Sometimes you just gotta hit the road and get away from what's troubling you. Head toward adventures unknown, the hum of your tires, the slow sweep of scenery, and the music on the stereo all mixing up a sweet balm for your soul.

Raise your hand if you've heard of Steens Mountain. Don't see many hands. Most Oregonians don't know the Steens, and it's one of the most impressive physical features in the state. 9733 feet at the summit, it ranks eighth tallest in Oregon; but because it's tucked away in the far southeastern corner of the state, in unpopulated desert far from the urban centers of the lush west side, it doesn't get much tourist attention.

And that's just fine.

I'd been there twice, but the last time was back in 2000, when I drove a rental Pontiac Sunfire to the top. Oh, yeah—that's right—to the top. The Steens is a fault block mountain: basically the Earth's crust on one side of a fault line rose a mile above the crust on the other side. After eons of glacial action and erosion, we were left with a mountain with a precipitous east face along thirty miles of fault line, and a very gradual westward facing slope featuring several majestic glacial valleys. There is a fifty-mile gravel route, the Steens Loop Road, that you can drive all the way to the summit, even in a Pontiac Sunfire (though not recommended; the road can be rough in spots, and that rental was in sorry shape when we returned it at the Boise Airport!)

My sister Elizabeth enlisted for this June road trip, excited to indulge her relatively new-found passion for rockhounding, and volunteered her Subaru Forester, its AC recently repaired and suspension passing inspection. The drive from Portland is about five-and-a-half hours. The transformation in the landscape is striking. Dense Douglas fir growth on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains gives way to more open Ponderosa pine forest as you drive east from Mount Hood. Further east, when you leave the city of Bend in the rear view, trees disappear altogether. Vivid clouds ride low in the blue, laying soft moving shadows on the sagelands below.

We stayed three nights at the Hotel Diamond, a wonderful inn that first accommodated guests in 1898. It's run by four siblings from the Thompson family, whose roots run deep in the history of Diamond Valley. The hotel is the perfect base for visiting all that the region offers: Steens Mountain, the Alvord Desert, the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, and the Diamond Craters. We got out for sunny morning runs before it got too hot, jackrabbits kicking up from the brush alongside the gravel roads, light passing pink through their ears.

After an arduous day of exploring, the family-style dinners at the hotel are perfect culmination. We shared a table and long conversations with travelers from all over the state, and even a couple of retired Portland-area school administrators who now own ranching property near the hotel, and had just come in for the food and the company. The entrées ranged from enormous steaks to chicken enchiladas to a tasty bacon-topped meatloaf served with braised cabbage. Hearty enough to replenish a days worth of calories, and delicious enough to please Portland foodie palates.

We fell in love with the hotel—I can't wait to get back there some day.

Here's my Steens / Alvord photo gallery.

Rancho Rioja

El Diario del Ranchero

Back down Discovery Road

2 Fistfuls of Fives

Road Trip: Steens Mountain

Uncorked!