I spent a week and a half in the La Pine area south of Bend and had a chance to meet up with two friends while there. I stayed two days at La Pine State park. The Deschutes River flows through it. I did not kayak here...the water looked very swift.
There are a lot of hiking trails here, and Thistle and I enjoyed those.
And at the end of one of those trails is "La Pine!"
A 500 year-old Ponderosa Pine, the biggest of its species ever recorded!
It is a big tree.
A bend in the Deschutes River along one of the trails.
From there I moved to a National Forest Campground on the road to Paulina Lake. I spent a few days exploring the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. This is only one part of it; there are several other sites spread out over several square miles. I did not see it all.
I stayed in Prairie Campground, and my site overlooked the prairie it's named for.
Thistle and I enjoyed hiking the trail down there.
This is why Thistle especially enjoyed it. Golden-mantled ground squirrels were everywhere.
Paulina Creek, which originates up the mountain at Paulina Lake, flows swiftly through the prairie.
Black-tailed deer like it here too.
One day we drove to take a hike to Benham Falls in another part of the Newberry NM. This is the top of the falls as it funnels through the lava cliffs on either side.
And this is below the falls.
I met up with an RVing friend from Bend, Kerry. This is where she is staying at the house her father built beside the river.
Sunset over the prairie.
The next day Kerry, and another friend from Bend, Gloria and I drove up to the Newberry Volcanic area around Paulina Lake. We started with a short hike to Paulina Falls, just below the lake.
Kerry, me, and Gloria.
Then we drove slowly up the gravel road to the top of Paulina Peak for this view. You can see Paulina Lake on the left, East lake on the right, and the big obsidian flow on the bottom right. All of this area was formed by volcanic activity thousands of years ago.
Our next stop was the big obsidian flow where you can hike up on the black volcanic obsidian formations.
Then we stopped at both lakes and checked out the nice campgrounds there.
That is Paulina Peak where we got the view from the top.
Another day, I drove 9 miles down a very washboardy gravel road to another part of the park. This juvenile Cooper's Hawk was in the road.
Thistle and I were on our way here for a hike through a Lava Cast Forest. This sign explains how the lava casts were formed.
This is one of the lava casts. As the dead tree rotted away, the lava surrounding it was left.
This is the cast of two trees growing close together.
There is a nice paved trail through the lava fields.
There are 3 casts here. Thistle is checking out the middle one.
Twisted tree trunk. The spiral pattern distributes water and nutrients to all sides of the tree. It is a survival tactic in this harsh environment.
Looking back toward the rim of Newberry Volcano.
This is a cast of a fallen tree which was covered with lava, leaving this lava tube when the tree rotted away.
You can see the snow-capped peaks of other volcanoes in the Cascade Range from here.
The island of trees was left when lava flowed around it, following the path of least resistance.
Hard to imagine the forces that shaped this landscape 6,000 years ago.
Back down the gravel road.
And another beautiful sunset over the prairie.
