May 5  More Oregon, Smith Rock

Woke to 31 degrees this morning, but it warmed fairly quickly, into the 40's by 8:30.  We head west for a bit, through pastureland in the flat land between mountains.

 Lots of irrigation including water canals and what looked like a roman aquifer.  Water is a big issue here with pastureland and food for lots of cattle, sheep, horses and goats .

We get to Smith Rock State Park, near Redmond, Oregon about 9:00AM.  We drive first to an overlook and when I walk over to the the rail fencing I am suddenly eye to eye with a young buck. There is a group of deer grazing and making their way across the Park.  They easily leap over the fence and wonder off into the trees and brush, unperturbed by our presence.

Smith Rock (the darker one on the left) is a huge rough rock which got its name from an early Indian Scout who fell to his death here.  There is a mountain of rocks adjacent to it, which has several climbers already and we pass  more on the trails.

Climbers (blue) in center of picture

 We stop and chat with Al, who is making some repairs to one of the fences and he suggests we take the River Trail.  Greg says he is going back to the Trek to get water and Al says he'll save him a trip and pulls out a nice liter bottle of water!  Thanks, Al.  He also tells us where to look for a bald eagle nest along the trail.

River trail on lower right

We hear geese as we set off and expect to come across a flock near the river.  There are a few ducks and geese by the river, but those making the most noise are high up on the rocks, like this one surveying his kingdom.

Nice walk and we pause occasionally to watch climbers. Several other hikers and runners using the trail as well.

We spot the bald eagle in flight and it returns to its nest in a tall pine on the other side of the river. You can't tell here, but it had something in its talons - food for the young. There are also golden eagles  in the park but they live on the cliffs in another area.

 Occasional lizards and flowers brighten the trail.

There are several named rock formations, like Snoopy

and Monkey Face.

After our hike we head to the camping area (tents only and it is busy) where we've read there are showers for sale.

 Unfortunately, the restrooms are out of order - port-a-potties only :(.  Looks like these campers are a lively, thirsty bunch judging from the trash cans full of beer bottles/cans - but they re-cycle!

We next drive a short way to Terrebonne, where we buy a camera card (to replace one that's gone "weird"), wine  and some other items. Heading back towards Prineville, we stop at Lakeshore RV Park and purchase showers for $5 each.

We continue out 26E to another spot that was on our Rockhunting map.  It is in the Ochoco mountains on Forest Service Road 3350, similar to last night's boondock spot.  We find a few agates and possibly some thunder eggs - egg shaped rocks with jasper or colorful fillings.  The campsite is nice and flat amidst tall trees and has a few fire rings from past users. (A regular campground would squeeze 3 or 4 campers in this space!)  Greg gets a nice fire going, which feels pretty good as the temperature is dropping.

The moon, when it rises, is like a spotlight shining through the tall pines. Beautiful.