{"id":5494,"date":"2025-05-26T22:02:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T22:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/?p=5494"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:24:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:24:02","slug":"exploring-the-oregon-badlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/2025\/05\/26\/exploring-the-oregon-badlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Oregon Badlands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Monday, May 26, 2055<\/p>\n<p>Before heading home from our weekend in Bend we explored the Oregon Badlands Wilderness.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>We parked at the Larry Chitwood Trailhead on the north side and headed down the trail:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ75Ae\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021989665_55e48d5075_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pile of rusty cans left from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oregon_Maneuver\">Oregon Maneuver<\/a>, a 1943 military training exercise:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6qRu\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021862718_ebb1859001_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rPZTQf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020782802_4c01f8b526_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ75vV\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021989415_8a64d00f07_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dwarf purple monkeyflower blooming amongst the detritus:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ75vV\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021989415_8a64d00f07_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Greg lingered over flowers, and I hiked ahead. I reached a junction and turned left. More purple monkeyflower:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rPZXvS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020795192_417d1b80f2_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anderson&#8217;s larkspur:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rPZXvw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020795172_e56d039176_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A huge old juniper:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6qU5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021862868_e01c81c601_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"534\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whitestem blazingstar:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6P9w\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021937714_511605dc41_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I reached another junction and turned right to follow the Chitwood Loop. Another enormous juniper:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6qKN\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021862388_d8d7a73e70_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Foothill death camas:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ791W\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55022001190_64d41deeac_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Buckwheat:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ5uCN\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021680326_f1417e3ce9_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At another junction the Chitwood Loop went right and I went left on the Sand Lily Trail. I did not see sand lilies, but I did see more monkeyflower:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rPZXqG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020794892_e479329540_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6P8e\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021937639_63d8778c8d_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Western wallflower:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ78Y1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55022001020_8b1faa5f77_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tidy tips:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rPZXq6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020794857_a119d154c7_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I turned around, met back up with Greg, and we headed back to the car. We drove around to the Flatiron Trailhead on the south side. We headed up the Ancient Juniper Trail to see if we could spot some sand lilies. First we spotted a western fence lizard:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ14jW\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020814742_7e10c22fa8_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We saw some of the same flowers we saw earlier, including Anderson&#8217;s larkspur:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ5AP5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021701106_162b2f3567_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And monkeyflower:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ5AMr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021701011_611ed3713a_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I spotted my first sand lily, but it was past peak and fading:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6V5e\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021957649_8c9621a9a4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We kept seeing sand lilies that were past peak, but then we came across an area of sand lilies that looked much better:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ6V3W\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021957574_a5e64181e0_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ5AJv\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55021700841_dd3af8e8d5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mission accomplished! We continued on, meeting up with the Flatiron Trail and looping back to the car. At the trailhead we saw a Nevada side-blotched lizard. Very good camo!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2rQ14dd\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55020814352_efe7e16e1f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Oregon Badlands Wilderness\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gaia stats: 5.7 miles (both hikes total)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monday, May 26, 2055 Before heading home from our weekend in Bend we explored the Oregon Badlands Wilderness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oregon-badlands-wilderness","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5498,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5494\/revisions\/5498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}