The view from Pine Marten Lodge at 7800ft up on the north side of Mt Bachelor is pretty spectacular. But there is something in the way of it being truly awesome, that something is Tumalo Mountain. So THAT is what we climbed.
Starting at the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park, on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway, this trail climbs from 6360ft to 7785ft over a little more than 2 miles through scenery that changes every half mile or so from heavily forested to more open with wildflowers (depending on the season) to wide open lava rock and dust before finally hitting the gravel topping on the cone. The last 3rd or so you start getting better and better views of Mt Bachelor, if you look behind you, and glimpses out over the great Newberry shield volcano that dominates the landscape to the southeast. But once on top Oh baby what a view of.... well, everything.
It's not that much elevation gain but when you're starting at over 6300ft the oxygen is hard to find, so we went slowwwww. The trail is pleasant, never too steep or rocky and everything smells like the high desert so other than all the gasping for air it's an enjoyable climb and the top is definitely worth it. From the summit you can see the entire Bend Valley, Pilot Butte, Mt Bachelor, all three Sisters, Broken Top, Tam McArthur rim, Paulina Peak, Todd Lake and even Mt Thielson way to the south. On a less hazy day I'm sure there are many more things to tag. Since you can see Tumalo from anywhere in Bend it kinda gives you an idea of it's possibilities.
So find the road less traveled, the river less floated and the mountain less climbed. We will see you there...
Starting at the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park, on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway, this trail climbs from 6360ft to 7785ft over a little more than 2 miles through scenery that changes every half mile or so from heavily forested to more open with wildflowers (depending on the season) to wide open lava rock and dust before finally hitting the gravel topping on the cone. The last 3rd or so you start getting better and better views of Mt Bachelor, if you look behind you, and glimpses out over the great Newberry shield volcano that dominates the landscape to the southeast. But once on top Oh baby what a view of.... well, everything.
It's not that much elevation gain but when you're starting at over 6300ft the oxygen is hard to find, so we went slowwwww. The trail is pleasant, never too steep or rocky and everything smells like the high desert so other than all the gasping for air it's an enjoyable climb and the top is definitely worth it. From the summit you can see the entire Bend Valley, Pilot Butte, Mt Bachelor, all three Sisters, Broken Top, Tam McArthur rim, Paulina Peak, Todd Lake and even Mt Thielson way to the south. On a less hazy day I'm sure there are many more things to tag. Since you can see Tumalo from anywhere in Bend it kinda gives you an idea of it's possibilities.
So find the road less traveled, the river less floated and the mountain less climbed. We will see you there...