Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

 I spent a few hours yesterday over at the Refuge, which is about 30 miles from Burns, Oregon, not located in Malheur County, as the name might lead you to believe.  The headquarters of the Refuge is the site of the idiotic 2016 standoff lead by whack job Ammon Bundy, who lives in Idaho.  It was foolish from the beginning, and Bundy and company's antics led to one of his friends getting killed by officials.  Anyway, the place is back to normal, but if you ever plan to visit, make sure you take a ton of insect repellent.  You will be eaten to death if you don't.  Also be prepared to see a swarm of insects if you go during the summer months.  There were literally millions of grasshoppers on the auto route, and my rental car was such a mess, I went and washed it at a coin op car wash in Burns afterwards.  I even got the car washed a second time when I returned back to Medford today.

After I spent some time at the headquarters, I did take the auto route and completed ten stops before calling it quits and returning back on High 205.  If and when I visit the Refuge again, I will take the short hikes instead because I think the chances to seeing the birds especially would be greater than going in the car.  The lakes/ponds are mostly obscured by tall grass.  The road is strictly one way, and wide enough for one vehicle, making it impossible to take pictures outside the car.

Some pictures:

The above pictures are part of the headquarters.