The mostly humorous ramblings of my day to day existence.







Showing posts with label sunstones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sunstones. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A Treasure Hunt With a Map!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Here is a short pictorial journey of a trip I took with my family a couple of years back through the Oregon Outback. It was a quest for the Steens Mountain, the Hart Mountain Hot Spring, and Plush sunstones.

Located between French Glen and Plush in the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in south western Oregon the Hart Mountain Hot Spring is an oasis in the middle of nowhere, and a welcome refuge in the wilderness to wash off some of that desert dust. We spent a few days at the base of the Steens Mountains fairly close to Frenchglen, and were making the 80 mile trek across the desert to Plush, a so-called town that has a Store/Gas Station/Bar combo.
But Plush is no ordinary place, it's the last place for gas and supplies before embarking on the washboarded road to the sunstone mines. Sunstones can also be collected for free on Federally owned land managed by the BLM. Here is a treasure map so you can find your very own trinkets. We camped out in the desert and picked up stones for an entire day.
On the Steens Mountain road
On the Steens Mountain road
A dry lake bed
Hart Mountain Hot Spring pool
Hart Mountain Hot Spring
Hart Mountain Hot Spring pool
The desert can be beautiful
Entering the Refuge

An Antelope
The road down to Plush

The road down to Plush
A flat just as we hit pavement
Finally at the sunstones
The ground is full of them
My treasure