Last week I took the Eurovan on a road trip to southeast Oregon to do some photography in the Alvord Desert on the east side of Steens Mountain. Talk about some remote country. There are only about four public roads in all of Harney County. From the town of Fields (population less than 20?) on the south end of Steens Mountain to Burns, the county seat, one must drive for two hours on a paved road along the western side of Steens or three hours on a dirt road along the east side of Steens. Either way you pass through only one town not any larger than Fields. One day I drove the entire loop and saw fewer than ten other cars the entire day.
Steens Mountain is actually just one fault block mountain but because it stretches from north to south for so many miles it is often mistaken for an entire range of mountains. From the west it gently slopes up making it look like a large hump in the desert landscape. Then the eastern slope abruptly drops nearly a mile to the Alvord Desert below. Viewed from the east Steens looks very impressive.
The Alvord Desert, named after an old ranch in the area, is an alkali flat that once was a shallow lake. The ground in the flat is, as the name implies, completely level and devoid of any plant life or other features for 100 square miles. It is very similar to the Black Rock Desert where the Burning Man festival is held each year.
Part of the time I focused on taking wide landscape photos of the cracked surface of the Alvord Desert with Steens Mountain as a backdrop. Stormy, dynamic or otherwise dramatic skies and sunset or sunrise light are critical elements in interesting photos here since there is very little else to place in a composition. Unfortunately, with the lowest rainfall totals in Oregon, the skies are often clear. But, when there is moisture in the sky it is often pushed up the west slope forming wave shaped lenticular clouds similar to those on the east side of the Sierra.
There are also several hot springs in the area that are fun to explore and photograph. On the northwest side of Steens is the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that sees many thousands of migrating water birds each spring and fall. Not far from there is the French Round Barn, one of the last remnants from Pete French’s 19th century cattle empire. During the middle of the day the interior of the barn makes for some interesting photography. Soft light reflects in the open doors gently illuminating the intriguing geometric patterns created by the umbrella shaped roof structure.
The town of Frenchglen makes a great staging point for driving and hiking trips up the western slope of the Steens. The road is closed by snow in the winter and spring, but in the summer, the views from the top are great. There are several glacier-carved gorges that can be accessed by hiking from the Steens Loop Road.
