Exploring Oregon

It was mid-morning by the time we got to Anthony Lakes. We couldn’t see the Lake from the road, so we drove into the campground and found a place to park that was sheltered from the wind.

It was beautiful and peaceful, but almost colorless. Everything appeared in shades of gray, except for the few trees that were close to us.

The snow was coming down fairly hard and added an interesting, artistic blur to the photos. You can see the snow in the two closeups to the right.

Everything felt so surreal. Here I was shivering in my parka and jeans, with low visibility caused by the briskly falling snow, yet the day before had been hot and cloudless. Granted it was also a couple of hundred miles away, but that wasn’t how it felt.

I wasn’t really prepared for winter weather, this first weekend in June, so I didn’t venture far from the road. I doubt if I spent more than 15 or 20 minutes taking photos, but I was sure happy to get back into the car, which was nice and warm as Llama had kept it running while I wandered about.

We left Anthony Lakes somewhat reluctantly. So close to the summit, we knew it was only a short drive ’til we’d be down out of the snow. But with most of the long drive still ahead, we couldn’t afford to linger. We passed by the campgrounds for both Mud Lake and Grande Ronde Lake for the same reason.

A few miles later, we were back in the bright saturated colors of wet woodland and new growth. We headed South when we came to the croosroads, staying on highway 73 as it continued to meander down out of the mountains.

It was a beautiful and enjoyable drive, although there weren’t any wide expansive views. At least, not with the clouds closely hugging the peaks. We didn’t stop again until we came to the historic old town of Sumpter.