Mule's ears
Wyethia amplexicaulis

Earl and Maxx in the Crack in the Ground:

After having lunch at Sage Hen Rest Area, we drove into Burns, stopping to get groceries and diesel ($2.739). By the time we were finished with everything, it was nearing 2 PM (our usual get-off-the-road time), so instead of driving all the way down to Fish Lake, we ended up at The Narrows RV Park, about 30 miles south of Burns and at the intersection with the road that goes east to the Malheur NWR Headquarters. We had dinner at the Narrows restaurant...we were planning on having a piece of their homemade pie for dessert, but, as usual, were too full after eating dinner to even consider it!

The next morning, we decided to drive down to the Sod House...one thing we hadn't seen when we volunteered at the Refuge back in 2006 because it doesn't open until August. Well, as it turns out, it doesn't open until August 15...the next day! Oh well, one of these days, we'll hit it just right and be able to visit.

We drove on up to Fish Lake, about 18 miles or so up into Steens Mountain from Frenchglen. Earl blew up his boat and did some fishing (we'd stopped at Steens Mountain Resort to buy a 3-day fishing license), but didn't catch anything, even though he said he got some bites.

It was cold up there, and even colder overnight...cold enough for there to be frost on the ground, so we decided to come back down the mountain this morning and camp at Page Springs, the campground at the base of the mountain. After lunch, Earl's going to go fishing in the nearby river.