Ever since our first visit to the Owyhee, the high desert of southeast Oregon has delivered trip after trip full of wonderful discoveries and surprises. Still - all these years later and having visited nearly a dozen times - I'm sure we've only scratched the surface. In fact, while we did once find a dirt route between Fields Station and the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, we've rarely explored west of Steens Mountain at the edge of the Alvord Desert.
And so, finally, it's time. Having uncovered a few interesting destinations near Hart Mountain over the last couple of years - and hoping to visit before snow covered the region for the winter - it seemed like this was the perfect time to visit some abandoned homesteads, old mines, and World War II plane crashes.
No trip goes entirely as planned, and this one was no different. Temperatures in the teens (°F), snow falling as we slept, and unexpected rock art and hot springs added fortuitous highlights to our Tour of Hart (Mountain) Homesteads.
Two Planes Down - Finding an A-6 and P-38 | Hart #1 - Ever since our first visit to the Owyhee, the high desert of southeast Oregon has delivered trip after trip full of wonderful discoveries and surprises. Still - all these years later and having visited nearly a dozen times - I'm sure we've only scratched the surface. In fact, while we did once find a dirt route between Fields Station and the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, we've rarely explored west of Steens Mountain at the edge of the Alvord Desert. And so, finally, it's time. Having uncovered a few interesting destinations near Hart Mountain over the last couple of years -…
A Glass House in the Desert | Hart #2 - One of the things about the high desert is that it just looks boring. Miles and miles of - generally boring - flat terrain. Millions of the same - boring - sagebrush arrayed out over the sandy soil. And colors that - for most of the year - are just drab and boring. There's a lot of this land in the western United States, and one of the great things about it - in my opinion - is that everyone else thinks it's boring. The secret, however, is that these desert areas are great at preserving whatever ends up within…
Hot Springs and Homesteads | Hart #3 - Doing our best to put the failure of the tent zipper behind us, we left the Glass House in the rear view mirror and set off on our exploration for the day - to visit several old homesteads I'd found on satellite maps around Hart Mountain, just to get a better sense of the terrain in a place we've not previously been. It was looking a little ominous to the south, with plenty of snow on the Warner Mountains. The first structure I'd discovered wasn't very far away, but I was surprised when - less than 15 minutes into our…
I’d love to know more about where you say the old Fisher Ranch is (part 3). Also any other pictures of that particular area. My Grandfather, Marion Fisher, was born and raised around Alturas, CA which isn’t all that far from where you were by my understanding. Our family would love to know more about his and his family’s life before he was born.
In fact, he owned a ranch right along CA 299 that is still used as a landmark (large old barn on the south side of the road with just enough room to park a couple trucks side by side in front of it for cattle hauling). The ranch was over 2000 acres and our family sold it over 10 years ago.
Thank you.
William (Bill) Longworth.
Hi Bill,
I'm not big on sharing more details about specific locations on the internet (which I explain my rationale behind, here), but I'll shoot you an email with a little bit more information.
Cheers,
Dan