On Tuesday a change in the weather had pushed much of the smoke away from Steens Mountain which is what we had hopped would happen in anticipation for our drive up the Steens Mountain Loop Road on Wednesday. The shift in weather also brought cooler temperatures which had made the previous days hike at Big Indian Gorge one of the more comfortable (temperature wise) of the year thus far. We once again got an early start hoping to reach the first of four planned stops around 6am and immediately realized that it was a lot cooler than it had been Monday or Tuesday. In fact the car was showing 39 degrees when we set off. Since the Steens Mountain Resort where we were staying was located along the Steens Mountain Loop Road we simply left the resort and turned right driving past the entrance to the Page Springs Campground and gradually climbing up the fault block Steens Mountain. By the time we arrived at the left turn for our first stop the Kiger Gorge Viewpoint 19.1 miles beyond the Page Springs Campground the temperature was down to 30 degrees. Luckily we try and come prepared so we had jackets, Buffs, and gloves although in hindsight we could have been a little more prepared. There was a decent breeze which made it feel a lot colder than 30 degrees.
The Kiger Gorge is one of 5 glacier carved valleys on Steens Mountain and is the largest and most scenic. We were fortunate to arrive just before some clouds moved in.
Still some smoke to the east as shown by the red Sun.
Here come the clouds.
With the clouds moving in we hustled back to the car and continued on the loop road another 2.7 miles to a four-way junction where we turned left at a pointer for the East Rim Viewpoint where the clouds had not yet reached.
Between the Sun and haze it was hard to see much of the ragged eastern side of Steens Mountain or the Alvord Desert (post) below.
Frozen thistle
The Alvord Desert through the haze.
A look back at the parking area.
After checking out this view we returned to the 4-way junction and turned left at a pointer for Wildhorse Lake following this road for almost two miles to a parking area below the 9741′ summit of Steens Mountain. A gated road led uphill the final half mile to some towers on the summit.
Wildhorse Lake below the summit.
The rocks here provided a little protection from the freezing wind.
Big Indian Gorge (post) from the summit.
Heather getting a closer look at Wildhorse Lake.
Not much snow left up here.
After checking out the summit we walked back down past the gate and turned left at a post on a trail heading downhill to a registration box.
The trail split here with the left hand fork heading downhill for a mile to Wildhorse Lake. The tread was a little dicey near the top but soon became better as it switchbacked down to a small bench before steepening quite a bit along a small stream.
Typical tread near the top.
Buckwheat
The bench.
The small stream.
A wren.
Wildhorse Lake from near the end of the bench.
We were a little disappointed to see just how late we were for most all of the wildflowers. I don’t know how much the drought this year affected the timing or if it blooms that much earlier in SE Oregon but the remains of what looked to have been an excellent display were all we were left with.
A few stone steps began the steep descent along the stream.
A few of these little yellow flowers were still in bloom.
This was a mass of pink monkeyflower a few weeks ago.
A look up at the summit.
The trail descending less steeply to the lake.
A lone lupine blooming near the lake.
A pair of paintbrush and the remainder of some aster or fleabane.
A ground squirrel near the lake.
We rested for a bit by the lake where there was thankfully not much of a breeze and then explored along the shore.
The only pink monkeyflower blossom we spotted.
Ranger buttons
Mountain coyote mint
Cascade grass-of-parnassus
Gentians
Wildhorse Creek
Looking down along Wildhorse Creek.
Wildhorse Lake and Steens Summit.
After checking out the lake we started back up the trail as a few more clouds began to move in.
Rockfringe willowherb
Raptors soaring above Steens Mountain.
When we had both reached the registration box we took the other trail fork downhill. Sullivan shows this unofficial trail leading to a pass above Little Wildhorse Lake after in a mile but mentions having to use your hands in an update on his website Oregonhiking.com but that “adventurous hikers should have no trouble”.
Big Indian Gorge
The summit from the unofficial trail.
The trail on the ridge.
Looking ahead at the ridge the rocky outcrop looked a bit intimidating.
The view out over Big Indian Gorge.
Wildhorse Lake
After a small saddle the trail came to the final rock fin along the ridge and I followed some clear tread along the left side of the outcrop.
In hindsight the correct route was probably up onto the top of the ridge and the right hand side was a very steep loose rocky slope because the path I was following just ended at a small slide.
I turned back here, I’m not that adventurous.
