In July, we took a two-week road trip from Los Angeles to Anacortes, Washington and back. We took the inland route, up US-395. Our first day took us up through the San Fernando Valley, on to the Antelope Valley Freeway, past Mojave and Red Rock Canyon and merging onto US-395 just north of Inyokern. The drive up the eastern Sierra is just magnificent. I wrote about our 2011 trip up a similar route and included pictures. We arrived at our hotel in Reno at about 4:00pm.

On our second day, we went north from Reno, past Honey Lake, through Alturas, and then into Oregon. Our target that second day was John Day, Oregon.

We passed through Lakeview, Oregon at about lunch time. We tried to see the Old Perpetual Geyser that is just north of Lakeview, but we couldn’t find it. We stopped for lunch at the Chandler State Wayside 17 miles north of Lakeview. It was good to get out and stretch our legs.

About five miles north of the wayside, in a place called Valley Falls, Oregon 31 splits off from US-395 heading to La Pine. We went left, staying on US-395. Coming up to the junction you get your first glimpse of Abert Rim. This is a very impressive uplift of basalt almost 2,500 feet (760 meters) high. Click on any image to see a full-sized version.

This closer view of Aber Rim shows the basalt cap. According to Wikipedia, Abert Rim was formed over five million years ago when lava flows covered what is now eastern Oregon. Faulting lifted the rim up, creating the dramatic features we see today.

A few miles further north, the highway comes alongside Lake Abert. Laker Abert is shallow, no deeper than 11 feet (3.4 meters) and with no outlet, it is highly alkali. The region is quite arid, so most of the water comes from winter snowmelt. The highway snakes along quite close to the lake, giving you good views of the stark beauty of the lake. There is a turnout with some interpretive information about the lake close to the south end.

The alkali lake bed prevents plant growth, but at the edges of the lake the water provides for some lush green growth.

You can see what little water remained in July gleaming in the distance.

Abert Rim towers above the lake.

The lake is too alkali to support fish, but there are brine shrimp in the lake. The brine shrimp make good food for migrating birds, and Lake Abert is an important stopping point for migratory birds. The water in the distance provides some interesting reflections.

Even in the hot July Sun, there are many birds on the lake, no doubt enjoying a meal of brine shrimp.

From there we continued north across a fairly desolate part of south-eastern Oregon. We passed through Wagontire (population 2), up through Burns to John Day. It was a beautiful drive.