Old Cascades, July 2022

There’s the Cascades, and then there’s the Old Cascades. Those weather worn non-descript “hills” west of the flashy snow capped peaks everyone knows about. The Old Cascades are filled with trails, small lakes and wildflowers, and lack the wilderness designation that bring the crowds. We went to explore in July hoping to catch a few wildflowers and find a quiet ridge with a view. We were successful, although the truck has a few new pinstripes from the brushy roads to prove it.

(more…)

Continue ReadingOld Cascades, July 2022

Yamsay Mountain, 2022

July is here, it was past time to take a backpack trip, so we hit the Fremont National Recreational Trail on it’s northern end and headed toward Yamsay Mountain. We’ve been on other sections of the trail back when we were wandering the Warners, but this was our first jaunt up Yamsay. Our cool spring weather is long past, and the uphill through the lodgepole was hot and dusty. But on the plus side, we were in the mountains with nobody around.

Our trip started at Antler Trailhead.

(more…)

Continue ReadingYamsay Mountain, 2022

Northeast Oregon, 2022

Spring in Oregon was wet. That’s relevant here for a couple reasons. When planning out our early summer we put a couple river trips on the calendar. We had already cancelled a trip on the John Day due to high flows, and as we approached our dates for the Grande Ronde flows were similarly high. What could we do instead? We decided to still head to the northeast corner of the state, but we morphed our plans into a road trip.

(more…)

Continue ReadingNortheast Oregon, 2022