July 8, 2021
We left Bear Lake on June 17th to head for Oregon. Our original plan was to stop at the Painted Hills in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We changed our minds when the forecast called for temps around 100 degrees. Boondocking with no AC in those conditions would be unbearable. Some friends of ours were house-sitting in Bend, OR and they invited us to "driveway surf" for a couple of nights. It sounded perfect. It would take another day to get there, so they suggested Chickahominy Reservoir as a stopover camping spot a few hours from Bend.
The Chickahominy Reservoir is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Oregon Fish and Wildlife. As seniors, it cost us $4 for the night! It's definitely nothing fancy, but we had a nice spot overlooking the reservoir from which we could watch the white pelicans.
We took a walk around the reservoir and saw a few more birds, including this Blue-winged Teal with chicks.
We were treated to a most beautiful golden sunset that night.
The next morning, we drove to Bend and our driveway spot for the weekend.
Our host, Cort, is a real jokester. He placed this very real looking snake next to one of our tires. When Lee poked at it with a stick to get it to move, we finally figured out that it wasn't real. He really got us good!
We took a walk along the Deschutes River.
A selfie on our walk with our fun-loving, adventurous friends from Bend.
We went kayaking on another section of the river the next day. That evening we went to Cascade Lakes Brewpub for dinner, one of the many breweries in Bend.
After a weekend of "driveway surfing" we moved to a commercial campground in La Pine south of Bend for a two-night filler. (Another Bend friend has a spot saved for us at Elk Lake. More on that later.) Our two-night filler campground was located near the entrance to Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We had driven to the top of the crater the last time we were in the area. This time, we decided to do the 7.5 mile hike around the Paulina Lake shoreline. Paulina Lake is a crater lake that sits within the Newberry Crater. formed from over 500,000 years of volcanic activity.
Here are some scenes from our hike around the lake.
The flocks of Mergansers scattered when we looked over the bank at them even though we were much higher up.
View across the lake of Paulina Peak
Some of the trail went through a forest of moss-covered trees.
This section went by an obsidian cliff. Remains of volcanic eruptions.
On this side of the lake there were steep cliffs made up of cinder. We definitely did not want to slip here!
With about two miles to go, the thunder clouds started to move in. We made a beeline for the parking lot and made it to the car just in time.
As we hiked around the lake, we passed several campgrounds within the park. Perfect for those who want close access to the water for boating and fishing and don't mind no hookups. They were all full, so you would have to plan ahead.
As I mentioned above, another friend from Bend had two campsites reserved at Elk Lake, a campground in the National Forest just west of Bend. There were four days available in the extra campsite, so Carol offered it to us. It was a perfect getaway to continue to avoid the heat. Elk Lake is beautiful and the breeze off the lake kept us cool during the day.
At the far end of the lake, in the distance is South Sister in the Three Sisters Wilderness.
A reflection on South Sister taken from my kayak
On the opposite shore from our campsite we could see Mt. Bachelor in the distance.
We got together with all our Bend friends for kayaking and paddle boarding on Hosmer Lake nearby.
When I wasn't kayaking or hiking around the lake, I was watching the little critters on the rocky shore.
A Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
A Brewer's Blackbird with food for chick
Feeding the chick
The chicks hide among the rocks.
They come out from their hiding place to call for food.
Having a conversation. I'm pretty sure the chick is saying, "I'm hungry!"
We watched this little Bufflehead chick run down the hill from the campsite to the water's edge. Somehow it got separated from the rest of its family. Off it swam into the large lake. Hopefully it was reunited with its brood.
We're finally leaving Oregon. We missed the Painted Hills and Mt. Hood because of the heat. We'll have to catch them next time. Off to Mt. St. Helens next.
