Ellen Waterston, Author at The Source - Bend, Oregon

The Stars Have Beckoned Us: Part Four of “Walking the High Desert”

Musings on the stars of the High Desert, from Ellen Waterston’s new book

Ellen WaterstonJune 28, 2020July 30, 2025

In the last edition of our excerpts from Ellen Waterston‘s “Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail,” the author began to describe one wonder of the High Desert Trail: Pine Mountain Observatory. She continues musing on the stars in Part 4, our final installment of the book. But how […]

Culture

Walking the High Desert: A Mountain is Pretty Sure to Figure

One of the “highs” along the Oregon Desert Trail, at 6300 feet, is Pine Mountain.

Ellen WaterstonJune 14, 2020June 21, 2024

Part three of our serial excerpts of Ellen Waterston’s new book, “Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail. In this excerpt, we begin part one of Chapter 4. A Mountain is Pretty Sure to Figure One of the “highs” along the Oregon Desert Trail, at sixty-three hundred feet, is Pine […]

Culture

Walking the High Desert, Part 2: A good time at the Harney County bird fest

The 41-day occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge had ended just months before. Three months later, trekking the Oregon Desert Trail seemed like a nursery rhyme.

Ellen WaterstonJune 8, 2020February 18, 2025

Last week, we brought you part one of chapter one of Ellen Waterston’s new book, “Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the High Desert Trail.” Chapter One continues this week—and stay tuned for more throughout the month of June. My drive to the bird festival that weekend not only took me across […]

Culture

Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the High Desert Trail

Chapter One, part one in our excerpted “serial” of Ellen Waterston’s forthcoming book

Ellen WaterstonMay 31, 2020January 4, 2025

Editor’s note: All through June, we’ll be excerpting portions of local author Ellen Waterston’s new book, “Walking the High Desert.” Here’s Chapter One. First of all, it’s “Orygun,” not “Orahgone.” And it’s “Malhyure” out here. Not the French pronunciation “Mal-uhr,” although the French trappers who came through Oregon’s high desert in 1819 were plenty unhappy. […]

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