Ive got about 15 min so I'll throw up a quick synopsys... The trip was to start at 10:00 sharp on Saturday meeting at Wild Oats on HWY20 in Bend. The leader required all participants to show up on time with the following: Full tank of fuel, chains, and a bundle of firewood. One of the members of the trip did not take heed of this in their rush to pack on Friday night, which really started the trip on a sour note for me... But hey, even though I showed up 1/2 hour late to my own trip and didn't bring chains, firewood, and didn;t have my GPS set up with the route, at least I had fuel! We headed East on 20 past what was Hampton, and turned South headed to the Glass Buttes after airing down. We stopped for lunch at the obsidian field and marveled at all the different shards of black glass. Then it was doubletrack on to Glass Butte, the weather got very cold for a spell and light snow was falling. From there we headed south again to the Elk Camp to set up camp. Ed, having done this route twice as many times as me led the way. After setting up camp and making dinner, the night got pretty cold. the folks that did bring firewood (basically everyone but me) got the fire going as it started getting very cold. We sat by the fire, ate Banana boats courtesy of Ran, and tried to stay warm by burning what had to be a very expensive piece of cast magnesium that Kelly brought. After running in fear from the ensuing inferno, we all returned to the fire for warmth wearing our sunglasses. The next morning, we woke up to bitter cold and a blanket of frost and frozen fog with light snow. It must have been in the mid teens that night and early morning. Breakfast was made, camp packed up, and we tended to our frozen fingers and sprained nipples due to the cold. Ed knew of a different route so we followed him as it more closely followed the OBDR. Within 1/2 hour and a few hundred feet of elevation, we had blue sky and warmth again. We followed the rough doubletrack across the valley for a few hours until we got to the Lost Forest, a stand of Fir trees that doesn't seem to fit in the location. We had a late lunch there and let the kids and dog run. From there we ventured to the sand dunes and played in the huge expanse of volcanic sand and huge dunes. After we got our willys out in the sand, we headed along gravel and paved roads to Christmas Valley to restock on anti-freeze (whiskey) and fuel. Ran and Erika had to head home from there so we said our goodbyes and headed to Green Mtn for camping that night. If you have never been to Green Mtn, I highly recommend it. Even though it is a campground and has a pit toilet, it seems not very many people use it. With it's fantastic view, I love to wake up there. On the trip to camp, Ed and I radioed wondering if anyone would be there and quickly surmised that there was no way in Hermiston anyone would be camping there in this cold of weather. I was the first to turn into camp and low and behold there was another camper, in a well kitted Tacoma. I radioed back that there was another camper but he looked like he was a NWOS type of traveller. No sooner than I got out, Kirk came and introduced himself and the other rigs pulled in. Ed and Kelly lassoed a medium size fallen tree with their tow chain and drug it to camp to burn. Firewood was not an issue there, but Kirk offered to share his as he brought 3 days wood for a 1 night stay. We all met Kirk, decided we liked the guy and invited him to our campfire (He of course brought wood but he would have been welcome regardless). That night was spent talking trucks, favorite places, travel info, and sitting by the campfire. that night and ensuing morning were not as cold as the night before but at around 8:30AM Ed's thermometer read 23deg. The next morning we relaxed and took our time breaking camp and drying the frost. Kirk decided to join us for the day so we ran down the hill to Crack in the Ground for some exploring. Crack in the ground is a very cool (literally) spot to explore and only takes about an hour. from there we ran to the Blowouts, a volcanic vent that is fun to explore, and then to Derrick Cave. We walked about 1/8 of a mile into the cave climbing boulders in the dark with flashlights and headlamps. inside Kelly suggested we all turn out our flashlights for about a minute to adjust to the dark. I have never experienced anything so dark, after a while, Kelly lit a match to see how much it would light up the place. Pretty impressive but it was still incredibly dark in there. After going as far as we were comfortable, we turned back to the entrance and trucks to make lunch. Kirk had to head to Bend to meet a buddy so we said our goodbyes and encouraged him to join NWOS. Soon we were behind him deciding that the dinner plans for tonight included Deschutes Brewing Company in Bend. After a great meal, we drove west past Sisters on hwy22 to find a camping spot. After looking for about an hour we found lots of good spots but none with fire rings. As we settled on a spot, i was turning around and my lights swept across a fire ring. It turned out to be a great spot for the night and was the warmest one yet (but still friggen cold with frost in the morning) and we burned the rest of Kirks firewood. We packed up quick that morning, headed to Sisters for a big breakfast at the Gallery, and said our goodbyes. Ed and Craig headed back via HWY97 and I took HWY22 to save some time. Great time! Thanks Ed, Kelly, Craig, Soren, Ran, Erika, and our newest member Kirk for a great late fall trip! It's the people that makes a great trip even better! Todd |