Fall Snows on Steens Mountain- Lowlands to the Gorges

The snow filled clouds parted, revealing the fall color and natural beauty of Steens Mountain, and it's vast, glacier carved gorges. Finally, after years of attempts, I was in the right place at the right time for this combination. Mighty Steens gets my vote for most the dramatic landform in SE Oregon.
I imagine that the original inhabitants of these lands (Northern Paiute and Bannock tribes) must have considered this to be one of their most sacred places. Much, but not all, of this area is protected from development, but there are still Wilderness Study Areas which deserve permanent protection.
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My search for beauty in the natural world takes me off-trail to remote, vast, and rugged wildlands, where I capture the special moments. These places renew the human spirit and deserve your attention and protection. By sharing these places, I hope to inspire others to go there, fall in love, and protect them for our children.
Mark’s images have been exhibited in Central Oregon at several venues including The High Desert Museum, and have been published by the Washington Post, Oregon Natural Desert Association, and Oregon Wild among others.

[@joycecaudell6047]

Stunning! Thanks!

[@markdarnell569]

Thanks for watching!

[@DrLightMDDJ]

Thanks for sharing!!! Beautiful :) 😍

[@markdarnell569]

Thank you!

[@ericclark3996]

Quite a stunning area. I look forward to getting back there very soon. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[@markdarnell569]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@ColumbiaB]

My father and I drove up Steens Mountain in mid-August, the day the remnants of the hurricane were blowing through, making for some really dramatic conjunctions of torn clouds, immense cliffs and gorges, and the colossal spaces between them. And now the passage of just a couple months has made for some dazzling transformations of that landscape.

[@markdarnell569]

Cool, wish I had seen those dramatic clouds.

[@robertbrown5052]

Some beautiful footage there Mark! As a teenager (think I was 16-17) I went camping in that area (top of Blitzen) with John Scharff, who was the first manager of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and who the Scharff Waterfowl Festival was named after. That was 1970! Need to get back to the Steens - it’s been over 20 years since I’ve last been up there. Thanks for sharing.

[@markdarnell569]

Cool! So glad the video sparked some nice memories for you. Such a remarkable landscape. Thanks for watching!