I retraced my steps and met Heather at the small saddle. She was not liking this little trail and at that point neither was I. Between the cold, incoming clouds, and steady breeze we decided we’d seen enough and retreated back to the trailhead.
Darker clouds over the summit from the trailhead.
A little better view of the Alvord Desert.
<img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51394274589_2328a93b39_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="IMG_2994">Here comes the cloud.
The view as we prepared to drive off.
Our hike here came to a little over 6 miles with approximately 1400′ of elevation gain.
We drove back the way we’d come instead of completing the loop. Two reasons, the final downhill stretch to South Steens Campground was reportedly rough and recommended for 4×4 high clearance vehicles (In fact the folks at the resort recommended going counter-clockwise and driving up from that side if we were going to drive the loop) and we had a low tire pressure light on. It had come on when we’d driven over a cattle guard that morning which we were hoping was simply due to the cold temperatures but we didn’t want to try driving a rougher road in case. Going back the way we’d come would also gave us an opportunity to stop at the viewpoints again if the conditions looked better. The East Rim Viewpoint was in the middle of the clouds though so we drove on by but did detour to the Kiger Gorge Viewpoint again.
We did stop along the way to take a couple of photos.
Our planned hike for the next day was up this gorge.
The view was a little better and a little warmer at Kiger Gorge.
We made one final stop on the way back to the resort by pulling into Fish Lake (5.7 miles from the turn for the Kiger Gorge Viewpoint). There is no hike here but we wanted to see the lake.
The tire pressure light was still on when we got back to the resort so after showering we made the hour plus drive north into Burns to visit Les Schwab. Ironically we had had to stop in this same Les Schwab the last time we were in the Steens area due to a low tire pressure light in our Rav 4. That turned out to be a nail stuck in the tire but this time it was simply a low reading in the right rear tire. They made sure there was nothing stuck in it and that it wasn’t leaking and they had us back on our way in no time. We really appreciate the service we get from every Les Schwab we visit. It was a nice evening at the resort and the clouds made for a dramatic setting Sun.
The historic Frenchglen Hotel zoomed in on from the resort.
This was our final night here and we’d be leaving early the next morning to hike along the Little Blitzen River before driving on to Fields (and getting milkshakes). Happy Trail!
Flickr: Steens Summit
There were tons of wild onions along the way.
Deer on one of the hillsides.
Beginning to drop down to Big Indian Creek.
Quacking aspen along the trail.
One of the many Brown’s peonies along the trail.
Hawk atop a cottonwood
This counts a lupine in bloom!
A lone yarrow
One of a couple of spring fed streams along the trail.
Aspens and junipers
Tassel-flowered Brickellbush
Waxwings
The large boulder later in the day on our way out.
One of the other spring fed crossings.
There were lots of crickets/grasshoppers bouncing about.
We could see some of the closer cliffs through the haze.
We started to see a few more lupine in bloom the further in we hiked.
What the smoke looked like ahead.
Lots of butterflies too.
Salsify
Paintbrush
Aster or fleabane
Geranium
We couldn’t see very far up the gorge because of the smoke.
The view was better behind us.
Coneflower
Hummingbird visiting paintbrush
A few aspen already turning golden.
Cottonwood Camp down to the right.
Looking up Big Indian Gorge from the trail near Cottonwood Camp.
Genitian
Raptor
Cottonwood Camp
View across the gorge when we arrived at the camp.
Big Indian Creek
A few white clouds started to appear along with the breeze.
The near wall above Big Indian Creek and Cottonwood Camp.
We missed this nest on the first pass. It was about 30 yards off the trail.
We also missed this Nuttall’s linanthus blooming along the trial.
Improving views
This was a very pretty butterfly that for some reason the camera just didn’t want to focus on.
Clearer skies above.
Skipper
Clouds building up over Steens Mountain
Lorquin’s admiral
Ground squirrel
Some type of wood nymph.
Back to the first ford, which I again managed to cross dry footed giving me a perfect record for the day which is unheard of. 
A comma of some sort.
A vast improvement over the morning.
Looking back toward the gorge from the old road bed.
What a difference a few hours can make. 
Our accommodations.
Trailhead sign at the south end of the rest stop. Brochures were located in the small box under the sign.
Map on the trailhead sign.
Red Sun through the smoke.
The Harney Valley to the east.
This stop was for a juniper that was blown apart by a lightning strike.
The rest area from the loop.
The last stop was to discuss the relationship between the junipers and the Idaho fescue that grows underneath.
