Tag: hiking

Fall colors along the Deschutes River Bend Oregon

I have lived in Central Oregon for just over 30 years and for some reason I have not taken the time to photograph the parks along the Deschutes river. There is an incredible series of parks along the river that are all connected by easy to moderate walking trails. Fall is probably the best time to enjoy those trails with the fall colors reflecting in the water. I figured that this Sunday would be the best day to hike along the trails in town. Bend Parks and Rec and the city of Bend have spent the last several years working on the trails that runs along the river and through the city of Bend. It is a series of trails that run from South Bend down river to north Bend running about 25 miles. I wanted to walk and photograph the Drake park area and along the river going down river with no set stopping point. Of the 4 pool pals, two were unavailable and that left just Robin and myself. Since Robin lived a couple blocks away from Drake Park, she was an excellent guide, and I would not have seen as much beautiful scenery as we did. I admit I would have simply done a quick photo shoot around Drake Park and then walked as far down stream as the Newport bridge then turned around.

We did a loop around Drake Park, and I took photographs and more photographs gathering impressions as I went.

I looked up, I looked forward, I looked down.

There were reflections everywhere along the river


We made our way down river towards the Newport bridge on the new trail

towards the first street area and on to pioneer park.

We continued till we ran out of pavement and turned around, the trail continued on north but we really didn’t need to go further. Save that for another day.
I was fascinated by the kayakers navigating under the bridge and thought of my niece Sarah, wondering if she had kayaked this section of the river, thinking yes, she would have.

on our way back to Drake Park we went through the old down neighborhood and enjoyed even more vibrant colored foliage.


Along the way there were always places to stop and reflect, places to sit and even a bit of whimsy with cookies for your pooch

I am so glad that Robin and I took this hike and hope that we can share it with the other two gals in a different season. I also hope that you enjoyed my impressions of this hike.

In search of Fall colors along the Metolius River

I love tracking down the reds and yellows of the fall leaves, one of my favorite places to go is the Metolius River. I found a spot down river from Camp Sherman that never disappoints.

Candle Creek Campground is at the end of a dirt and gravel forest service road. It is a quiet campground and this time of year not usually filled with campers.

I really love to concentrate on the leaves and plants on the ground

My other goal was to find the trail I had spotted the last time I was at this campground I wanted to know if it went to Bridge 99/ Lower bridge campground. However, the best color was the opposite way…. So I concentrated on that, then worked my way upriver finding the trail head. My house mate Susan and I had decided that it would be a good idea to move the car closer to the trailhead. We found a spot that was a boat ramp and parked there. The trail I was looking for was the West Metolius River Trail 4018 and the furthest down river leading up to the bridge.

The goal was to see how good the trail was and to see if there was good color.


The trail was good where we hiked, a few logs that had fallen and were chopped away but easy to navigate. Soon we came to a small log bridge crossing a creek

I have to admit I had no issues with the bridge. Susan was not as agile as I am, so she came across much slower than I did.

We went a few feet further and then decided to turn around and head back to the car. Neither of us have been doing much hiking lately and there was no need to go to the end of the trail. I had an idea where it was at the bridge.

This is the look you get from your hiking partner when you continue to dawdle taking photos on the way back to the car ….

back at the lower bridge campground and bridge we stopped to take more photos.

I also did find the bridge end of the trailhead. Planning on trying it another time.

It was a good and beautiful day and I enjoyed it immensely

A Hiking trip with friends at Fall River Lapine Oregon

Four Friends with a love of hiking, have decided to get back into the outdoors, It is fall and maybe a little bit drippy or maybe just a bit chilly and cloudy. No matter because it is not too hot and there are no mosquitoes. The photographer never ends up in the photo but that is ok we will find a way to make it happen.

The trolls thought it was a great idea to get out and go hiking, their lizards not so much, in the end the trolls stayed in the nice warm backpack and the lizards stayed at home.

We started at the bridge where a lot of fly fishermen were fishing. the plan was to go down stream for a mile or so then come back. Unfortunately for me, the photographer, I quickly realized that I had not packed the backup batteries, and the camera battery was low, so photos would be limited. My hiking partners Susan, Geri, and Robin, would be my focus with a few shots of the river thrown in and a prayer that the battery lasted.

Yes !!! We did manage to get the photographer in a picture…. Thanks Geri for taking the shot….
While it was gray and we did get a raindrop or two on us it was bright and light so there were a lot of squinty eyes in the photos….

A little waterfall coming over the logs that had fallen into the river provided lots of good hiding places for the fish to hide.

There were a lot of little details and nature that begged to be photographed but I chose to catch them another day. This mushroom put on top of a stump by a critter was just too much to resist. I knew that we were nearly back to the parking lot so I could use up some of the battery without fear of missing the best photo ever….

After about an hour and a half we ended up back at the bridge where we started…
It was another Great Hike Where to Next Gals?