About the Author

Rachael Plunkett

Rachael is an avid outdoorswoman whose passions include hiking, backpacking, road tripping, writing, and videography. She and her husband created Wandering Plunketts, an Instagram, YouTube, and blog where you can follow along on her adventures.

Adventure Trails with Views of the Blue Mountains

May 17, 2024
I feel sweat drip from my brow as I cut away chunks of soil with a pickax, the tool rising and falling in rhythm with the volunteers around me. I’m hard at work improving the Pendleton Adventure Trails Recreation Area, a 290-acre multiuse trail system just northwest of downtown Pendleton. I’ve already seen results of our trail-improvement labor, and I’ll relish it even more when I’m sailing downhill in cool breezes on my mountain bike. More
found in
Eastern Oregon , Pendleton , Mountain Biking , Outdoor Recreation ,

Beginner Backpacking Trips in Eastern Oregon

July 20, 2023
Day hikers looking to break into overnight trips can find adventure in Oregon’s mountain wildernesses, with short adventures in the glorious backcountry of the Elkhorn and Wallowa mountain ranges. More
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Wilderness & Natural Areas , Destinations , Trip Ideas , Outdoor Recreation , Backpacking ,

Cross-Country Skiing in Eastern Oregon for Beginners

December 21, 2022
To enjoy Oregon's crisp winter air and the peaceful quiet of a snow-dusted landscape, there is little better than putting on a pair of cross-country skis and gliding through the forest on a classic track. More
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Cross-Country Skiing , Snow Sports , Outdoor Recreation ,

Guide to Winter Photography in Eastern Oregon

November 8, 2022
If it’s your first winter-photography excursion in Eastern Oregon, try these simple camera tricks that improve images even with a simple phone camera. More
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Eastern Oregon , Photography , Activities ,

Larch Forest Hikes in Eastern Oregon

September 6, 2022
With one of the widest geographic ranges of all the conifers, the larch family is known for its very peculiar habits: It loses its needles, more like deciduous maple or oak trees than its evergreen counterparts. Growing on mountain slopes, in valleys and in swampy areas, larches can be found with Douglas fir and ponderosa pine companions in great masses in Eastern Oregon. More
found in
Eastern Oregon , Baker City , Favorite Trips , Trip Ideas ,

The Stars Come Out Over Zumwalt Prairie

May 27, 2022
I started to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into after the sun dipped below Eastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. There was not a single light in sight besides our own headlamps as we set up our camera gear, serenaded by coyotes yipping to the moonless sky. More
found in
Eastern Oregon , Joseph , Favorite Trips , Trip Ideas ,