H J Andrews Lookout Creek

The nice part about living someplace new is that it is easy to find a new hike right in your neck of the woods. Popo was up visiting, so we decided to take him for a hike with the kids. I was still carrying Conrad, so we had to find a hike that Zyla could do. We chose to go up to HJ Andrews which was an experimental forest connected to the forest service right up the road from Blue River Reservoir. We took two cars so that we could make it a through hike as the trail paralleled the road as it followed the old growth forest along Lookout Creek. We dropped Jacqueline and the kids off first at the lower trailhead to try to get them to get as far ahead of us as they could given that the kids were going to be the slowest.

We dropped the other vehicle off and then made it back to the trailhead. Jacqueline had actually made it down to the first bridge with the kids, so we got a bit of a head start on the day. The rest of the day was following the trail that went along the creek. Most of the time it was in good shape, easy to follow, and fairly flat. Sometimes though we would get to a point where we had to cross a side creek or crawl over a log which made it more challenging with Zyla doing all the walking and me carrying Conrad on my back. Zyla was doing great and Popo was urging her along. Still we were moving slow as would be expected with small children.

Eventually it got to the point where I think Jacqueline wanted the hike to be over. Zyla was getting tired of hiking and there is only so much you can do to motivate a 4 year old to continue moving through the forest. So Popo carried her on his shoulders for a while. This is always dangerous because once it starts it is hard to take that away. He was able to do that for quite some time while also taking some breaks and having Zyla walk. The hike was over after only a couple of hours with Jacqueline a little frustrated by the length. Still, it was a worth while trip through an excellent forest right near the house. 

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Having spent a few months on the west side of the Cascades, we decided it was worth our time to travel over to the east side and see what all the hype was about. Sisters and Bend were both rather trendy spots in Oregon being near the Cascades but having much better weather than we experienced on west side. It had been a trying couple of months as our new positions required a huge portion of our time and energy. What was especially difficult is just how exhausted we got just managing our jobs, daycare, and living in a new place. A trip over the Cascades was worth while. Jacqueline had a friend that she knew in Bend, so we drove through Sisters and made a plan to meet up with her at Newberry Volcanic National Monument.

It was only a couple of hours to drive there and soon after we arrived, her friend Shimiko whom she knew from growing up in Midland arrived. There was a paved trail that left from the visitor center up into the lava fields. This would have to be our path today as she had a stroller to move her daughter who was 1 year old just like Conrad. Her son had plenty of energy, but it was nice for our kids to have other kids near their age to hang out with on a hike. The volcanoes were interesting as this was once again a fairly recent lava flow, so you could really see how it had changed the landscape. There was a beautiful cinder cone, but we were not destined to make it there. We completed our hike walking to the end of the paved path.

We spent much of the evening hanging out with her and her husband before departing for our own family dinner. We stayed at this not so exciting hotel, but Jacqueline had made the arrangements using Expedia when the hotel was actually out of rooms. They had no choice but to put us up in one of their suites for the night. We did not actually need it or use it too much, but it was nice to have a little more space. The next day we headed out again with her friend Shimiko. We met her at there rental house as they were jumping in on the building craze and building a house in Bend. We decided to head up to the mountains for a hike. The plan didn't go so well, though, as it was unexpectedly cool. Eventually it began snowing on us, so we bagged that idea and instead went back down to the trails around the Deschutes River. We found our way to the Big Eddy Trailhead. This was a popular spot around the Deschutes for hikers and kayakers. The water looked a bit too rough for me to consider kayaking, but there were plenty of people in the water including a group of guys that seemed to want to take a plunge down this crazy waterfall. We watched them for a while and I realized how not tough that I am compared to these hearty souls.

The cold was so unexpected that we had to borrow a jacket from Shimiko for Conrad. We walked for a bit enjoying the river and the scenery. As we were about to leave, we ran into Howard and his wife Dinah from Zion that we had worked with. We chatted with them for a while, but I thought it was so funny to meet up with people that we had known previously from somewhere very far away. They had retired in Bend and it was very nice to see a familiar face. We enjoyed our short walk along the river, but unfortunately work called us back the next week. We said adieu, but knew that we would be back to the east side to explore more of what the dry side of the Cascades had to offer. 

McKenzie Pass

We couldn't really expect too much from these kids. We had a 4 and a 1 year old and we were taking them for an anniversary hike with the two of us. It was our sixth wedding anniversary and we just so happened to have the day off. Besides that the kids were already tired and had fallen asleep in the car on the way up the hill. I had never been up all the way to McKenzie Pass before. Jacqueline had assured me that it was this crazy, scary road with huge drop offs.
 After driving it, it was a well maintained paved road that was curvy, but one of the easiest ways to access some of the beautiful high country of the Three Sisters Wilderness. I was stoked for this road. It was beautiful up there with the geologically recent lava flows. This is what I had moved to Oregon for. This place was truly stunning. We got out at the the Dee Wright Observatory. It was this structure that was built in the '30s out of the lava flows.
When we got on top, it had a room where you could look out and each peak was framed within an opening. It was a nice clear day so we could see them all, even Mt. Hood. After that, there was a trail around the lava flow. It was a short trail, but that meant nothing with young children. We were able to coerce them enough to take the trip and even listen to us read out the information on the sign.
 A few trips on the shoulders was necessary but the kids were happy most of the way. This was a great area and I was loving the views. I would spend much of my time up here. We left the Dee Wright Observatory and headed a minute down the road to the Lava Camp Lake Road. There were some picnic tables near a trailhead where we had lunch.
 After that, we went out on the trail. The goal was to make it out to North Mathieu Lake. I say goal because who knows with kids. The trail was in really good shape and we quickly found ourselves on the PCT. It was in the forest, but there were these huge lava flows rising right above us.
This time we had the baby backpack as Conrad could not be expected to walk the 3 miles to the lake and back. He was a load by this point, though, so there were times when we let him out to walk. The trail was even in most places, but there were spots where his 1 year old legs would not support him well enough. The kids did great and we did not make the lake, but we got out and hiked for quite a while. It was a very enjoyable day. Then we went back down the hill for a dinner at Takodas.
All and all, a very enjoyable day in the high country of the Three Sisters Wilderness.