Paulina Peak

We had a day off so went adventuring to Paulina Peak south of Bend, OR.

What we didn't count on was the road still being snowed over. 

So we back tracked a bit and found a lava tube to explore.  These are lava magma flows that go through an area and develop a hard top, however the river of magma continues to flow through the tube hardening a shell on the outside of the flow. .When the magma goes away you have a tube left.  Most of them crumble over time, but a few have endured and they make very easy caving experiences

It's usually a very hike to get to the entrances. 

. So down we go. 

Photography is a cave is difficult.  Lighting issues. 

After the lava cave we went to another area that had a cinder cone.  This is an area where the magma came up and then flowed over an area.  

Years later you still have a wasteland looking area.  However you will notice trees starting to grow among the lava. 

Tumalo Falls

We had great expectations of a nice hike headed up to Tumalo  Falls SW of Bend, Or.   As we were driving up it began to snow.  We were under dressed and didn't make it too far before we decided to end the chilly hike.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument w/ Norah, Howie, and Toby

We took a day trip and met fellow Camphosts Norah and Howie at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  It was overcast and windy so we all wore jackets.  It was interesting to learn about the fossil beds and some of the finding that have been made.

Howie is awesome, he climbed the hill even though he only has one lung.

Steelhead Falls

Steelhead Falls is a little west or Terrebonne, OR  on the Deschutes River.  Short mile hike from the parking area to the falls, a beautiful canyon.

Smith Rock State Park, Oregon, Again

We have a new neighbor.  This fellow goes by many names, here he is called a Rock Chuck. aka a Marmot, Wood Chuck, and Whistle Pig.

We are back in Smith Rock State Park.  695 acres of fun right out our back door.  The job is easy for us, just be nice to the folks in the visitor center.  Having walked all but one trail we know the park pretty well so are able to give realistic advice.

We had a treat this time, Joseph (our son) came to visit.  We got to scare the devil out of him on the rocks, but other wise just hung out and did a little hiking.

We were supposed to climb the rock in the background.  But decided to move to a different area as it was a little exposed.

This place was much better.  Shorter climbs and we didn't have to hang off of a cliff for an extended period of time.

Group shot with the state park in the back ground.  We were still up there a ways.  It takes about an hour and half to hike here. 

Joseph is learning how to play the guitar so he borrowed his mom's hat for motivation.

We really enjoyed hiking around with him.

Mocha and Bandit joined us for a while.

Put three kids and a rock together and what do you get, a rock climbing contest.

We found a mini-cave one of the hikes. These are created by bubbles in the magma flow during a volcanic eruption.  Now they just make nice pickaboo spots on a hike.

Joseph is not the only young person to join us this time.  We corrupted the intern and started him climbing.

Adam did really well.  Although he did do a head dive on a fall.  The first one I have ever seen rock climbing.  Fortunately he had his belt pretty tight and did not dump out of it.

We eventually got him to lead a climb.  Aww to be young and agile again.


One of our more interesting adventures was trying to find a short cut across the canyon.  If you leave the campground, go down to the bridge, cross the river and hike back it's about 3 miles.  If you could just cut across the canyon it's only about a mile.  You think it would go faster huh?

So we find the down-climb ladder for the shortcut.

Barbara got to go first because the ladder looked shaky, if it broke under her weight then I knew I would never make it.  Good thinking on my part.

It held so I had to go, it still held.  It's stronger than it looks.  Then we got to rock hop down to the bottom; these are really big rocks.

We eventually made it to the bottom and found a river crossing.  But it took nearly an hour longer than just hiking over the bridge, not much of a short cut.

Now we have to go back.  Ugh, more rock hopping, this time up!

Smith Rock is a nice place.  We will be returning again next year.

Oregon Coast

We stopped off on the Oregon Coast Near the Oregon Dunes on our way up to Smith Rock State Park.
It offers some really diverse conditions.

First off, the beach is often broken up by mountains.

Makes for interesting hiking.

And because of the rock intrusion they have to add more light houses.

And when you do get down to the ocean you will often find tidal pools.

Right next to all of this is forest.  The dogs enjoy exploring the mini-caves created by the rotting trees.

And the trails are often shaded and cool to walk.

A little bit further south you get into the actual "Dunes".

The dogs really enjoy running in the sand.

We had a lot of fun playing in the sand, but decided to go for a little dune buggy ride.

It's still pretty cool this time of year.  So when we decided to watch a sunset we had to dress a little warmer.

Mother nature didn't care about the temperature and managed to paint another wonderful sunset.