Graham Family Farm NorthWest

Liberty State Overland Club
Blue Mountains Overland Trip – Day 2
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
By Clay & Doc Graham / Eastern Washington Off Road / CegPics.com

On Tuesday August 18th, 2020, Liberty State Overland Club members woke up early in the hot tents in the Umatilla National Forest at Bone Springs Warming Shelter in Oregon. We had breakfast and hit the road.

We drove by Timothy Springs Campground to see it and then onto Lookout Mountain for for the view.

The next stop was at Troy, Oregon. Most everyone went for a swim in the Grande Ronde River.  Shelby our Black Lab was pulling at the leash trying to get in the water. She had a lot of fun swimming with everyone. After the swim we had lunch and headed up the mountain toward Pomeroy, Washington.

We drove back into Washington into the Umatilla National Forest. We stopped at view point to look back toward Troy.

On up the road we decided to turn off and go up to Saddle Butte to see the view from there. The road up was smaller with some mint smelling weeds in the middle of it. It was a nice smelling road. Once on top, we took a break to see the view off both sides and then head back down to continue toward Pomeroy.

We stopped at Kelvinator Spring to fill up our water bottles and then headed on to the Mt. Misery Warming Cabin.  The shelter had some work done to it since we were last there. They did an great job. The door is still real short and yes, I hit my head coming out since I was talking and wasn’t paying attention.

Next we drove over to Misery Campground and set up camp. We had dinner and watched the sun set. Later we sat around the propane campfire visiting. It was at warm night. There was thunder and lightening around us. It started to sprinkle as we were going to be. Not long after I went into the tent, it started raining. Sometime during the night I woke up to a downpour. It was pretty wild and kept getting harder and harder. The 60 Second Coleman Tent did a great job keeping Doc and I dry.

Here are some photos of LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip Day 2:

Click to see Day 3 of 3 of the LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip.

Click to see Day 1 of 3 of the LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip.

Liberty State Overland Club
Blue Mountains Overland Trip
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
By Clay & Doc Graham / Eastern Washington Off Road / CegPics.com

On Monday, August 17th 2020, Liberty State Overland Club members met up at Viking Village in Selah for the Blue Mountains Overland Trip. We convoyed to Dayton. In Dayton, we stopped for fuel. Foxracer stopped at Chief Spring’s Brew Pub and filled up a growler with IPA. Don went to the part store and the rest of us waited across from the Columbia County Courthouse. After everyone was ready, we headed up Kendall Skyline Road toward the Blue Mountains in the Umatilla National Forest. We took a short break along the road once we found shade.

After the break we headed on up. We found a big area to pull off and stop there for lunch. Shelby was happy to be able to get out of the Jeep after the long ride.

After lunch we continued on Kendall Skyline Road. We stopped for a break at the Kendall Skyline Road Monument.

We then head toward Table Rock Lookout. The gate was close with a sign saying the lookout area was close due to Covid-19. We moved on and stopped at Bone Springs Warming Shelter. We set up camp and had dinner around the propane campfire.

Here are some photos of LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip Day 1:

Click to see Day 2 of 3 of the LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip.

Click to see Day 3 of 3 of the LSOC Blue Mountains Overland Trip.

Eastern Washington Off Road
Clear Lake Camping Trip
By Clay & Doc Graham / CegPics.com

On Wednesday, August 12th 2020, we set up camp west of Rimrock at Clear Lake to have some camping fun. Our friend Scott let us know there was an open camp spot right next to him, so we took it. It was a nice campground, but the place was packed by Thursday. By Friday afternoon there were people camping in places that were closed. Some were using chainsaws in the campground to cut wood for their illegal fires. It is sad that people won’t follow the rules and get places like this closed.

On Thursday we went out exploring with two Jeeps. We drove down to a campground next to YMCA Camp Dudley. The road in had deep ruts and was a challenge in my low rider YJ Jeep to get back out.

We then headed up US12 toward White Pass and stopped at Clear Creek Falls. The views of the falls are awesome.

After getting a few photos of the falls, we headed back to Clear Lake. We stopped to checkout the fish ladder on the way to camp.

We had lunch at camp and then headed to Conrad Meadows. We made a few stops along the way to check stuff out. Once at Conrad Meadows, we were disappointed how small the camping area has became. In the early 2000s we use to camp and ride horses from there. It was a bigger area back then. Use to be able to drive down close to the creek.

We headed back out toward Rimrock Lake. A 14 mile drive down FS1000. Once at the lake we drove around the Peninsula. The place was packed. We almost got hit by a rice burner drifting onto the one way we were driving out the right direction. We went back to camp at Clear Lake for dinner and then bed.

On Friday we hung around camp and and played in Clear Lake some. We head home at 5:00 PM.

This was a very fun trip. We ate well since we brought our Chuckwagon kitchen and the main cook. The meals were great! Thank you Scott for letting us know about the camp spot being open.

Here are some photos of the Clear Lake Camping Trip: