Prineville/Central Oregon

For a full day I saw the sights of the town of Prineville, Oregon. I think I'd heard that Central WA and OR are very different from the coasts, but until I visited these areas, I didn't really believe it. Man, was I wrong --- Central OR is a desert - in landscape and climate. Hot/dry during the day and cold at night. Not much rain, lots of sagebrush, I saw a tumbleweed even.

I spent the first full day heading to Smith Rock - a state park about 30minutes away. Much of this area is surrounded by cliffs topped with rim rock. There was volcanic activity in this area long ago which has shaped much of this landscape. Smith Rock was formed by this kind of activity and is a massive gathering of rocks in the middle of the desert. I hiked Misery Trail up to the top and viewed a formation called - Monkey Face. I was pretty skittish the entire hike since I only passed two men going the opposite direction and there were warnings of rattlesnakes. I was jumping out of my shoes as grasshoppers whizzed past me. Luckily, no sitings were had. I decided after at the top to go down the backside instead and here I began to see rock climbers. This area is supposed to be a mecca for climbing...and it's serious stuff here. It made me feel inspired to get back out and do some climbing again in the near future.

Later that day I took my cousin Curtis to the local museum and the reservoir for a swim. It was great to catch up with family and feel a little more comfortable in life. Thanks for having me Uncle Brian, Aunt Sandie and Cousin Curtie!

Just a preview of what this area looked like

big rocks - took it w/ my trusty $.75 yard sale tripod!

This is Monkey Face - see the person - yeah, these are big rocks

There's a rock climber in this photo

The Smith's