Eventually the Steens mountain road snakes its way up along the gorges to the summit.  Located at 9,733 feet, the summit of the mountain is legitimately at elevation… The temperature at the bottom of the mountain was in the mid 50’s and pleasant.  At the top it was 43 degrees with a brutal wind.  There’s a reason this road is only open a few months out of the year! The landscape up here really reminds me of Iceland, with the meadows, volcanic rock, and snow.

The summit was pretty neat and the views of the valley below are amazing, but the wind was brutal and neither of us wanted to really hang out up here for much longer! Time to head back down the other side!