Winter in Eastern Oregon.

It can be a beautiful time and place, as long as you have the option of staying indoors next to a burning fire.

Tuesday morning broke to 45 degrees and windy in Pendleton, a balmy start to what would be a mild day. Residents of the city and in Hermiston might be surprised to read about the treacherous conditions that were just a few miles to the south and east.

Things were markedly different atop Cabbage Hill, at Tollgate and east of La Grande. Drivers who thought they would just cruise through the area were sorely disappointed as Interstate 84 was closed in both directions for much of the day. State highways in Union and Wallowa counties were shut down, too — and for good reason.

Opinion page editor Tim Trainor risked life and limb to make the drive from Pendleton to Enterprise to fill in at our Wallowa County newspaper.

Highway 82 was closed at Island City, but he drove over Tollgate and through snow-smacked Elgin, which looks more like the North Pole right now.

Low visibility, blowing snow and deep drifts covered the roadway, and there was nary a place to get off the road and out of harm’s way. It was a downright blizzard, and that warm breeze that flashed through Pendleton was much more menacing at a couple thousand feet of elevation.

We love to live in Eastern Oregon because of its remoteness, because of a close relationship to nature and because of its wide expanses and empty space. But those all work against us when winter storms come to town and we find ourselves behind the wheel.

Drivers must do a mental check when trying to navigate the region.

Studies have shown — from climbers atop Mt. Everest to city-dwellers just trying to get to the store for a gallon of milk — that in dangerous situations humans often pile poor decisions atop poor decisions. We don’t take advantage of our good fortune, and having come out of a hairy situation clean we tend to put ourselves into an even hairier one.

Mentally, the longer we have traveled the more we have suffered, the more likely we are to keep going through it. That can be a fatal flaw if backcountry skiing, say, or trying get yourself to Boise when the roads won’t allow it.

Eastern Oregonians must sometimes be strong enough to turn around, and surrender a round to Mother Nature and live another day.