In September Evelyn and I traveled to Steens Mountain Oregon with a group of Altair members (www.altairsports.org). Our base camp was the Frenchglen Hotel and we drove day trips from there. Our highlights were the Diamond Craters Drive, the East Rim of Steens Mountain, and the Mickey Hot Springs.

In July of 2009 Gary DeCamp wanted to climb Diamond Peak (He had tried in 2007 but I slowed him down.) For this adventure he recruited softball buddy Don Allen. I tagged along and hung out at the camp. This means that I have no pictures from the upper reaches of the world in this album

Once again I collected a group of victims and hiked the Belnap Crater trail. Since the highway from Eugene had been closed for road construction for most of the summer, the earliest we could do the hike was September the 28th. Because the hike was so late, there were forest fires both to the northeast and south. This limited the visibility and the quality of the view of the mountains.

In August, 2007 Gary DeCamp and Dale Tronrud backpacked into Marie Lake, south of Diamond Peak, with the hope of summiting.

This year's Belnap Crater hike was in September because of the extended closure of the switchbacks of the McKenzie Pass Highway. It was windy and cold with blowing ice pellets so we only went to Little Belnap.