Cathy and I took a late 40th anniversary trip to visit our dear friends, Brian and Lisa in Bend, Oregon. I didn’t take any pictures on our flight day. Our first full day we didn’t do too much, dealing with jet lag and such. Lisa took us downtown and we walked on the Deschutes River through Drake Park. We saw a flock of cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). The river is artificially wide and slow here because there is a small hydroelectric dam just below here. The park has really nice trees, mostly ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa), which is the predominant tree in the area, but there are also some quite large spruce trees (Picea species) and a large willow (Salix species).
Tagged With: Oregon
Drake Park, Bend, Oregon
Crater Lake
On the Saturday of our first weekend in central Oregon, we drove down to Crater Lake, about 85 miles (as the crow flies and about 100 miles by road) southsouthwest of Bend, where we were staying. When we got there, we found that the eastern half of the circling road was closed until 4:00 PM to motorized vehicles due to a bicycle event. We were told that we might not be able to find a parking spot, but “have a nice visit”.
As it turned out, we had a nice visit and found parking, although not at first. We found a spot on the western section of Rim Drive and walked on the Rim Trail. That’s where we got our first really good look at the crater and its lake. It’s also where the first two photos presented here were taken. The sun was to the southeast and there was a bit of glare on the lake surface, making it seem less blue that it did later, when we were on the south rim near the Crater Lake Lodge, from whence we could see it in all it’s blue splendor (as in the third photo).
The first twp of these photos are three-shot HDR images. The second and third are both composite panoramas, stitched together with Hugin – Panorama photo stitcher, which I cannot recommend enough. If you ever get the chance to visit Crater Lake, I seriously recommend it. We spent the better part of a day there, even driving part of the eastern half of the Rim Road after it opened. It was still closed between Skell Head and Phantom Ship Overlook for construction, so we were not able to drive all the way around.
Tumalo State Park Sunset
We had a fairly quiet and restful day today. Lisa’s car is still in the shop, although we’re expecting that it will be ready to be picked up either tomorrow evening or the following morning. After dinner we drove to Tumalo State Park on the Deschutes River north (downstream) from downtown Bend. There were some substantial ponderosa pines and I showed Brian, Lisa, and Cathy that if you smell in the large crevices in the bark it smells like vanilla. Shortly after that we saw a sign that told about the pines and it mentioned the vanilla smell. In addition to the sunset photos, I took some HDR sets of the river which turned out pretty well, although if I had done it sooner they would have had more sunset colors in the sky, which would have improved them.
California Quail (Callipepla californica)
I’ve been waking up fairly early, partly because we’re in a time zone three hours later than home, but also partly because it’s what I do. In the early morning I do one or more of reading, editing photos from the previous day, and writing in my journal. This morning, after the sun came up but before we went out, I noticed a small flock of California quail (Callipepla californica) in the garden in front of the house. I took a few photos through the front windows and then risked opening the door to get a few more. Sadly I didn’t take the time to look closely at the camera settings before I did that, so the images were all underexposed by over three stops. I was able to get reasonable images from them, but they aren’t nearly as good as they could have been. We saw them a few more times, but never as close and never when I had the camera handy.
Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata)
Cathy and I parked on the Deschutes River and walked upstream today. First we walked in the west bank and that’s where this photo was taken. It is an orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata) and I’m quite pleased with the photo. We also saw scrub jays and quite a few ducks. At one point I realized I had lost my glasses and we walked back looking for them. We didn’t find them, though. Fortunately the were just drug-store reading glasses. I had brought two pairs but the other pair were broken a few days ago.
Anyway, we headed upstream again, this time crossing a footbridge to the other bank. It was a really nice trail alonv the river, especially after it went into the woods.
Smith Rock State Park
This afternoon Brian, Lisa, Cathy, and I drove up to Smith Rock State Park. If you happen to be in the Bend area in Central Oregon, I highly recommend this park. This is especially true if, like us, you live on the east coast and enjoy scenery very different to what you’re used to. One a really hot, sunny day it might be oppressively hot, with all the exposed rock soaking up the sun’s warmth and radiating that back out, but it was quite cool today and that wasn’t a problem.
There were quite a few people there but it’s a pretty large place and most of them are climbing, so on the trails we saw fewer people than we might have expected. We also didn’t spend as much time there as we might have, since we didn’t arrive until almost 2:30 PM. It was a very clear day and the sky was a deep blue. The colors of the rocks, the green along the Crooked River, and the blue in the sky was a really great combination. If we were to come back to Bend, I think I’d plan a full day here, starting early in the morning and bringing a picnic lunch. I’d also want to hike up to the top of the rocks in at least one place. But that was more than we had time for on this visit. Still, I don’t regret what we got to do in the least.
