Sunstones and Camping

We broke in the tents by driving to Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.  We left earlier than we have in the past so that we could get a good camping spot.  And we did!  After a quick bite for lunch in Lakeview we arrived at the campground in early afternoon and got two adjoining campsites next to Rock Creek.

After getting the camp all set up, we hiked up the mountains behind camp as far as a few pockets of snow that still hadn't fully melted.  But the bugs were bad up there for some reason, so we hiked back to camp.

Also unlike last time, we brought firewood, so we enjoyed hot dogs over a fire on the first evening.  After dinner, we went to the hot springs.  We had both the natural pool and the developed pools to ourselves and we stayed there watching shooting stars until midnight or so.

The next day we came down off the mountain and drove to Rabbit Basin to go find sunstones.  We definitely didn't find as many as we had in the past, but we still found enough for it to be fun.  On the way back, Emma went swimming in Flagstaff Lake.  All the lakes in the Warner Wetlands were full to the brim which was in stark contrast to the last time we visited when they were all bone-dry.

Back at camp, we had dinner and sat around the fire until late.  The next morning, we packed up and headed home.  Although it was a perfect low-70s on Hart Mountain, Medford was in the mid-90s.