Days 6-8, BEND!
A quick stop back at the Malheur overlook and we headed back up to Burns and down to Bend for the last three busy days of our adventure. And when we got there, it seemed like I had never seen so many people. I felt like Opie in New York City,... gosh Andy, look at all them peoples!!! I never knew there was so many peoples. So we got coffee and headed to our Hotel on the Deschutes, we love the Shilo in Bend. We did a LOT of things while we were in Bend (as per usual) but I took very few pictures, so you will just have to believe me.
Coffee drank and Hotel checked into we headed to old mill district to check in on the cool white water park that was built a couple years ago. While we were there we rented bikes and rode all around the paved part of the River trail and generally greatly enjoyed the cool river and the beautiful weather. Since we can't just relax we headed out to the Oregon Badlands and hiked the Dry River Channel, which was super cool. Just a sandy canyon with lava caves and outcroppings of cool rock formations, and no humans in sight as far as you could see in any direction. There was weird shiny bat guano on a few rocks before the canyon ended in narrow tree lined channel where we headed off trail back to the car. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the coyotes were starting to serenade us so we decided to head back to the hotel exhausted where we sat on the deck overlooking the river and ate the rest of our travel rations. Ahhhh
Sleep was had, coffee was enjoyed (very much thank you Thump) and it was time to hike the Deschutes River Trail at Farewell Bend Park. An easy three mile loop at the south end of Old Mill District that is mostly dirt and gravel and crosses a nice bridge at the turn around with some good views along the way. Then it was SUP time! We ended our walk at Tumalo Creek Kayak and rented a coupe Stand Up Paddleboards for a cruise around the park. However since the entry point is just above the rapids and the river narrows there the flow was just too damn fast for a first-time SUP experience. So we traded the boards for a tandem kayak and headed upstream. Once we reached the upper rapids we turned around put our feet and hands in the water, laid back and enjoyed the slow float back to Tumalo Creek. After a very enjoyable shower it was dinner time at an amazing fusion meal at Spork, mmmmmm it was amazing.
The last day started like the rest, I like having a little glass of soda water with my cappuccino, and then we rented a couple of hardtail mountain bikes and hit the Upper Deschutes River trail. We started at Lava Falls and rode up past Big Eddy, Dillon Falls and turned around at Benham Falls. It was another gorgeous day and the meadow crossing between Dillon and Benham was our favorite part with mountain views and lots of flying Blue Herons. The river was high and the falls were pounding as we headed back and we go to see a couple groups of people running the lower falls in rubber rafts, looked like scary fun. After returning the bikes we got a pizza and headed up to Pine Mountain to watch the sun set from the summit above the observatory, and maybe take some star pictures over the lights of Bend. So blanket in hand we headed up... completely unprepared for how cold it would get. On the way up we got to see a bunch of folks paragliding off the top of the adjoining peak, it was cool and unexpected. As the sun sank lower behind the line of snowy mountain peaks the whole horizon lit on fire in red and gold and beams of light shot up across the sky, it was spectacular. The pizza was really good and despite the cold it was a beautiful star show on a deserted summit just the 2 of us. We stayed until 10:30, a perfect last night of our journey.
Coffee drank and Hotel checked into we headed to old mill district to check in on the cool white water park that was built a couple years ago. While we were there we rented bikes and rode all around the paved part of the River trail and generally greatly enjoyed the cool river and the beautiful weather. Since we can't just relax we headed out to the Oregon Badlands and hiked the Dry River Channel, which was super cool. Just a sandy canyon with lava caves and outcroppings of cool rock formations, and no humans in sight as far as you could see in any direction. There was weird shiny bat guano on a few rocks before the canyon ended in narrow tree lined channel where we headed off trail back to the car. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the coyotes were starting to serenade us so we decided to head back to the hotel exhausted where we sat on the deck overlooking the river and ate the rest of our travel rations. Ahhhh
Sleep was had, coffee was enjoyed (very much thank you Thump) and it was time to hike the Deschutes River Trail at Farewell Bend Park. An easy three mile loop at the south end of Old Mill District that is mostly dirt and gravel and crosses a nice bridge at the turn around with some good views along the way. Then it was SUP time! We ended our walk at Tumalo Creek Kayak and rented a coupe Stand Up Paddleboards for a cruise around the park. However since the entry point is just above the rapids and the river narrows there the flow was just too damn fast for a first-time SUP experience. So we traded the boards for a tandem kayak and headed upstream. Once we reached the upper rapids we turned around put our feet and hands in the water, laid back and enjoyed the slow float back to Tumalo Creek. After a very enjoyable shower it was dinner time at an amazing fusion meal at Spork, mmmmmm it was amazing.
The last day started like the rest, I like having a little glass of soda water with my cappuccino, and then we rented a couple of hardtail mountain bikes and hit the Upper Deschutes River trail. We started at Lava Falls and rode up past Big Eddy, Dillon Falls and turned around at Benham Falls. It was another gorgeous day and the meadow crossing between Dillon and Benham was our favorite part with mountain views and lots of flying Blue Herons. The river was high and the falls were pounding as we headed back and we go to see a couple groups of people running the lower falls in rubber rafts, looked like scary fun. After returning the bikes we got a pizza and headed up to Pine Mountain to watch the sun set from the summit above the observatory, and maybe take some star pictures over the lights of Bend. So blanket in hand we headed up... completely unprepared for how cold it would get. On the way up we got to see a bunch of folks paragliding off the top of the adjoining peak, it was cool and unexpected. As the sun sank lower behind the line of snowy mountain peaks the whole horizon lit on fire in red and gold and beams of light shot up across the sky, it was spectacular. The pizza was really good and despite the cold it was a beautiful star show on a deserted summit just the 2 of us. We stayed until 10:30, a perfect last night of our journey.