Painted Hills, Oregon
Today we took a pretty long drive from Bend to the Painted Hills off of US 26 northwest of Mitchell, Oregon. This is part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. It was an 80+ mile drive north to Redmond and then east through Prineville but it’s a pretty cool place. The main visitor center for the National Monument is another 40 miles or so further along, so we didn’t go there. This is often listed as one of the so called ‘Seven Wonders of Oregon’ although there’s nothing official about that list, which I assume was put together by the tourist bureau. Here’s the list:
- Crater Lake National Park
- Columbia River Gorge
- Oregon Painted Hills
- The Oregon Coast
- Mt Hood
- Smith Rock State Park
- The Wallowa Mountains
We are certainly glad we visited Crater Lake, which I have to agree is in the right spot on the list at number one. Yesterday we went to Smith Rock and I’d probably rank that higher than the Painted Hills, although these are worth a visit. I cannot speak to the other items on the list, not having been to any of them. I suspect I’d rank the Painted Hills either sixth or seventh (since I know nothing about The Wallowa Mountains.
All that being said, we’re glad we came and enjoyed the views. All else being equal, if we traveled to Bend again, we’d return to Smith Rock but probably not to the Painted Hills. We did see (and I did photograph) a Townsend’s solitaire (Myadestes townsendi), a pretty little grey songbird. So that’s something. There are also some trails that we might have hiked that would have made me more likely to want to return, but perhaps I’ll never know.
Big Obsidian Flow
We visited the Big Obsidian Flow today. It is in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in the Deschutes National Forest of central Oregon and about 25 miles south of Bend. This, in my opinion, is a must-visit site. My pictures really don’t do the site justice. In fact, the trail up into the flow doesn’t do the site justice, although it’s definitely worth the walk. It’s about seven tenths of a mile, with part of that being a loop up on the flow but you only really get less than 300 yards into the flow, which is close to a mile and a half long. If we return to the area, I’d love to plan a full day hike around the flow, which should be doable.
The Big Obsidian Flow was formed in the volcano’s most recent eruption, about 1,300 years ago. It’s amazing that there are actually trees growing in the flow, although not many. It’s a pretty brutal landscape. Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. Not all of the flow is obsidian, but there are large boulders, some broken into smaller pieces, others still mostly intact. It’s quite remarkable and eerily beautiful.
Sparks Lake
Cathy and I drove up into the mountains west of Bend today. We drove the 25 miles or so to the Dutchman Sno-Park Trailhead, which is also the trailhead for the Tumalo Mountain trail. It is on Southwest Century Drive (OR 372), basically across the road from the Mt. Bachelor ski area. We weren’t sure about hiking that, because Cathy’s hip was bothering her a little and she didn’t want to overdo it and take a risk of making it worse.
As we came back down to the car, Cathy happened to ask me how much gas we had. I hadn’t noticed so I’m glad she asked. We checked and we were well under a quarter of a tank. The nearest gas station was back in Bend so we drove the 20 miles to that, coasting as often as possible, which was not too hard as we were coming down out of the mountains. We made it without incident, filled the tank, and then drove all the way back up and past where we had parked the first time up.
We continued to the four miles to the turnoff for the Sparks Lake Day Use Area. The gravel road going in is very rough, but we were able to avoid the worst of it and made our way to the parking area near the beginning of the Ray Atkeson trail. If you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend this trail. It’s a fairly easy walk with a little bit of it actually paved so it is very accessible. Even after the paving ends, it’s not a difficult hike. We did have some rain, which was a little worrying since I had my camera and long lens, but I was able to keep it mostly dry.
Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi)
As mentioned in the previous post, Cathy and I drove up to and walked the Ray Atkeson trail today along Sparks Lake, northeast of Mt. Bechelor. We really enjoyed the walk, although at one point, fairly early in the walk, we came across this valley garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi). Cathy’s not a huge fan of snakes and although I tried to warn her, I had a hard time getting it out. She saw it, screamed and did a little dance. Although garter snakes have a mild venom in their saliva, which may be toxic to the amphibians and other small animals on which they prey, they are pretty harmless to humans. Also, they are not at all aggressive. This one let me get a few pictures before retreating into the rocks beside the trail.
Crooked River
Flowing north into Prineville, Oregon is the aptly named Crooked River. Along it runs Oregon route 27, named the equally aptly named Crooked River Highway. Cathy and I drove out to Prineville this morning and headed south along this beautiful road. We stopped quite a few times to walk down to the river and enjoy the cliffs on the far bank, the beautiful, clear water, and the cool weather we’re having. I have to say, we hit central Oregon at just the right time, temperature wise.
This is a lovely drive and I imagine it gets quite a bit of traffic during the summer and on weekends. I can definitely see coming here to camp and fish. We were doing neither, but still enjoyed it greatly. The first of these images, the panorama made from 10 separate exposures, makes it look like the river is forming a big, horseshoe bend. In actuality, it’s running pretty much straight and then bending the other way in both ends in the distance. The apparent bend is a function of the way the panorama was taken. Still, it’s a pretty nice view, I think.