Thistle woke me at 5:30 a.m. to wish me happy birthday, so we started out our day with a very early hike. It was sweatshirt weather for an hour. Our hike was to Steelhead Falls on the Deschutes River. The trailhead was not far from the campground.
Thistle enjoyed the cool-weather hike.
View of the Deschutes River as we descend into the canyon.
The campground host gave me a magazine called "112 Ways to Discover Central Oregon." I learned about this waterfall from it.
View from the top of the falls.
Looking down the canyon below the falls.
Deschutes River below the falls. The river flows north and empties into the Columbia River.
There are four separate falls across the width of the river.
Click on the video to see and hear the falls in motion.
This magpie greeted me back at the parking lot. It was time to take the sweatshirt off.
I took Thistle back to the RV and left him in the AC while I continued my birthday celebration. I drove to the Old Mill District in Bend and walked along a very different part of the Deschutes River. I parked at Farewell Bend park. I don't know why the leaves were falling, but kids were playing in them like it was autumn.
There was lots of water fun going on in the river.
I walked along the Deschutes River Trail, a walking, running, biking trail.
Many forms of water fun...stand-up paddle boards, kayaks, rafts, tubes, and floats.
Everybody should have a Unicorn floatie.
There were pretty flowers along the trail and butterflies.
Deschutes River Trail in Bend.
Inside the tunnel.
I had a seafood lunch/dinner at Anthony's.
Anthony's is located in the old lumber mill. The wheels in this sculpture once ran the bandsaw in the lumber mill.
I sat outside on the patio overlooking the river. There was a nice breeze. My chargrilled salmon dinner was excellent.
And I always try to have chocolate cake on my birthday. This was lava cake with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. I almost finished it.
There must have been a Pokemon around because I watched a parade of fast-walking people following their phones as I ate.
I managed to walk back to my car after eating all that. I think the mountain in this picture is Mt. Bachelor. I would not be interested in kayaking in the river today....much too peoply.
