June 21, 2020
After renting a car in the Bend area, and a stop at the local grocery store, it is only two more hours down to the RV Park that we’ll call home for the next week. Because of the “corona”, you can only get a car at airport locations, not any of the local branches. This makes it kinda inconvenient.
Now settling in at this small, cozy, privately held RV park near Ana Reservoir and Summer Lake. Only small trees, but nice level gravel spots. Tucked down in a valley with a bluff on one side and a small mountain on the other. We reserved a space next to my wife’s cousin who drove down from Camby, so it makes it easy to visit each other. (And share shade, depending on the time of day ! ) We really enjoyed visiting with them and listening to his steel guitar playing. We went down to the artesian feed lake to experience the 59 degree water the second day here. Not only was it cold but crystal clear also.
As I was walking and exploring the area around the lake, I found a little oasis that the water flowing into was from the same clear, cold water reservoir, with pipes originating from deep below the surface of the other body of water. It was so neat to look down into the small ravine to find a pool of clear water surrounded by vegetation and cliffs and small waterfalls trickling from the earth. The pictures don’t do justice to this scene, (do they ever?), there was probably about a 30 ft or so drop from the top of the cliff to the water below. Yes, I made my way down and around, through some well beaten trails, to access the pool. I also told myself even though this water was really cold, I’m going to go stand under this tiny waterfall.
On Wednesday we journeyed about an hour or so North, to a place called Crack in the Ground. Yes it’s real… look it up. Now, you might think that this is ‘meh’ compared to other gaping canyons here in the U.S. Okay you’re right. However it was pretty cool to be able to hike down into this literal crack in the earth, which at one point I was looking up 70′ of sheer wall. . This is classified as a volcanic fissure, with an age range of 70,000 to 120,000 years old. It is about two miles long total, but we only walked about a mile. Knowing what we know now, we would have more water, a smaller backpack, less cameras and better shoes. insert smiley face here or rolled eyes
Another day this week we went to Crater Lake National Park. Nice and cool temps at the top of this post volcanic crater full of snow melt and rainfall. It’s contents do not come from any rivers or streams. My wife and I have been here before, but this trip we have our adult daughter along who has not seen it. It was cloudy this day so the pics aren’t as nice as we’ve taken in the past, but seeing it with your eyes beats a photo, every time. All of the roads around the park were not open yet, but basically the two main areas for viewing were. Even without the sun shining bright, this lake is still the most blue inland lake you’re likely to see. On the two and a half hour drive home, we stopped to fuel up and then ate dinner at Mohawk restaurant in Cresent, OR. Caught this sunset in the last few miles to camp. More adventures to follow.
CDT You can’t be in the Southeastern part of Oregon and not visit the Cowboy Dinner Tree for supper. Reservations are required, usually far in advance, especially for a group. Also they are cash ONLY, no cards. The food was excellent and the service was awesome! This is a family business which several members are active in. If you’ve heard from someone else that the steak is huge and the choice of chicken is a whole bird, it’s absolutely true. I have experienced it ! Don’t judge by the looks of the outside of the building, go in and enjoy.
