Today I went on a grand adventure!
Sometimes I forget that my own backyard in Bend, Oregon has some spectacular places to explore. I've heard from friends about an amazing geographical feature called "Crack in the Ground." It's exactly what it sounds like, a crack in the ground. Honestly I think someone could have came up with a better name, but whatever.
Anyways I've always wanted to check it out, fortunately and unfortunately winter in Oregon has been quite warm this year, no snow yet! Compared to last years record snowfall, it's quite odd. So I took advantage of the weather and drove east!
I took the Highway 20 route:
It was out in the middle of nowhere! This is Hwy 20, NO TRAFFIC. haha
Off of HWY 20, I had to take a right on Frederick Butte Rd, which was a very long gravel road. I was planning on flying my drone out here, but the wind was just too high for my comfort. Next time!
This area is truly remote, mostly high desert with a few scattered alfalfa farms.
I'm not sure how old this house is, but I was able to stop my car in the middle of the road, hop the barbwire fence and snap a few photos of it:
If I didn't have Google Maps, or Maps.me there would be NO WAY I could've found this place.
Maps.me worked great because you don't need cell service or wifi to use it. And I eventually lost service, which is frightening in the modern world. lol
I parked my car and walked to the edge of the cliff and VOILA! I found the crack.
The "Crack in the Ground" can be easily seen from satellite pictures:
Since being by myself I was little cautious, who knew if a cougar took refuge in these natural shelters, so I made sure before entering them that I made loud noises to let any potential cougars know that I was there, so there would be no surprises. Luckily at the bottom of these crevasses there was still snow that hadn't melted yet, and the snow was untouched, meaning no tracks or "footprints."
Here's one of the entrances to a small part of the "Crack in the Ground"
It reminds me of Lord of the Rings, Return of King when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli walk into the mountains to summon a ghost army.
I stopped to take a breather and have a cold brewski in these deep, cold crevasses just to admire the silence and the cold air coming from the caves.
I suck at Photography, I really do, but I spent most of my time trying to find the best pictures, I found it difficult due to the strong, sunny light above down to the dark sunless environment deep inside the crevasses.
But I tried my best :)
I found this pretty fascinating, two multi ton rocks just wedged together forming a bridge. I wouldn't recommend standing on this natural bridge, sure it would make a sweet picture, but these rocks have probably been like this for a hundred if not thousands of years, and it would be disappointing if some drunk guy stood on top of them weakening their state.
What was really cool about being in this deep crack is the sheer amount of moss, remember we are in a DESERT, but at the bottom of these crevasses, moss was carpeting the ground, and snow was prevalent.
I feel like I didn't have enough time to truly explore every crevasse, and not to mention all the caves! I had my headlamp, but they had small entrances and being by myself I didn't feel comfortable entering them.
Speaking of which, I decided to balls up and descend into a deep crevasse, getting down was sketchy, the rocks are slippery, mossy and icy. But after a couple of beers I said screw it.
I hung out in this deep crevasse for quite some time, but when it came to hike back out, I ran into trouble...
When I was younger I was an amazing rockclimber/boulderer, but unfortunately I somehow acquired a pretty gnarly shoulder injury. I believe falling on a big jump while skiing caused it. But anyways, while climbing out of the deep crevasse with both arms holding my weight and backpack weight with cameras (and beers lol) my right arm POPPED OUT OF ITS SOCKET- a loud POP!!! Luckily I already had my legs firmly holding the lower ledge, and used my legs to move myself up. I was in a LOT OF PAIN. In fact my right arm was unusable at this time, and it roughed up my right arm nerves because I couldn't feel my fingers. I crawled to highest and flattest spot I could and sat down, cracked a beer and breathed heavily. I eventually got feeling back into my fingers.
I succeeded in getting out of that deep crevasse, BUT if I would've fallen, I would've injured myself pretty bad and no one would have been around for days to discover me. Even if someone were close, they most likely wouldn't be able to hear my cries for help, as I was in the bottom of a crevasse. A CLOSE CALL FOR SURE.
I'm grateful I made it out safely, and I really think I should bring a buddy with me next time, I plan on going back because there are awesome caves to be explored.
It was about sunset when I left the location, and I snapped this picture about a mile down the road from "Crack in the Ground." I have no freakin' idea what the structure is in the picture, maybe someone can help me out in identifying it.
But thanks for reading my friends, and I highly recommend visiting this remote Oregon location. BUT you could make it a day trip and visit Fort Rock (where the oldest pair of sandals have been discovered in North America) and "Hole in the Ground." But, haha Hole in the Ground is exactly what it sound like, I'll do a blog about these features as soon as I can, thanks to this warm Oregon winter weather, lol.
Love you all!
Peace
-Mike