Wandering the Trout Creek Mountains, 2018

Every once in a while plans change.  This time around we’ll blame it on the weather.  We were all set to head to the lake and then the weather forecast came along saying snow.  Well, yeah, it’s possible to fish in the snow, but I know when to cut my losses.  And just like that we were off to the southeast corner of Oregon.

A trip to begin exploring the Trout Creek Mountains has been on the list for quite a while, but it takes a while to get there, and time is the typical limiting factor.  But we had a tree day weekend on our side, so off we went.  The first night we made it as far as Steens Mountain and enjoyed a good camp surrounded by yipping coyotes.  Then we were off to the Trout Creeks.

It’s tough to find a lot of information on the Trout Creek mountains.  It’s actually a bit of a challenge to even find an accurate map showing which roads are open and passable.  But we managed to improvise and get around.  This was after all and exploratory mission.

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Trinity River, 2018

Sometimes life gets busy.  Well, maybe it is busy more than it isn’t.  Anyhow, it leaves you wondering how you really get away from it all on what could be a hectic 3 day (Memorial Day) weekend.  Are you going to end up “getting away from it all” with 10,000 of your closest friends at the nearest lake?  Or maybe just stay home and avoid the crowds?  Or is there a place you can go, float over 40 miles of river and have your pick of campsites, and hardly see a soul?  Why yes, there is such a place.

 

There are occasions where you might ask if you should just stay home.  In those times I usually am reminded of one of my favorite passages by John Muir.

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