Day Five - John Day

"You shall bruise his heel, but he shall crush your head."

Ran over a snake today. Didn't see it until it was too late; it was just something shimmering in the road. I actually like snakes and would never kill one for no reason; they keep the vermin population down. If I were to re-write Genesis, I would make the devil appear in the form of a New York City rat.

We awoke to the blinding sun that only shines at high altitude in dry desert air. We packed, had a very serviceable breakfast at Frenchglen Hotel and headed for the Steens. It was an 18 mile drive to Fish Lake on a gravel road.

The Steens are not like the other mountains in Oregon. Most of the big mountains in Oregon are volcanic. The Steens are what are called fault-block mountains, which are formed when huge blocks of the continental crust break and slip down. Unlike the other tall mountains of Oregon, the Steens do not have a particular peak that stands out, in fact it is one big mountain.

Anyway, the view from Fish Lake was great...and of course the dogs loved it. Peaux went for a swim - kind of. We drove back to Frenchglen and I tried to post yesterday's blog. After 20 infuriating minutes I gave up.

We drove to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Did you know there was a huge marsh in the middle of the Oregon High Desert? I didn't. I was kind of surprised when I saw it. But there it was: arid, brown, sage covered butte's at whose bottom was lush, wet, grassy marshes. A stunning contrast.
















We took the scenic route and saw several antelope as well as migratory and marsh birds, then stopped at the French Round Barn built by the local cattle baron in the late 1800's. Apparently most of the region, 200,000 acres of it, was owned by a guy named Pete French. He gained all this land by being....shrewd. If he lived in New York, he would have lived to a ripe old age, with an estranged family and a life filled with prescription drugs, booze and expensive hookers. However, he lived in the West and was shot in the head by a homesteader.

I asked the owner of the gift shop what he thought of French: "My Grandpa said he was an okay guy, but he never did business with him." My guess is most people would echo the ancients: "Sic semper tyranis." The man who killed French was acquitted.

Not only is there a marsh, but if you take the loop through Happy Valley (yes that really is the name), you will have the chance to check out the Diamond craters. Yes, craters. Apparently there were dozens of miniature volcanoes at the northern tip of the marsh that were active primarily 17K years ago. A couple even covered the marsh with hot ash about 3K years ago, chasing the inhabitants out of the area. We did not, however, find any diamonds.

Afterwards we went to Burns and topped off, stopped at Dairy Queen. If you are ever at the Dairy Queen in Burns, stay alert. In a less enlightened time someone would have complained about "the help," and how you "have to watch them all the time." When at the Dairy Queen in Burns, keep an eye out. They don't seem to be very well organized. My ice-cream came way too early, and was thus melted as we drove. We actually had an emergency overflow problem because they filled the cup too high, and as it melted it began to overflow. There was a bit of a mess.

We turned north and into the Devine Forest area. Truly wonderful land with brooks and canyons and valleys. It is a small, quaint, and approachable area, unlike the hugeness of the rest of West.

We made our way to John Day and headed east to Strawberry Mountain. Drove up a hill and found a camping spot we'll probably hit in another day or so. We drove back to John Day and checked into the Best Western. They had free wi-fi. Well, they didn't. They thought they did. They did not. I ended up borrowing a cable.
We went to the Outpost, a pizza/pub/grill place. Apparently the special there is a fried pickle, which we did not try. Michelle had fish & chips, which she enjoyed. I had a cut of beef, which I did not. I should have been suspicious when they talked about a tri-tip being tender. It was neither tender nor the medium-rare I requested. It was well and pretty tough. I should have known better, but I was lured by the wine and pepper sauce - curse you steak au poivre! I am always lured by your charms! The baked potato and veg were acceptable, but then that isn't really what I was paying for. The service was good, and I we'll probably drop by tomorrow, but I'll stick to the bar menu and have a hamburger (which is supposed to be from local beef).

We returned. Michelle did laundry, bless her.

Health note: Cyst infection seems to be on the retreat. I am glad the antibiotics are working. However, I seem to have broken out into a red rash on my left fore-arm. The antibiotics apparently make one more susceptible to sunlight, but my guess is that I brushed up against something in the forest today. Michelle wants to bathe in Bite-Stick (TM). She has taken to covering each skeeter bite with a band aid. I fear she will soon look like a mummy and frighten any small children we encounter.