The Trip Home...

Our route home yesterday included the segment of U.S. 395 that stretches from the town of John Day to the Oregon/California border. All of these photos were taken along that stretch, which includes some tremendously varied flora, fauna, and geology. As always, click on a thumbnail to get a larger version. Counting from left-to-right and top-to-bottom, here are a few comments on the photos:

1. Between John Day and Burns, storm clouds over fields of grass...

2, 3, 4. Between John Day and Burns, white birch in their fall colors...

5. Stretch of U.S. 395 south of Burns, looking south down the rift-made steppes and into the storm...

6. South of Burns, looking north along U.S. 395, with a shadowed rift escarpment visible under the brooding storm clouds...

7. Lake Abert, a mineral-laden alkalai lake under the Abert Rift escarpment. The lake is home to many migratory and resident birds, including geese, phalaropes, and avocets. The plains are home to prong-horn antelope, deer, and elk. The escarpment is home to a large population of bighorn sheep. There is much more life here than one might imagine when zipping by this high desert community of sage, pinyon pine, and desert cedar...

8. Prong-horn antelope, grazing without apparent concern in a farmer's field...

9, 10. Migratory cranes, which gathered by the hundreds in many different places along our route...