Deer in the nearly dry Marshall Pond
Yellow headed blackbird
California quail
Owl
Chipmunk
More quail
The early bird
Hummingbird
Little bird on a feeder
Shrike
Hawk and a magpie
Osprey
Turkey vultures
Coyote
Mourning doves
Egrets and ducks at Benson Pond
Old cabin at Benson Pond
Another owl
Another turkey vulture
Grasshopper
White faced ibis
Great blue heron amid the ducks.
A couple types of egrets it appears.
Deer that were in the Blitzen River
Bounding fawn
Ducks and coots at Knox Pond
Bee and a butterfly
A brushy section.
A bee and a skipper
Praying mantis
The “other” trail on the hillside at the 0.7 mile mark.
A wren?
Fence crossing
Rejoining the Donner und Blitzen Trail at the 0.4 mile mark.
A hazy look at the South Sister and Broken Top.
Passing under the Skyliner Express
The ski runs gave us a good look at the top of the mountain.
Turning uphill
Spotted a grouse hen and her chicks in this little meadow.
Two of the chicks.
Passing under the Sunrise lift.
Nearing the top of the Sunrise lift.
Another hazy look at the nearby mountains.
South and Middle Sister through the haze.
The top of Sunrise and the bottom of the Summit lifts.
Looking up from the top of Sunrise.
A few saxifrage blossoms still left.
Alpine buckwheat and paintbrush
The first patch of snow we passed.
Golden mantled ground squirrel
Tumalo Mountain (
Looking down from beneath the Summit Express.
We could really feel the elevation affecting our breathing and by this point we were both sucking wind.
Dwarf alpinegold
Looking back at the Summit Express.
Heading for the high point.
A mountain bluebird near the summit.
South Sister and Broken Top with Sparks Lake (
It’s our rule not to feed the wildlife but it was obvious that many don’t adhere to that LNT principle. I had to put my pack back on to avoid having a hole chewed through my pocket.
View of the summit.
Broken Top, the Pine Marten Lodge halfway up the mountain, the West Village Lodge and parking area below and Tumalo Mountain across the Cascade Lakes Highway.
A little better view of Broken Top and Tumalo Mountain on the way down.
Clark’s nutcracker
Left leads up to the Pine Marten Lodge atop the Pine Marten Express, right to the West Village Lodge.
A decent look at Tumalo Mountain
Warning sign for a bike crossing.
A look at some of the mountain bike trails and some haze moving in overhead.
A tortoiseshell butterfly on the road.
At least we could see the mountains a little better from here.
The start of the “trail” at the end of the road.
Wildflowers at the trailhead.
Orange dot on a tree.
Another orange dot.
Occasionally there were short steep climbs but nothing as steep as the first part.
Mushroom
Pink flagging on the right related to the timber sale.
Water in a creek bed.
Mushroom amid bunchberry leaves.
Red huckleberries
Timber sale boundary sign on the right with a flag.
More huckleberries.
Bluebell of Scotland
Gentian
Pearly everlasting
The view north, not much to see.
Mount Mitchell from the path.
Paintbrush
Gentian
Penstemon
aster
Oregon sunshine
Yarrow
The trail nearing the end of the basalt cliffs.
The view south across North Siouxon Creek was the same as it had been to the north.
It was apparently a good beargrass year along the trail.
Fireweed amid the beargrass.
Mt. St. Helens is out there somewhere.
Looking east over the site of the former lookout.
The survey marker and one of several neat rock formation near the summit.
Closer look at the formation.
A second picture after seeing it move again.
The pika popped back out below the larger rock that it had run behind.
A non zoomed in photo, the pika is still in the same spot as in the two photos immediately above.
Spotting this patch of ghost pipe emerging from the forest floor was another highlight on the return hike. The hike is reportedly 7.3 miles with a little over 2000′ of elevation gain but Heather’s GPS put us at 7.8 miles and mine registered 8.3 miles. (If you’ve read other posts you know that Heather’s unit used to almost always show the higher mileage but lately mine has been.) Whatever the actual mileage it was a good hike through a very nice forest which sadly, barring a last minute successful change, may not be possible in the future.
Bower Slough
Ducks in the slough.
South East Lake which was mostly dried up at this point in the year.
Apparently deer can’t read based on the trail leading past the sign.
The bed of South East Lake
Some moisture passing through this morning.
Dove
Walking along a cleaner looking portion of the slough.
