Central Oregon

As the Seattle-area hiking season wound down, we headed off to central Oregon for some hiking and biking. We spent 2 days near the McKenzie River, which is in the middle of the Cascade range. We hiked and biked parts of the McKenzie River Trail and it was totally beautiful, and the biking was like riding on velvet. Big (up to 8' diameter) Douglas Fir trees, ferns, moss ... typical NW west-side forest. Nice fall colors, and an awesome river with waterfalls, to boot.

As we headed to Bend (on the East side of the mountains), we took a fairly long day-hike on the west side of the Sisters volcanoes in an area with lots of obsidian (lava that's solidified into a glass-like form ... pitch black, but shines via reflecting light). Very cool. This trail, and the road to Bend, also took us through giant lava flows (several thousand years old, but still very raw). We knew this stuff was there ... but forgot, and were pleasantly surprised. Again, another visual delight.

Once in Bend, we focused on mountain biking ... and it was fantastic. A ride along the Deschutes River was full of fall colors, and lava flows abutting the river. Two other rides were excellent examples of the wonderful biking terrain and trails they have near Bend. Open pine forests, not too much elevation gain, and lots of curves. We had no trouble finding trails where we could keep our tires on the ground (since we're old, semi-frail, and not very advanced) and still have big grins on our faces.

Ah, but the rains appeared to be approaching, so we bolted back to Seattle for a few days before heading off again.