Tag: Hiking

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Chimney Rock

Usually when we are on the Crooked River, we’re on the other side of the road, rod in tow and knee deep in the stream. However, today it was a scramble up one of the many dry gullies to the east for a look out over the Crooked River canyon south of Prineville.

Chimney Rock is a distant cousin to the more famous Crooked River basalt formation Smith Rock.

But here again, we are talking about a much lower attendance on trail and of course much less technical hiking.

There is a short climb up the side of the river canyon to a juniper and sage ridge. The trail then meanders along crossing and re-crossing a dry creek bed. Ancient juniper trees are  literally poking out of rock outcroppings. The surrounding canyon walls are home to a conspiracy of vocal ravens.

The day offered an interesting prospective on a stream we often camp along, and provided a delightful hike on a sunny winter afternoon.

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Better than boots

Tip has a set of ‘dog booties’ that were supposed to offer protection from sharp rocks along the stream. The trouble is, while he’ll tolerate wearing boots, it’s not easy getting them on. It’s more of a problem in the winter, where it’s difficult to find a dropped boot in snow if they fall off.

 

Not sure how we discovered Musher’s Secret. We were looking for a winter solution to paw protection and found it’s easily applied. A couple of times a week we gently rub it into his pads, letting the warmth of hand and paw effect the absorption. It is a ‘tolerated’ process, but goes on quickly and is trouble-free protection. Effective both winter and summer, I think we’ll still use booties when traversing lava and obsidian lined trails.
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Walking the Badlands

There are lots of options for hikes around us, but none of them transport you back in time like the Oregon Badlands Wilderness. High desert and Central Oregon landscape really don’t begin to explain the terrain you walk through on this complex of trails just 20 minutes east of Bend.

Weekends from May to September, the parking lots are packed from sunrise to sunset. The place is just that popular.  However, if you come out on a winter’s morning you’ll often find no one around.  Like we did on this day. For us the cold, today it was 17 degrees at 8am, is preferred to the heat of a summer day.

Gnarled ancient junipers, desert sand paths, and jutting igneous rock make for a very different view from our typical walks along streams and rivers. The place is very dog friendly and the trails are wide and not technically challenging.  We went out on the Flat Iron Loop looking for a good sunrise and thoroughly enjoyed the quiet morning.

 

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A turn at every road

In traveling Central Oregon roads, you’ll notice that in this high desert country there are no shortage of side roads. Dirt tracks, some of which have a USFS number, others are just a couple of tire tracks off a road apron. The open understory of these forests make it pretty easy to lay out a road and unlike the rain dense forests on the West side, the understory doesn’t overgrow even some ancient logging tracks.

What happens is that even with a winter snow, you can find walkable side routes and Tip has grown accustomed to these impromptu walks. So much so, that as we are heading up for a day hike or other excursion, he will ask to stop. OK, so technically he’s not saying anything, but he’s developed a series of huffs and nose whistles that are as good as any established language. Everyone in the car understands what is being communicated.

This is in no way a complaint. To the contrary. We have made some interesting discoveries prompted by Tip’s suggestions. And many of these brief stops have found us exploring a different direction. After all, the idea was to get out and walk, so this may be as good a place as any.