Cove Palasades State Park, OR

I spent quite a bit of time this morning cleaning up the RV from the almost 20 mile dirt road ride yesterday, when I went to hunt for thunder eggs. The day is now ending, with yet another dusty road to find my boondocking overnight spot.

I spent a good part of the day at Cove Palisades State Park. 
There is a series of dams along the Crooked and Deuschutes River which created this 800 to 900 foot deep series of lakes and rivers. The canyons are walls created from lava flows 10 to 20 million years ago. There was some interesting distinctive patterns on these walls that went from vertical, to diagonal, to horizontal, some with an interesting swirling pattern. I would have loved to impress some clay into these cliffs.

I took some time to enjoy the sunshine and mild temperatures listening to the lapping water while drawing a sketch and reading. I partially entertained going swimming in this surprisingly clean looking water, but it was just a tad cool, so not quite enough incentive for me to swim. There were plenty of boaters out there fishing, water skiing, and water tubing.

I considered staying at the campsite right inside this park, however, since my tanks are in fresh shape, for dry camping, I decided to seek out one of my free dispersed sites which took me to a very rural edge of a canyon, near the Deschutes River. As much as I wanted to get right along the cliff, the route to get there was filled with protruding lava rock, so it was enough challenge getting a space within a hundred feet. Also, it's incredibly windy, and the dust is swirling and flying, so I decided on a more protected space instead. The area is all lava rock, with pine and juniper trees as part of the high desert landscape.

I have plans tomorrow to visit even more lava rocky points of interest, as my tour through central Oregon continues.

An update to my mouse issues... It seems like the mouse is not here, even though he left me a gift, but the bait has not been touched. At least I am ready for the next encounter!!!






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