The original place we were going to stay was so heavily wooded that I couldn’t get my satellite dish to get a signal and to get a wi-fi signal we had to drive to the main office. Yeah, I know it sounds kind of wimpy. In our younger tent camping days we slept on the ground, no lights, had to walk to the bathroom, Gore hadn’t invented the internet yet, so we didn’t even know we were missing anything. Now, after a night of sleeping on the ground the paramedics would have to work like hell to get me in a vertical position. That said, Saturday, July 31 we got up looked out the window and could see Mt, Bachelor (far left), South Sister (middle) and Middle Sister (far right) from an alternate campground. For my friends back in Florida, I want to tell them that these mountains are wwaaaay higher than our landfills or the bridges that cross the inter-coastal waterway.
Jeff & Mary, (Jackie’s brother and sister-in-law) drove here form their home in Eugene to spend the weekend with us. We started by taking a look at the lodge / restaurant in Sunriver, a community just up the road from the campground. Here is a picture of Mary, Jeff, Jackie and the bear.
After a short tour the lodge area and the town of Sunriver we went to the Newberry Volcanic National Monument which included Paulina Peak, the Big Obsidian Flow and Paulina Falls. According to a US Forrest Service:
“Paulina Peak, Paulina Creek, Paulina Lake, and North Paulina Peak are a few of the many features in Central Oregon named for an Indian, Chief Paulina. Chief Paulina was blamed for the deaths of many miners, trappers, and settlers during 1866 and 1867. After raiding several ranches in the John Day country he was pursued by a group of ranchers and shot by Howard Maupin (town of Maupin is named for him).”
The entire area was once part of the Newberry Volcano that under went a several eruptions and then collapses. Paulina Peak (elevation 7984 Ft.) is the highest point of the original volcano that remains today. Two were depressions formed that later filled with water and today are known as East Lake and Paulina Lake.
A view of Paulina Lake from Paulina Peak
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Three views of the Big Obsidian Flow, two from Paulina Peak and one at ground level.
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_7694The next morning we went to Pilot Butte, which is an extinct volcano in the town of Bend. It is a cinder cone, like most of the other peaks and mountains in this area and, according to the information poster it is 500 feet high. There is a road leading to the summit. As we drove up we saw several people walking up to the peak and back down again. Made my flat feet hurt just to watch them.
We left Bend and drove to Mt Bachelor to ride the ski lift. The chair lift ride starts at the West Village (6300 ft) and takes you to the Pine Marten Lodge (7775 ft). We were talking to one of the lift operators and she told us that the restaurant has “Sun Set Dinners” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 1 through Labor Day. You can buy season lift tickets and they were advertising a “Bring a friend” program at 50% discount on the price of the lift ticket, so the lift is fairly busy during the off season. The chair lifts seat four. On the way up I tried taking a picture of the four of us but my arms weren’t long enough, so I settled for the best looking three out of four.
From the lodge there were great views in all directions.
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For someone who doesn’t ski (too clumsy) you don’t really appreciate how high you are or how steep the hill is until you take a ride on a chair lift. AND THE ROCKS!! Oh boy, it’s a good thing they are covered with lots of snow. Also, it is a little intimidating on the way down when the chair lift leaves the station and you are in the air looking down the slope.
By the time we got back down it was getting late. Since Jeff and Mary had to return to Eugene we went back to the motor home and had an early dinner and said good by until Jackie and I go to visit them in Eugene later in the coming week.
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