Bridge/boardwalk between Middle Lake (left) and West Lake (right).
Wapato blossoms
Lots of ripening blackberries.
Second crossing of Bower Slough near the end of the loop.
Great blue heron
Doe
Deer near the restrooms/fee booth.
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Doe in the brush near the tracks.
Carty Lake Trail and Duck Lake
Ducks on Duck Lake
Paved and dirt options allow for a mini-loop near the start, later the trails are all dirt.
Big oak
One-way pointers for a second loop.
The trails can reportedly be quite muddy during the wet season but the current drought meant a hard packed surface.
Bright red poison oak climbing some of the tree trunks.
A bit of a low bridge.
Spotted towhees
Onward toward Carty Lake.
Gee Creek
Orange jewelweed along Gee Creek.
Carty Lake also lacking much water.
Bindweed
A primrose
Wapato at Carty Lake
The trail turning south toward the Port of Ridgefield.
Lots of salal along the trail.
Map near the platform.
High tide had been between 7 and 8am so the water was retreating from the Bay.
Looking south.
Looking back along the trail.
Cresting the dune.
Snowy plover sign, a common sight along the beaches in Oregon too.
Bayberry Trail passing through the snowy plover closure area.
Bumblee on American skyrocket.
Chestnut backed chickadee
Someone had written “umpassable (sic) swamp” below the word loop on this sign. This is when we began to guess why Sullivan had you turn left at the Weather Beach Trail junction.
Slug and a mushroom. We both thought of Alice in Wonderland.
Signboard at the southern trailhead.
Looking back over one of the trees.
Bumble bee on gumweed.
A pair of great blue herons in Willapa Bay.
The eagle has landed.
Crow attack
Looking for a quite place to eat.
We didn’t see what happened to the kill, if the eagle got to eat it or not.
The crows weren’t leaving the eagle alone.
Last of the trees to navigate.
Unnamed lakelet/pond between Pika and Fir Lakes.
Fir Lake
Goldeneyes
A lone interpretive sign near the beginning of the trail.
The saddle
Fields Peak from the saddle.
Heather arriving at the saddle.
A rare level section.
Scarlet gilia in the middle of the OHV track.
Nearing the trail junction.
The McClellan Mountain Trail to the right.
A peak east to McClellan Mountain and the more distant Strawberry Mountain (
We saw a number of these moths sleeping on the hyssop.
Hyssop and sunflowers
Paintbrush
Looking up Fields Peak.
Mountain coyote mint
Shadow of Fields Peak
Buckwheat
A few trees near the top.
Final steep pitch to the summit.
View west, Aldrich Mountain is the high point to the near right.
View north
McClellan Mountain and the Strawberry Mountain Range to the east.
Logan Valley to the SE.
The view south.
More moths
Hillside above the trail.
Sagebrush mariposa lily
Approaching the saddle where we would cross the the north side of the hill ahead.
The first saddle with Moon Mountain behind.
Looking back along the trail.
Looking back from the saddle.
The north side had a few more trees.
Looking back toward Fields Peak
We passed through a rocky section near the second saddle.
McClellan Mountain from the second saddle.
Approaching the third saddle.
Moon Mountain
Fields Peak (center).
McClellan Mountain as we approached the fourth saddle.
Looking back you can sort of make out the trail angling down the near hillside.
Looking up McClellan Mountain.
In the middle of the center hill to the left of the tree in the foreground is the line of what turned out to be 5 bull elk.
Blurry due to the elk moving and the deep zoom.
Four of the bulls stopped to look back at us.
The fifth and largest bull on top of the ridge waiting for the rest.
An old fence line on the hill.
Fields Peak on the left, an unnamed peak in the center and Moon Mountain on the right.
False summit (there’s always at least one). After some debate we went to the left of the rock outcrop which worked out well.
Passing the rock outcrop.
Almost there.
The Greenhorn Mountains, Elkhorns, Dixie Butte and the Strawberry Mountains from left to right in the distance.
Looking back at Fields Peak
The John Day River Valley.
Logan Valley
Company at the summit.
Passing back through Phlox Saddle.
A better look at the rocky section of trail.
Mountain coyote mint, one of only a couple with this coloration on the stems.
Butterfly and a beetle.
Sagebrush mariposa lily
Ruffed grouse
A final look at McClellan Mountain.
I had started up to the left at the saddle but it was steep with gullies and some debris so we carefully turned around and parked below.
