Long Hike With Good Company

About a week ago - on a very cool and overcast day me, Kory and a lady who lives for regular adventure, walked together into Oregon Basin.

I have kayaked a couple of times with Kelly but this was the first time we had hiked together and I was excited at the prospect of exploring new places.

The plan was to hike a trail beginning on the outer rim of the basin, hike up the power line trail and then drop down into the basin proper.

From there we would hike flat trails until we (hopefully) reached Circle Rock.

I say hopefully because I had never hiked all the way to Circle Rock before.

LC and I had visited often, but we had always driven all the way around, driven through an entrance into the basin and then followed rutted out dirt trails until we reached Circle Rock.

On this day we would be dropping down on foot into the basin, and I truthfully had no idea how far it was to walk it.

And it didn't really matter.

I was happy to be hiking.  So was Kelly.  And so was my dog.

No matter what we reached or didn't reach, no matter what we found or didn't find, it was all good.

Kelly dropping down into the basin.

Kory was off trail somewhere but close by, doing her happy-puppy-exploring...................

I had walked to the top of the power line trail before, but had never dropped all the way down into the basin.

Half way down we came to an enormous rock ledge with no trail beyond that immediately visible.

Kelly and I recon-ed the area looking for a trail down.

We could see trails zig-zagging the desert floor far below us - there had to be a trail down there somewhere (or at least a relatively navigatable route that we could use to climb down).
We kept looking.

A few minutes after beginning our search for a way down, we saw Kory happily exploring rock crevices 80 feet below us.

Kelly and I looked at each other in bemusement and surprise.

Alright Missy - how did you get down there?

I called to Kory, hoping to encourage her back up the hill (and by default show us a potential way down into the basin).

Instead, my athletic dog climbed vertically - hopping, skipping and jumping her way easily up a route that no self-respecting middle aged women would dare to attempt..................

Kelly is a dog lover, and my human-loving dog immediately took to her.

One last picture before we all picked our way down over boulders, around sage bushes, and across washed out ditches before eventually reaching a trail we had seen from above.....................

Once we reached the basin floor all three of us quickly picked up a trail and headed west.

Kelly and I walked easily and matched each other's pace well, but Kory was having more fun than any one dog should be allowed to have.

She disappeared constantly - investigating bushes and rocks, climbing hills and disappearing on the back side, before making her reappearance each time a few minutes later.

As far as we were walking, my dog was running at least three times further.

Likely more.

We stopped occasionally so that I could provide a thirsty dog with water.

As we continued with our hike I constantly looked around me, trying to reconcile the area.

It all looked so different.

This late in the spring, everything was green, making the area look foreign to me.

But the oil wells and nasty lake in the distance were in the right place.

So was the jagged ridge line, and the power lines and the mountains in the distance.
We were headed in the right direction but had no real idea how far we still had to travel.................

And then I saw it.

One lonesome tree growing up from the rocks.

A tree that I had photographed many times on previous trips as we approached Circle Rock.

I knew this tree well, recognized it immediately when I finally saw it on this trek, and knew that we were finally there.

I stayed on trail, while Kory and Kelly wandered up to the side of Circle Rock, and I watched as Kelly took this place in for the very first time.

She was instantly enamored with the smooth edges, the holes, the crevices that had been ground into this massive sandstone rock over eons of extreme wind and rain...............

Kory and Kelly climbed the steep side of Circle Rock, while I walked a little further on trail and entered from a less-steep area.

We had found it.

I was pleased with myself for having successfully navigated us to this place in Oregon Basin, and pleased to again have an opportunity to enjoy Circle Rock.................

Looking down into a huge circular hole in the sandstone that has been eaten away by wind and rain.................

And another one..................

Everything on Circle Rock is circular.

The fungi, the natural rock platforms, the wind-swept areas that have been eaten away by the elements to expose large and small sections of soil, the circles that have been "tattooed" across vast flat sections, the deep holes.

Circles everywhere you turn..................

We spent a long time exploring Circle Rock.

In between, we drank water and ate sandwiches, and called to my dog who continually disappeared over rises.................

After a long stay it was time to think about heading back to the vehicle.

We had gotten a late start, it was already after 5 and we had a couple of miles of hiking and a serious climb up and out of the basin ahead of us.

After some brief debate about options we had to get back to the Suburban, Kelly and I decided to follow a deer trail around a ridge line.

It was a route I had never taken before and we had no idea how far we would be able to follow it before it petered out, but it was traveling in the right general direction to take us back, and that was good enough.

Excited about the prospect of new adventure we headed out.

Two middle aged women and a dog.

Just happy to be here.................

Following the ridge line and loving the views and the rock formations................

Do you see the face in the rock?..................

Eventually the ridge line trail dried up as predicted and we all unexpectedly found one more huge rock that was similar to Circle Rock.

Just as large, just as many interesting circles found in every direction, and we excitedly explored it as we crossed over this sandstone goliath and eventually dropped down completely into the basin.

By this time my too-tight hip flexors and chronic right hip-injury were beginning to sound off.

Sore hips had to be ignored at this time and in this place.

We were still a couple of miles away from the Suburban.

Those couple of miles involved bushwacking across open territory, a long steep climb up to the top of the ridge line, and a long steep hike down the power line trail.

There was no time for sore hips....................

By the time we were hiking the last down hill my dog was hot and tired, I was hot and tired and sore, and Kelly seemed to be in the best condition of all three of us.
By the time we arrived back at the Suburban we were all tired.
But a good tired.

I LOVED this adventure.

Two awesome hiking companions - one human and one canine.

We saw wonderful scenery, Kory loved every minute of her unexpectedly long adventure, and we all had a great afternoon.

Very good deal....................

Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits..............Cindy Ross