Mt. Bachelor

August 18^th – On the morning walk around the campground we saw several deer and Lexi found some Quail (California – I think). We headed back to the Lava Lands to see some of the spots that were too busy yesterday. We got a time slot to drive up to Lava Butte Lookout. It is an active Fire Lookout Tower and only 10 parking spots because it is on top of the rim of the volcano. You are given a half an hour to drive up, do the quarter mile hike around the rim and take any pictures you want of a fabulous 360 degree view from 5020 feet. Mt. Bachelor and the Sisters all have snow patches on them.

 

The next spot was another falls on the Deschutes River with another hike to get there. A nice calm stream  where current is measured to regulate irrigation output in the Bend area that within a mile turns into a raging torrent as it falls over rocks and giant fallen Ponderosa pines. We wanted to hike the Lava Tube but had to head back for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch and a couple chores we headed back to the Lava Tube – a mile long tunnel created by lava flow from the volcano. It is very dark and the only light is what you bring or rent from the National Park Service. It takes over an hour to work your way through a sometimes fairly smooth sandy surface with a 30 foot ceiling and other sections with narrow rocky floors and so low that Linda had to duck down to get through and at the end of the tunnel there is NO LIGHT! Just a sign to go no further and since we were almost on our knees by then it was an easy decision. Oh, did I mention it is a constant 42 degrees. We were so happy to see the light at the entrance but the stairs to climb out now seemed a lot steeper than when we started down.

 

After almost 8 miles of walking, hiking or climbing it is time to put our feet up!!!