Post 10 Bend, OR and Crater Lake

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Sept 27-30

 On our way to Crater Lake we decided to spend a couple of days in the funky little town of Bend, OR.

Bend is home to the Deschutes River with its identity and history closely tied to it.  It began as a lumber town, using the river as a way to get logs to the two sawmills in Bend.  The mills have closed, but the whole mill district has been revitalized with upscale shops and eateries along the river.




The town has committed to a long-range plan to establish a 17-mile walking/hiking/greenway along the river.  We hiked 6 miles of the path along the river, across open green spaces and through quiet neighborhoods.



The town has also built a white-water park on the river.  The park includes 3 channels- a 12-step beginner run for tubes and flat boards (this part is shallow enough to walk across), a 4-wave expert surfer and kayak run and a channel for wildlife only.  You can see the three different channels in the picture- 12-step at the bottom, 4 wave in the middle and the wildlife channel at the top.  The 12-step beginner run shares the space with the spawning salmon swimming upstream in the spring!  All of the waves and rapids are controlled by fins and valves.  We spent quite a while on the bridge overlooking the park watching the surfers.







Breweries are everywhere in this town!  After our walk, we treated ourselves to two of them.

We were sad to leave Bend.  We could have spent a couple more days there.  Lots to see.

We moved on to our next destination- Crater National Park.



On our way to Crater Lake, we stopped at the High Desert Museum just outside Bend.  The museum focused on the flora and fauna of that particular area of Oregon, including live animal exhibits.  They also had displays about the history of the people there.





After nine weeks of sunshine, the weather gods abandoned us at Crater Lake.  We headed up to the crater before the heavy clouds came and were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the lake.  The clouds and rain moved in quickly.  With the wind gusting and temperatures in the 40’s, we decided to hunker down in the viewing/dining room of the visitor center for the day.  It rained all afternoon, but the room was dry and warm and had WIFI.  We decided to have an early dinner there.  By late afternoon, we headed back to camp.  We set ourselves up in the van with games to play and wine and snacks at the ready.





Here are some photos around our campsite at Diamond Lake (at the bottom of Crater Lake National Park mountain).





The next morning the sun was making an effort to put in an appearance.  By the time we got on the road, it was a beautiful sunny day.  California, here we come!

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