Umatilla Marina is just downstream of the McNary Dam. We will spend a couple days checking out refuges and the local goings on.

We head on north on 395. Sage brush prairie gives way to the lush pine covered mountains of the Umatilla National Forest.  For much of the journey the road twists and turns is valleys it shares with tumbling creeks and rivers swollen by spring melt off.  The smells of spring and evergreen are intoxicating.  I just want to stop where I am for a while and soak it in.

We top Battle Mountain and in a flash it all changes again.  For as far as I can see it is rolling grassland.  Green and golden blades move in the wind like waves on a shoreline.  This is ranchland and as the local in the Pendleton visitor center put it, “we grow what we can with what God gives us”.   Irrigated row crops don’t take over until we approach the Columbia River.

The Pendleton Woolen Mill tour. Automatic carding equipment takes blobs of mottled colored wool and transforms it into beautiful, uniformly hued strands.  Then it is spun for strength, steamed to relax it, and finally wound onto larger spools as it is readied for the looms.  For blankets, a cotton strand runs on direction and wool of many colors the other to create the pattern.  The automated looms are cool to watch.  Newer ones are all computer driven but even more amazing are older ones that are “programmed” by using a player piano like strip that is read by the loom to feed the correct strands.  I felt an un-napped version made from green wool that felt exactly like an old army blanket we had when I was a kid.

I checked out every item in the store. My favorite blankets are classic plaids or the southwest/Native American motif patterns.  Alas, I have no need for another blanket and they didn’t have the jacket that I loved in my size.  I left empty handed.  There is always the online store!

Rolling Stone Bakery. The scones were yummy but their specialty is artesian bread so I of course had to pick one to try.  “Buck” wheat bread.  It is a yummy dense, dark bead with buckwheat flour, seeds and wheat germ.  Tasty as it is but I can’t wait to try it toasted.

They are pretty serious about their Rodeo here. We checked out the stadium.  Nothing fancy but it apparently is THE place to be in September come time for the Pendleton Round-Up.  “Let ‘er Buck”

Steens Mountain is an impressive thrust block mountain that juts up from the valley floor just south and east of Malheur Refuge.  It is a developed recreation area with a number of great sounding trails.  Problem?  It is still snowed in.  They don’t expect to open the road until early July.  Another place to add to our “next time through” list.

In spring, snow melt from Steens Mountain swells the lakes and floods thousands of acres of pasture land.  By mid summer it is a dry grassland with cattle (and horses) grazing everywhere.  Canals, dikes and huge diversion gates are used to manage this transition to best support local and migrating wild life.  Unfortunately, they haven’t reopened the visitor center since The Occupation so we couldn’t get a first hand explanation of how it all works.

The wildlife drive is long, 42 miles and not terribly productive but it was an OK stop. We saw pronghorn, mule deer, coyote and a number of warblers, sandhill cranes and trumpeter swans.

The Narrows Campground served as our home base for the stay. We took a day off from cooking to try the home cooking at their Café.  A Narrows Burger with green chilies and a tuna melt (first one I have ever had in my life by the way) were both delicious.  The home made peach pie topped it all off nicely.

860 animals! Typically the corrals are empty going into summer but all the long term facilities are full.  Many of these beautiful animals will be spending extra time here in Hines, Oregon.  Right now most are from Beatty Butte, one of 19 herd management areas in Oregon.  It is a complex issue on how to manage these wild herds.  They burden the public lands, compete with grazing livestock and consume scarce water yet they reflect a wilder time and connote a romantic notion making it impossible to simply do away with them.  Each herd has its unique genetic makeup, coloring, and temperament.  Animals from the Kiger herd nearby are quick to be adopted.  They are in great demand as breeding stock for their intelligence and stamina.  I know very little about horses but these creatures are a beautiful sight and the mares with foals absolutely adorable.

They had a few burros too including a brand new little one. So cute with those big black tipped ears!

We drove through the Virgin Valley section of the refuge that is still an active mining district.  It seems to be mostly small, low budget claims worked by individuals or co-ops.  The Peacock Mine still operates and I suppose is profitable but they have added Mining the Miner to their income stream.  They have a rock shop and full service campground to support “pay to dig” miners.  We checked it out but declined to put shovel to dirt.  That just doesn’t sound like fun to me.

We have never had so many:

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Yellow headed black birds – they can make the most bizarre noises.

Western Tanager

The Western tanager – what lovely plumage and a song too.

The Bullocks Oriole

Bullock’s Oriole

Black headed grosbeak – the very prettiest of them all.

Black Headed Grosbeak

We have yellow snakes too – very sociable ones. We have found them around the pool, on the road, in the middle of the trail, and today gliding out from under the motor home steps.  I had just made three trips past that very spot.  I am hoping he just kept going.

We step gently down the steps into the pool at camp. The water is a warm 80 or so and feels great after our hike.  It is an earthen pool with a gravel and sand bottom and I notice little fish around the edge.  No problem.  I swim in lakes all the time.  Oh my, this is different.  The little guys nibble, not really bite I guess because it leaves no mark but it tickles.  It is bit distracting when I hoped for a relaxing soak but we hang out for a half hour or so.

Now for the rustic shower house – oh yeah, they mean rustic but the water is warm and there is lots of it. Together the pool and shower are a nice feature for the campground and overall the experience had the desired result, relaxed and clean.