Every once in a while plans change. This time around we’ll blame it on the weather. We were all set to head to the lake and then the weather forecast came along saying snow. Well, yeah, it’s possible to fish in the snow, but I know when to cut my losses. And just like that we were off to the southeast corner of Oregon.
A trip to begin exploring the Trout Creek Mountains has been on the list for quite a while, but it takes a while to get there, and time is the typical limiting factor. But we had a tree day weekend on our side, so off we went. The first night we made it as far as Steens Mountain and enjoyed a good camp surrounded by yipping coyotes. Then we were off to the Trout Creeks.
It’s tough to find a lot of information on the Trout Creek mountains. It’s actually a bit of a challenge to even find an accurate map showing which roads are open and passable. But we managed to improvise and get around. This was after all and exploratory mission.
We started out making our way into the high country on a road paralleling Antelope Creek and topped out overlooking Oregon Canyon. This is big country to be sure.
We spent the night in the Mud Springs area, enjoying a hike before the weather set in. Gotta love snow in June!
The next morning the sun was up and the roads were dry. We continued on our exploration.
There’s a few cows in this country, but some look like they have more suspicious intentions than others.
Eventually as the day passed we made our way back to the lower country, but for good reason. It was a Sunday and there were good odds we could have Willow Creek Hot Springs all to ourselves. When we arrived the weekend crowd was gone and we enjoyed a good soak.
Later on one vehicle did show and then left again after they had a turn in the tub. Those were the only people we saw on our three day trip around the Trout Creek Mountains. Most of the noise for the night was provided by blackbirds, until they turned over their airtime, as the sun left the sky, to the frogs and coyotes.
We had time for one more loop through the mountains so of course we took it. There was still snow in places up in the high country along with all the wildflowers.
It seems we were only there long enough to know we need to come back for an extended stay with more time for hiking, exploring and listening to the quiet. The only question is, when (and maybe who will be there to meet us)?
Nice! I haven’t made it up Trout Creek yet, but it’s on the bucket list. One of the old timers in Rogue Flyfishers talked of standing on one rock and catching/releasing over 100 redsides. I don’t recall him being a BS artist.
Beautiful country! Thanks for letting us tag along…
We”ve crossed the Trout Creek Mountains once as we passed through on a trip. Your very nice trip report has renewed a desire to return. Thanks for letting us come along!
Thanks for sharing your trip. The area is on my to-do list. There is rock hounding on the Oregon/Nevada border that some day I want to check out and then travel northward into the Trout Creek Mountains.
Yes, that country to the south looks pretty appealing as well, I’d think a person could spend a month or more just exploring all the ins and outs. There was signs of a large fire in the eastern most places we visited. I thought it may have been the Long Draw fire but upon returning home and consulting maps I don’t think that was the one. A lot of the aspen is on the road to recovery, but not so much for the mountain mahogany that was burned. The high country is in better shape as it gets more moisture, but the lower country has, in many places been overrun with cheatgrass (which I’m sure was present before the fire but is really thriving now).
Wow! thats some beautiful country. Thanks for sharing>
marc