With much of our summer taken up with a kitchen remodel - perhaps a non-adventure story that I'll share some details of once we've completed it - and the Tacoma in Washington after we abandoned our non-refundable plane tickets after running the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route (UTBDR) in July, we…
Leave a CommentTrip State: Oregon
Alvord Desert, Owyhee, Hell's Canyon, BDR, Steens Mtn, ...
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…
2 Comments
I don't know why exactly, but the Alvord Playa holds a special place in our hearts. Perhaps it's because it was the first big playa that we ever drove out onto and camped on. Maybe it's due in part to the history around the women's world speed record and our…
Leave a Comment
I always look forward to the changes of spring. Warmer weather pushing north means that the snow melts, opening up more places for exploration. For a short time, everything seems so green and colorful. Flora showing off their brightest colors to the world - perhaps with the exception of fall…
Leave a Comment
The Owyhee Canyonlands - the little known Grand Canyon of Oregon - have miles and miles of roads to explore, and solitude to enjoy. Located in the southeast corner of the state and spilling into Idaho, the Owyhee River runs north-to-south through the vast landscape. Having previously limited our explorations…
Leave a Comment
I've visited the Owyhee region of Oregon several times, each time discovering something new, something special. The region, located in southeast corner of the state, seems to be an empty wasteland - and nothing could be farther from the truth. Surely, it is remote, and from any single spot the…
Leave a Comment
It seems like we were just in the Owyhee Uplands - because we were! We'd wrapped up our previous trip from Idaho's Owyhee Uplands to Oregon's Alvord Desert less than a month earlier, but when a few buddies wanted to get together for a Memorial Day adventure, it seemed like…
2 Comments
In all of our trips to the Owyhee area, we've only ever really explored the western half - the Owyhee Canyonlands. Of course, there's some really cool stuff there - Three Forks, Coffepot Crater, the Honeycombs, Snively Hot Springs, and Juniper Gulch - but the Owyhee area is quite a…
Leave a Comment
The Alvord Playa (and Alvord Desert around it) has become one of our favorite sort-of-nearby-places to visit. Remote, beautiful, and full of seldom-explored wonders, we've been back several times and I'm sure will return for years to come. Our trip this time however, was with a purpose - we have…
Leave a Comment
Hell's Canyon straddles the border between Oregon and Idaho, but neither allows easy access to the depths of this great gorge. Carved by the waters of the Snake River, which flows more than a mile below the canyon's west rim on the Oregon side and 7,400 feet below the peaks…
Leave a Comment
We've been to the Alvord Playa - and to some extent, the Desert that surrounds it - before, but we've never really done that much exploring of the roads that wind their way through this remote section of Oregon. We planned to change that on this trip, checking out several…
Leave a Comment
"Let's go somewhere." said @mrs.turbodb after I'd been home just a short time from my previous trip. That was of course fine with me, and so we set about finding a place to go. It was going to be cold and rainy on the Washington coast, so we set out…
Leave a Comment
Back in May (full trip), we'd attempted to run the northern 40% of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route, from Seneca to the Washington border. A day in, we chose a more reasonable goal: Seneca to Unity. And at day three, we called it quits - less than 50 miles from…
2 Comments
This trip was special - not only were we going to explore some new places in Oregon - Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Diamond Craters, and the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (OBDR), we were also picking up a new toy - our Cascadia Tents RTT. By its finale, the trip turned…
Leave a Comment
Back from a work trip to India on a Friday morning at 6:30am (again), we packed up the truck and headed to Crater Lake National Park in central Oregon. The idea was to get in some great sites, but also spend a day or so exploring the back roads, finding…
Leave a Comment
It was just like any other work week. Or at least, any other week where you go to work for half a day Monday; take a 24-hour flight to India at 6pm; work in India for 34 hours; and then arrive back in Seattle at 7am Friday morning after 24…
Leave a Comment