There was no rain last night but the\ntemperatures went down to below freezing during the night. Our two\nindoor electric space heaters and our forced air propane furnace were\nable to keep it cozy inside though. This morning the sun was out and\nthat delighted us since we haven’t seen it for about a week. By about\nnoon, the temperature was up to 46 degrees so we decided to take a\nspin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tOur first destination was right out\nthe driveway of our campground. We turned left and headed down the\nroad into the gorge that encompasses Lake Billy Chinook. The Lake is\nmostly fed by the Crooked, Metolius and Deschutes Rivers but there\nare also quite a few creeks and waterfalls that also dribble in. The\ngorge walls are predominantly a giant forest of massive, geometric\nbasalt columns and they extend up from the Lake surface to the edge\nsome 500 feet above. They make Devil’s Postpile in California look\nlike a tiny example of this place. The edges are so abrupt and the\ncanyons so narrow that most folks do not even know this place exists\nbecause you cannot see it until you drive into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWe wandered along the shore of the\nCrooked River portion until we got to a two-lane suspension bridge\nthat got us to the long basalt peninsula between the Crooked and\nDeschutes. We then drove the other side of the Crooked for a bit\nbefore climbing up over the ridge, past a closed campground where\nnumerous deer were dining on the campground’s abundant grass and then\non to the Deschutes River Bridge where we turned around and took it\nall in going the other way. In addition to the deer, we spotted a\nGolden Eagle, a Bald Eagle, many fat Robins and striking Magpies. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We drove back out of the gorge but turned onto the rim road which we followed for about 10 miles down to the Round Butte Dam and the nightmarish web of rural electrification conductors. As we made our way into Madras for fuel, we noted some large fields of really terrific-looking marijuana growing in nice rows. The odor, easily discernible from the road, was magnificent because entire crops were in full flower. After the fuel stop, we headed down OR-97 to Terrabonne where we hung a left into Smith Rock State Park, another place with stunning scenery and considerable roadside reefer patches. Rock climbers congregate here and we could spot quite a few of them glommed onto the vertical rock faces. They just looked like tiny specks. Many western movies have been filmed here. Maybe it is because of the striking terrain visible in the background like John Ford movies shot in Monument Valley. It seems unlikely folks watched these flicks for the plots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See pix. Click the link below. https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/zD99TStbrkCXMFVs9<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was no rain last night but the temperatures went down to below freezing during the night. Our two indoor electric space heaters and our forced air propane furnace were able to keep it cozy inside though. This morning the … Continue reading