountain.  The campground was at over 7,000 feet above sea level.  Coming from the west, it doesn't look like a mountain and it isn't looking like you are that high up.  It is sagebrush and juniper trees all over and then this campground, Fish Lake, is very lush and covered with aspen trees. 

Saturday we drove the Steens loop.  First stop is Kiger Gorge which is about 9,000 feet and pictured above.  It left us awestruck and maybe disappointed that we never came here before.  We hiked around and took some pictures of us on several overlooks that you wouldn't want to lose your balance or trip as it's a long way down.

Viewpoint looking east from the Steens with the Alvord Desert in the distance.

Next stop was an overlook that I understand is the highest road in Oregon.  Below were views of Mann Lake, a center pivot irrigated field and the impressive Alvord Desert.  To the west was Whitehorse Lake which is several thousand feet below and only accessible by hiking down.  We didn't but we'd like to next time.  Being that high does leave you short of breath without much effort.

The loop has a sketchy stretch that was a bit of a challenge and causes more than a few flats.  We felt lucky to get through unscathed.

Inside the round barn, that is round.  See?

Last stop was the Peter French Round Barn that was built in the 1800's to break wild horses.  The barn was round, as if you couldn't tell from the title.  Exterior was Juniper wood and the interior round wall was stone.  What a great design.  Interior room was a stable and the horses were broken in the exterior loop.  It was quite cool inside, so the stones made for a good heat sink.