The Wind River Mountains. The Winds. Have you seen them from a distance? Have you ever wanted to hike into their depths? Those craggy peaks hold a lot of mystery from the little they give up from a long distance. We had to go. So we drove across Oregon, Idaho and part of Wyoming. We arrived to snow squalls in September, and so we held off on the edge waiting to go in.
We have been waiting for the right time, the combination of nice fall weather and trying to time the color change on the aspens. The first weekend we had planned was forecasted to be snowy with highs possibly in the 40’s. Then the sunny weather came along and we headed east to the Steens with our fingers crossed hoping for some fall colors on the aspens.
It was nearly dark by the time we arrived. The days in October are just too short. But we awoke to blue skies and golden colors on the trees.
We were there in the spring, but ran out of time for a real visit and really just passed through. This time we’d make it our destination. Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge lies in Oregon’s outback. That is to say, it’s not really near a whole lot. Maybe that’s what makes it so nice. We made our way down highway 31, through Paisley and Plush and were able to arrive as the sun was going down. The wildlife were at home on the range.
