Starting 2016 at Diamond Lake and Crater Lake

Happy New Year! To kick off 2016, Craig and I joined some friends from Oregon at their cabin on Diamond Lake. It was a full-blown winter wonderland weekend complete with snowmobiling, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and cabin relaxing. Below are some photos from the trip. Most of them boast Mt. Thielsen, but he looked so fabulous in his new suit of white that it was impossible to not photograph him in every change of lighting.

Craig walking on a frozen Diamond Lake New Year's morning.

Craig, me, and Mt. Thielsen

Craig and Dan get a tow behind the snowmobile

...and we lost a Craig. I love how this photo looks like Dan is trying to lasso Craig.

Me and Kathie riding in style.

How cute is this place?!

I mean seriously! How cute is this place?! Straight out of a fairy tale!

The deep snow made a great beer fridge for the weekend.

For one of the afternoons, some of us headed over to Crater Lake for snowshoeing. Even without being illuminated by a wintry blanket of snow, Crater Lake has an awe-inspiring beauty that has the power to stop anyone in their tracks. The new coating of white created of scene a of pure radiance and accentuated the lake's frigid blue color.

Wizard Island covered in snow

The rim of Crater Lake with snow.

Me trying not to get blown off the crater wall.

Some of the crew spend the afternoon at Crater Lake.

Kathie, Dan, and Craig down below.

Crater Lake

Mt. Thielsen with a morning shroud.

Mt. Bailey blasted by snow.

Mt. Bailey from below.

Silent Creek

Silent Creek and Mt. Bailey

Attempting some ice fishing.

Getting close with Mt. Thielsen.

Mt. Thielsen's ridge at sunset.

Last light on Mt. Thielsen.

The full crew at Diamond Lake: Cory, Lisa, Kathie, Craig, me, Dan, and Mark

Diamond Peak in the distance.

We awoke on the final morning to several inches of fresh snow with more to come. A storm rolled in early morning and continued for the remainder of the day. Icy roads and heavy snowfall, combined with holiday traffic made for an extra-long drive home. What is normally a ~7 hour drive turned into a ~12 hour trip!

Quick stop at the Deschutes River on the snowy drive home.

Trip to John Day

At this point, we knew we were going to be leaving Oregon to move to California within a month so we decide to squeeze in one last trip. Below are the shots taken from our visit to the John Day Fossil Beds.

Most of the trip was geology driven as the earth revealed millions of years of its history, one color at a time. However, we also enjoyed insight into the culture of the small town, Eastern Oregon lifestyle. Most of the towns were nearly ghost towns with seemingly very few residents.

We camped for both nights along the John Day River, which was for the most part very desolate and peaceful. However, a large family of locals showed up shortly after us and quickly took over.  Although we would have preferred the quiet serenity we were expecting by camping so far away from any populations, we said, "it is what it is," and let it become a part of the experience.

The nights were beautiful, with wispy cirrus clouds painted different shades of pink, purple, and finally dark blue. Coyotes were yipping in the distance and there were so many starts to gaze upon! As we were falling asleep to this peaceful setting, we suddenly heard guns firing...very close by. After carefully poking our heads out of the tents, we could see a spot light dancing around the rock face across the river from us and then it would stop and shots would suddenly fire again. Our camping neighbors were firing rounds into the rock right next to us! I was completely flabbergasted that someone could be so ignorant, but what were we going to do...walk up to them and tell them to stop?! Fortunately, the target practice didn't last long and we were able to get a good night's sleep before exploring the Painted Hills on our last day.

The Painted Hills were definitely our favorite part. The colors were fantastic! Their yellow, black, and red hues are constantly changing shade depending on the humidity and lighting. It's hard to believe they're actually real and not something made up for the set of a science fiction movie. To put it bluntly, they really look like colorful velvet blobs melting in the desert sun. I wish I would have taken a photo of what these formations looked like up close. They have a much drier, cracked, and uninviting appearance than the soft, squishy hills I captured.

Sheep Rock

Escaping the heat by taking a dip in the John Day River

 Escaping the heat by taking a dip in the John Day River 

Mouth-deep in the John Day River

Almost looks like an erupting volcano

And this is why cirrus clouds are my favorite

More sunset

View of the John Day River near where we camped

The amazing Eastern Oregon color pallet 

Albino matis?!

pretty desert flowers

Yay for the Painted Hills!

 Painted Hills up close

They look so soft

 Painted Hills melting

Trillium Lake

The best part about quitting your job early in preparation for another job in a few weeks is that your weekdays open up for fun. Below are photos of a camping trip Craig and I took at Trillium Lake, one of the small lakes around the base of Mt. Hood.

Cooking up the leftovers from a crabbing trip in Hood Canal

With no shell crackers, we resorted to getting to the crab meat via hammer

Craig and me in front of Mt. Hood

sunset at Mt. Hood

Morning views of Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake

Morning views of Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake

Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

A few photos from our overnight backpacking trip to Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area.

 Bear Grass

Craig caressing the bear grass

stream crossing

 A thawing meadow

A thawing meadow

Meltwater

The campsite

Not a bad view!

 Mt. Jefferson

Mt Jefferson and reflection 

Looking out our front door.

Starry night