Deschutes River Discovery & Walk

Before heading into Bend, I had spent the night at a “snowpark” on Hwy 97.  These area areas where a huge parking lot is available at the intersection of snowmobile & cross country ski trails. 

They can be used for overnite stays without fees and have picnic areas and restrooms.  I was surprised to see frost for the first time when I awoke this morning.

South of bend, I saw a sign about “Deschutes River Access” and since I knew I would be fishing it sooner or later, stopped to investigate.  First thing I noticed was a large sign outlining canoe & float trails through the area, with appropriate take-outs & put-ins that avoid the few rapids that are along this area. (Upper Deschutes). As luck would have it another sign stated that fishing wasn’t open yet.

The trail looked nice and appeared to be a local favorite.  Since I have been trying to walk at least 3 miles a day, off I went downriver.  The crossing at an old log jam proved an interesting area for birding, with many insects moving down near the water.

You just never know quite what to expect when you stop somewhere, but this indeed turned out to be a beautiful walk along what’s got to be one of the prettiest rivers in America!

I walked to a nice falls area, and just enjoyed the water and sounds. 

As I returned back across the bridge at the log jam, I thought to myself: “What a great way to start a morning!”

 

FISHING the Crooked River!

 

By now, you’re probably wondering “wait a minute Sam, this is a fishing trip, right?”   Well yes it is, and thanks to a tip from my good friend Scott Peterson, I’m at the Crooked for two days of outstanding fishing.

The area fished was just below the Prineville Reservoir dam.  And you’re right, “below” or “downriver” up here is North!

I did hire a guide for the first half-day from the “Fish & Field Fly Shop” in Bend.  Probably a wise move as he recommended an excellent campsite (Cobble Rock) where the fishing is literally “right out your door”.

No need to get up too early here either, as the fish really weren’t active until late morning.  The bite seem to last for a couple of hours, netting me well over THIRTY fish the first day with guide’s help.

Although he mentioned that we should be catching some “whitefish”, the days catch were all rainbows.  Top size on this River is about 15-16inches, but they are all “wild” fish (non-hatchery) and fight accordingly!

That afternoon I spent some time exploring downriver, beautiful scenery with lots of good looking holes to try.

The second morning, I went back to the same starting spot, and sure-nough, managed to catch another 17 rainbows and six nice whitefish.  I did save a limit today, including several of the nice whitefish, which made several filet packs for the freezer.

So, now it’s back to Bend to figure out where to go next and try some of the craft beers in the area.

Lava Butte!

I see what appears to be another Lava Beds place, but decide to take a quick look since my legs needed a stretch.  To my surprise, this was very different from the Lava Beds, no  caves here, just domes and a nice lava flow field below.
First order of business was to drive to the top of a several hundred foot high cone, luckily, my rig was one foot under the maximum allowed to drive up top!  Only a few vehicles are allotted a time window every 30 minutes to make the trip as parking is limited at the top.  The views from up here are spectacular!  Especially out west is Bachelor Mountain.
The lookout tower is not only a tourist attraction, but also doubles as an official NFS lookout during fire season. 
There is a nice trail around the cone’s crater, giving one a different perspective than the tower.
While walking to the Visitor’s Center (back at “ground level” I spy and elusive Red Crossbill, a beautiful creature for sure!

A short walk through the actual lava field provides nice views of the cone I had just driven up, while proving that there is some life that can live in such a harsh, barren environment.

Another great stop along the way!

Oregon–Huge Trees!

Lots of logging history in this state for sure.  Along Hwy 39 I ran across this interesting logging museum.  I’ll just let the pictures tell the story!


Back in the day, there were many huge trees logged,very few remain today!~

Lava Beds National Monument

In the extreme northern part of CA is a very interesting national monument.  Thename implies something more along the lines of the El Malpais  lava beds of NM, so I almost blew past this spectacular spot.  I got into the Park late one evening to find a very crowded campground. In fact, I got the last space, good thing I was in the truck camper - I don't believe our 21ft trailer would have fit with room for the truck also.  There was a bus-load of college kids there with their geology teacher doing a field trip.

So, what I thought was going to be just another rumble through lava beds turned out to be a totally different experience.  Yes many, many lava tube caves!  About 20 of which are open to the public.

The first "recommended" cave was the Mushpot, because it is the only one that is lighted.  Yes, that's right all the rest you're own your own and you'd better have at least two sources of light.  It's pitch black in there once you get a few tens of yards from any opening.  So, can you tell why it's named Mushpot by looking at
the formation at the entrance to the cave.

It was nice to have the first one lighted, to give one a feel for what's to come, although the rest were "rough" paths, no nice smooth trails.

Coming out of Mushpot, I was shocked that it was snowing fairly heavily.  I had walked the mile up from the campground and did bring a wind breaker.  Right outside on the path was a big hunk of local obsidian.

By the time I walked another half mile to the entrance of the next cave the snow was starting to build up a bit.  But nice to be in the caves where it was much warmer, and protection from the wet snow.

This one was recommended because you enter one end, go about 3/4mile underground, then pop out at the "Upper Entrance",

The trip through got pretty tight in places, many you have to duck down pretty far, but none where so low as to force a crawl.  Interestingly in the four caves I did, I never saw another person.  I did cut my headlight off a couple of times, pretty spooky in there, plenty black.  It would be impossible to crawl out, some of the "holes" were down rather than ahead!

The exit point is marked by an opening to the light and a lava arch.

The most interesting cave was this one, named for the golden color of the growths on the ceilings.

The entry was very steep and tight.  You have to duck your head way down while descending the ladder. 

There were a couple of fellows coming out as I went in, we exchanged pictures.

As I got farther in, the golden color became more apparent.  Pretty neat place.