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Oregon Desert Guide

70 Hikes

   by Andy Kerr

Including Steens Mountain; Alvord Basin; Owyhee Canyonlands; Malheur, Crooked and John Day Basins; Lake Abert; Hart Mountain; and Fort Rock Country.

It is some of the wildest and remote land left in Oregon--and the object of a 40 year love-affair for conservationist Andy Kerr. In 70 hikes through snow-capped mountain ranges, deep desert canyons, sagebrush-covered flats, dry lake playas, moonlike lava fields, and juniper-covered hillsides, he will seduce you, too with the spare and mysterious beauty of the desert. And, he hopes, inspire you to action. Each of these wild areas, vital to the survival of native plants and animals, is threatened. Kerr explains how you can help protect these lands forever.

All royalties from the sale of this book go to desert conservation efforts. 

The book lists for $15.95 - How to buy a copy.

From amazon.com

The Oregon Desert Guide uncovers short and long hikes in some of the most spectacular and little-known country in the lower 48. This is dry, difficult territory, much of it ignored by recreationists until recently. As befits a guide that highlights unusual landscapes, the trail information is presented in a rather unique way that addresses local environmental concerns in addition to the many scenic splendors to be found. Author Andy Kerr includes extensive notes (as well as a full chapter) on natural history, discusses the myriad ecological threats (livestock overgrazing, no surprise, is at the top of the list), and details the uncertain political future facing these mostly unprotected wildlands. Some of the gems here will be familiar to outdoors enthusiasts from the Northwest and beyond: Malheur, known to birdwatchers far and wide as an important staging ground during spring and fall migrations; Hart Mountain, a stronghold for North America's swiftest mammal, the pronghorn antelope; and Steens Mountain, a massive whalebacked monolith rising a mile above the surrounding landscape. Other places will be new even to many Oregon residents: the many hidden canyonlands of the Owyhee River drainage, for instance, or the increasingly rare sagebrush-steppe grasslands of the Columbia Plateau. One area noted, a place of remarkable beauty and ecological diversity, is Soda Mountain, where the Cascade and Klamath mountains are linked by the Siskiyou ridge--"east meets west meets north meets south"; since publication, President Clinton, exercising his executive power, has invoked the Antiquities Act to designate this area a national monument. Most other areas covered in the guide, however, have not received such protection, and the author does a public service by providing a conservation context for each hike; Northwesterners, after all, are all too aware of what happens to favorite hiking destinations that don't receive some form of legal protection.

Combining a strong and pointed conservation message with the practical details of a guidebook, Oregon Desert Guide aims to raise awareness about the need for preservation of 36 specified areas in eastern Oregon. With extensive natural history information plus map references and detailed location and access information, high-profile conservation activist Andy Kerr guides hikers through some of Oregon's most remote wilderness areas in the hopes that they will fall in love with the unique beauty and get involved in its preservation.

 

Table of Contents

(Numbered entries are explorations.)

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

The Basics

How to Use This Guide
The Right Maps
Getting Around and Back Well

Natural History

Geology
Climate
Vegetation
Fish and Wildlife
Wilderness, Natural, and Recreational Values

Unnatural History

Domestic Livestock: Scourge of the West
The Top Twenty Threats to Ecological Integrity

Political Future

Inviting Nature Back: The Big Vision Requires Big Wilderness
A Solution: The Oregon Desert Conservation Act
A New Mission and Name for the Bureau of Land Management
Why Special Designations Are Necessary
A New and Better Economic Future
Ending Public Land Grazing Fair and Square

Basin and Range Ecoregion

Albert Rim Wilderness (Proposed)

1. Colvin Timbers

2. Poison Creek

Alvord Wilderness (Proposed)

3. Alvord Desert

4. Coyote Lake

Bighorn Wilderness (Proposed)

5. Warner Peak and DeGarmo Canyon (Warner Peak Unit)

6. Orejana Canyon (Orejana Canyon Unit)

7. Poker Jim Ridge (Poker Jim Ridge Unit)

Buzzard Creek Wilderness (Proposed)

8. Iron Mountain Summit (Iron Mountain Unit)

Diablo Mountain Wilderness (Proposed)

9. Diablo Peak (Summer Lake Unit)

10. San Dunes Traverse (Summer Lake Unit)

Diamond Craters National Monument (Proposed)

Fish Creek Rim Wilderness (Proposed)

11. Fish Creek Rim

Fort Rock Lava Beds National Monument (Proposed)

Fort Rock Lava Beds Wilderness (Proposed)

12. Crack in the Ground (Four Craters Lava Field Unit)

13. Little Garden (Devils Garden Unit)

Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Additions (Proposed)

14. Buck Pasture (Warner Peak Unit, Bighorn Wilderness)

15. Campbell Lake (Poker Jim Ridge Unit, Bighorn Wilderness)

Lake Abert National Wildlife Refuge (Proposed)

Lonesome Lakes Wilderness (Proposed)

16. Benjamin Lake and Benjamin Cave

17. Elk Butte

Lost-Forest-Shifting Sand Dunes National Monument (Proposed)

