2021 was the summer of excruciating heat and a massive number of forest fires, big and small, particularly in the western states. We had hoped to spend some additional time in eastern Oregon before heading up into Idaho but fate was not on our side.
Weather tracking, smoke tracking, and fire tracking apps became the norm.
Following our 100-degree day in John Day (link to post here) we decided to look for higher ground. Next stop wasn’t the twilight zone…it was in eastern Oregon’s Strawberry Mountains just south of Prairie City (city being an extreme exaggeration) in the Malheur National Forest.
The dirt road rolling out of Prairie City was wide and flat most of the way to the campground…until it wasn’t. The last bit included some steep climbs and plenty of sinks that a 4-wheel drive or monster truck would handle just fine. A wee bit different experience in a Leisure Travel Van, but once again Doug’s mad driving skills paid off!
Strawberry Lake Campground is primitive (no hookups) so using air conditioning was not an option, but its price, altitude, proximity to a cool mountain stream, availability of fresh water, and access to Strawberry Lake allowed us to ride out the worst of the hot week or so that we needed to.
The lake itself is 1.5 miles from the campground and we hiked it with Bailey almost daily while we were there. With no cell signal, we spent most of our time floating, fishing or reading by the lake or the stream. Doug explored the trail beyond the lake which climbs up to the spectacular Strawberry Mountain Wilderness area with glacier carved valleys and waterfalls along the way. We also for the first time actually “packed” our pack-raft up to the lake and had some fun paddling in the afternoon and Doug used it for some successful high-mountain-lake fly fishing in the evening.
Strawberry Lake is the epitome of a gorgeous high mountain lake – clear, cool, relatively protected, and unlike some, a short hike. Despite the extreme heat and a few late afternoon bugs we had no complaints, especially with these views!
Strawberry Lake
Strawberry Falls
Thank you Strawberry Lake for your quiet, cool, and serene beauty.