Little Canyon Mountain from the saddle. A wildfire burned the area in 2015 and the trail up to Dog Creek.
The actual trailhead.
Little Pine Creek flowed down this valley below Canyon Mountain.
Yarrow along the trail.
Fireweed
Paintbrush
Paintbrush and pearly everlasting
Raspberries
We don’t recall seeing a penstemon with leaves like this before.
Twinberry (we did NOT sample)
Sitka burnett (white)
Little Pine Creek at the crossing.
Prince’s pine
Mountain death camas
Fringed grass of parnassus
John Day below.
Little Canyon Mountain behind the ridge we’d come around earlier.
The Aldrich Mountains to the west, our destination for the next day’s hike.
Canyon Mountain
One of the sagebrush mariposa lilies.
Dixie Butte and the Greenhorn Mountains to the NE
Columbine
Swamp onion
Flowers at Dog Creek
Twinflower
There was a lot of elk sign along this section of the trail.
A lot of sign.
Looking back toward Canyon Mountain.
The trail crossed over the ridge in a saddle with quite a bit of mountain coyote mint.
Mountain coyote mint
Strawberry Mountain (
Heading toward Dean Creek now.
Green Mountain on the left and Canyon Mountain on the right.
A smaller raptor, it wouldn’t look at us so I’m not sure what type it was.
Butterflies on western snakeroot. Side note we didn’t see a single snake or lizard all week which was really surprising to us.
We did however see quite a few grouse.
The trail got a little brushy nearing Dean Creek.
There wasn’t much water in Dean Creek but there was enough for a small cascade. 
Wildflowers next to a small pool.
Dean Creek
Butterfly near the pool.
Canyon Mountain
Dixie Butte with the Greenhorns on the left and the Elkhorns (
Cones
Lousewort
Pearly everlasting, yellow flowers, and fireweed.
An eagle?
More cones
Dragon fly
A sulphur butterfly
California tortoiseshell
Grouse
Maiden fly
Skipper
Woodpecker
Northern flicker
Mountain bluebird
The trailhead is at this hairpin curve below Table Rock. The road continues another 0.8 miles to the staffed Table Rock Lookout but reportedly worsens which is hard to imagine is possible.
First time seeing a wilderness sign quite like this.
A red Sun behind the smoke, presumably mostly from the 400,000 plus acre Bootleg Fire east of Klamath Falls in south central Oregon.
Clark’s nutcracker
Monument Rock in the distance.
Paintbrush in the sagebrush.
Ground squirrel
There was a fair amount of this green paintbrush too.
We believe this post (not the 1.7 mile post) marked a side trail to Rock Spring but we didn’t see any tread in the area to know for sure.
Bullrun Rock dead ahead.
Table Rock in the distance.
The Table Rock Lookout.
Two kinds of paint.
Bullrun Rock below the Sun.
Monument Rock again.
Old man’s whiskers
A checkermallow
We passed this sign for the Amelia Trail along the way but again didn’t see any trace of tread for it.
Grazing cattle near the post.
The post with Monument Rock in the background.
I believe that is Ironside Mountain.
The jeep track and Monument Rock.
Table Rock
Looking down into the Monument Rock Wilderness
Woodpecker
Mountain bluebird
Looking back toward Bullrun Rock.
Table Rock from where we gained the ridge.
Heading up.
Me making my way up to the cairn.
Bullrun Rock from the cairn.
Table Rock from the cairn.
The Monument Rock Wilderness.
The cairn on Monument Rock from below.
Heading downhill.
Heather spotted this sheep moth.
The path leading downhill.
Table Rock in the distance with Bullrun Rock on the right.
Robin
Quite a bit of a difference from the morning.
Yarrow and an orange agoseris.
Wilderness sign marking the boundary of the Monument Rock Wilderness.
Table Rock from the trail.
Elk Flat Creek.
An orange flag to the right ahead.
The trail following Elk Flat Creek.
A few areas of green trees remained.
Unnamed stream shortly before reaching the Little Malheur River.
Monkshood along the stream.
It appeared that quite a few trees survived along the Little Malheur.
The trail crossing the Little Malheur River. We were especially excited to see a lot of nice pink monkeyflower along the banks.
Pearly everlasting
Ground squirrel
Either a big ground squirrel or a small marmot.
Another hawk.
Fluffy clouds forming over the Monument Rock Wilderness.
wanderingyuncks 
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