18. Fossil Lake

Malheur Lake Wilderness (Proposed)

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Additions (Proposed)

Oregon Grasslands Wilderness (Proposed)

19. Beatys Butte Summit (Beatys Butte Unit)

20. Lone Mountain (Hawk Mountain-Catlow Rim Unit)

21. The Potholes (Beatys Butte Unit)

Pronghorn Wilderness (Proposed)

22. Guano Creek

Pueblo Mountains Wilderness (Proposed)

23. Pueblo Peak

Sheepshead Mountains Wilderness (Proposed)

24. Mickey Basin and Mickey Butte

Shifting Sand Dunes Wilderness (Proposed)

25. Nothing But Sand

Steens Mountain National Conservation Area (Proposed)

26. Whorehouse Meadows

Steens Mountain Wilderness (Proposed)

27. Alvord Peak Summit (Alvord Peak Unit)

28. Bridge Creek (High Steens Unit)

29. Home Creek Butte (High Steens Unit)

30. Little Blitzen River (Little Blitzen Unit)

31. Pike Creek (High Steens Unit)

Trout Creek Mountains Wilderness (Proposed)

32. Little Whitehorse Creek (Oregon Canyon Mountains Unit)

33. Mud Spring Base Camp (Oregon Canyon Mountains Unit)

34. Oregon Canyon (Oregon Canyon Mountains Unit)

35. Little Trout Creek (Trout Creek Unit)

Blue Mountains Ecoregion

Homestead Addition (Proposed) to the Hells Canyon Wilderness

36. McLain Gulch

Sheep Mountain Wilderness (Proposed)

37. Black Canyon Headwaters

South Fork John Day Wilderness (Proposed)

38. Smokey Creek (Murderers Creek Unit)

Columbia Basin Ecoregion

Boardman Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge (Proposed)

Klamath Mountains Ecoregion

Soda Mountain Wilderness (Proposed)

39. Pacific Crest Trail: Soda Mountain-Pilot Rock (Pilot Rock Unit)

40. Boccard Point (Pilot Rock Unit)

41. Dutch Oven and Camp Creeks (Pilot Rock Unit)

Lava Plains Ecoregion

Badlands Wilderness (Proposed)

42. Badlands Rock

43. Dry River Canyon

Crooked River Wilderness (Proposed)

44. Chimney Rock (Chimney Rock Unit)

45. Crooked River Overlook (Rocky Canyon Unit)

46. Gerry Mountain Summit (Gerry Mountain Unit)

47. Pickett Canyon (South Fork Unit)

48. River Mile 14 Island (North Fork Unit)

Deschutes Canyon Wilderness (Proposed)

49. Steelhead Falls (Steelhead Falls Unit)

John Day River Wilderness (Proposed)

50. Clarno to Cottonwood (Lower Canyon Unit)

51. Eagle Canyon (Spring Basin Unit)

52. Sutton Mountain Summit (Sutton Mountain Unit)

Owyhee Uplands Ecoregion

Jordan Craters National Monument (Proposed)

53. West Peninsula (Jordan Craters Unit, Owyhee Wilderness)

Lower Owyhee National Conservation Area (Proposed)

Malheur Canyons Wilderness (Proposed)

54. Beaver Dam Creek (Beaver Dam Creek Unit)

55. Bluebucket Creek (Upper River Unit)

56. Castle Rock Circumnavigation (Castle Rock Unit)

57. Coleman Creek Canyon (Coleman Creek Unit)

58. Cottonwood Creek (Cottonwood Unit)

59. Ironside Mountain Summit (Ironside Mountain Unit)

60. Star Mountain Summit (Star Mountain Unit)

61. Upton Mountain (Middle River Unit)

62. Westfall Butte (Westfall Highlands Unit)

Owyhee Wilderness (Proposed)

63. Anderson Crossing (Upper West Little Owyhee and Owyhee Canyonlands Units)

64. Batch Lake (Jordan Craters Unit)

65. Bowden Hills Summit (Bowden Hills Unit)

66. Chalk Basin (Owyhee Breaks Unit)

67. Honeycombs (Honeycombs Unit)

68. Lambert Rocks (Owyhee Breaks Unit)

69. Saddle Butte Lava Tubes (Saddle Butte Unit)

70. Slocum Creek-Schoolhouse Gulch (Mahogany Mountain Unit)

71. Three Forks (Middle Owyhee River Unit)

References

Recommended Reading

Appendices

Appendix A: Government Agency Contacts

Appendix B: What You Can Do to Help

Appendix C: Conservation Organizations

Appendix D: The Desert Trail

Appendix E: Home on the Range

Maps and Tables

Maps

The Oregon Desert

Basin and Range Ecoregion

Blue Mountains Ecoregion

Columbia Basin Ecoregion

Klamath Mountains Ecoregion

Lava Plains Ecoregion

Owyhee Uplands Ecoregion

Tables

Settlement Services

Wilderness, Natural, and Recreational Values

Index

© 2000 by The Larch Company, L.L.C. Text reprinted with permission from
"Oregon Desert Guide: 70 Hikes" by Andy Kerr, published by The Mountaineers,
Seattle, WA.