I just returned from two nights at a really wonderful spot, the Summit Guard Station Bunkhouse, in the Blue Mountains between Pendleton and La Grande, in the Umatilla National Forest. It’s at around 4700′ altitude, which meant that it only got up to the mid-80’s while the rest of Eastern Oregon’s lowlands were sweltering in the mid to upper 90’s. It also cooled off down to the low 60’s at night, so sleeping wasn’t too bad.
The main reason I went? Solitude. Perhaps one car a day passed the cabin, which is just about out of sight from the forest service road. Just before dusk, when the birds were still quiet, the only sound to be heard was the breeze moving through the ponderosa pine boughs. Surely, one of the great sounds in all of nature. Every now and then, the call of an eagle or hawk could be heard, interspersed with the croak of a raven. No critter sightings – though a herd of sheep did cross the road on the way to the cabin my first day! It was a time for me to be completely alone, and to let my thoughts wander as they would, and to soak up the freedom that comes with being completely alone in a wild place, far from casual human contact. I have a wonderful friend who gets away from it all regularly, and swears by it. I discovered this place thanks to her. And now I swear by it, too!
This is one of the many such structures that are available to reserve and rent from the National Forest Service. I would highly recommend this one – it sleeps up to six inside, and there are plenty of great tent sites outside, too. And it’s about $45 a night. No electricity or running water, but there is a vault toilet. Oh, and the sunsets can’t be beat!
You can see all of the details here.
And here are the sheep!