Virgin Springs NF campground NV to LaPine OR
No axe murderers came during the night! We woke up before the sun was out yet, probably because I was worried all night about finding gas. Temperature was in the upper 20’s and we got a little cold over night. Really cool watching the steam rising off the hot springs pool. We dug out our winter coats and boots and made a quick breakfast and some coffee before heading west on the trail once again.
We were up around 6700 ft elevation and came to an abrubt downgrade with a flat plains area maybe 1000 feet below. They had a pullout and a sign saying Glider Launch Point! Probably an excellent spot if you’re into jumping off mountains.
It ended up being 84 miles to the gas station in Lakeview Oregon. All of the gas stations in Oregon are full service which is nice but seems strange. He even cleaned the windshield. It took a little over 17 gallons so we had over a gallon left at least.
We did some grocery shopping before heading deeper into Oregon. The landscape quickly turned to tall pines a rolling mountain terrain which is what I was expecting up here. We weren’t far into the forest before hitting an area where they had a forest fire last month. All along the road we were on they had cleared the left side for about 100 feet or so, cutting all the trees and then control burning the swath to make a fire break. I was like this on this road for 20-30 miles and we never saw anywhere that the fire jumped although most of the way you could see the burned out trees on the hillsides. It was odd because mixed with all the burn you’d see trees that were barely touched. I don’t know if this was one of their big fires or just a local thing but it looked big enough to me.
Finally drove out of the burn area and wound our way up to La Pine and found a camping spot at the state park. Got some wood to make a campfire as it cooled off quickly. It was only 22 degrees the next morning but zipping our sleeping bags together we stayed pretty warm, not toasty but warm.
Tomorrow we’re detouring up to Bend OR and hope to spend a couple days exploring before getting back and finishing our trip.