This post documents the morning hike on our third day of five on our recent rafting trip down the Lower Owyhee River in far southeastern Oregon, four hours from our home in Bend.
Last night, Amanda promised us a nice hike today and suggested that today we dress for hiking rather than the river. I was really looking forward to climbing above the river for a different perspective on the gorgeous country all around us.
After breakfast and after having made sandwiches for lunch, we set off down the river, which was very gentle at this point, dressed in hiking clothes with our hiking shoes in a dry bag. Just after leaving our campsite and passing Pruitt's Castle to which Laird and I hiked last evening, we rounded a bend in the river and another large hill came into view, a hill of the same chocolate and linen coloration as Pruitt's Castle. Amanda called it Lambert's Dome and said that, if we were so inclined, we would hike to the top.
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Lambert's Dome
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We pulled to the west bank of the river not quite two miles, just a very few minutes, after we left Ryegrass Camp. After changing shoes, we started up a dry wash toward this impressively striped dome and soon found ourselves in the midst of some really crazy rock formations
à la Badlands National Park. As we climbed higher and higher, we got better and better views of the river valley below us.
Ann decided to head back to the raft, not wanting to hurt her feet any further; they were still on the mend from blisters from our latest hike through the Oregon Badlands Wilderness Area. Amanda, Laird, and I continued on. The rock surfaces that we were climbing were extremely steep and uneven and I am not sure if I stepped wrong or not, but I noticed that the site of my foot surgery was really starting to hurt. As in, really starting to hurt.
A younger me would have pushed through the pain and continued on, come hell or high water. The older me is starting to listen more and more to my body and to realize that I am no longer the spry younger me. As much as I really, really, really wanted to continue on to the top, I listened to the pains in my foot and reluctantly retreated to the boat to join Ann.
My return back down the hill did give me the opportunity to photograph Amanda and Laird as they climbed and summited the dome.
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| Look at All the Colors in This Wash |
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| Western Fence Lizard |
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| Another View of Same Lizard |
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| I Stayed Behind Halfway up This Very Steep Ascent |
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| Looking Back at the River |
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| Amanda and Laird Headed to the Top |
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| More Hoodoos on the Way Down |
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| Say's Phoebe Serenading Me Atop a Hillock |
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| Amanda and Laird on the Summit |
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