Adventures in Marriage
Year Two: Oregon and Crater Lake National Park
“Please note that there is no hiking trail that encircles Crater Lake in the summer.”
Well… okay then.
For the last three years, we’ve celebrated our commitment by marriage with a trip to a national park. First, Arches for our honeymoon, then Joshua Tree for year one.
Now, we were about to head out for our second year celebration, and even before the trip officially started we had a problem: I’d planned for us to spend the first few days of our week long trip backpacking around the lake (30 miles over two days, in honor of my 30th birthday) and had missed one crucial detail… in the summer, it wasn’t possible.
But as an episode of the Bachelor might point out, this was a great opportunity to voice over a metaphor about marriage: when something doesn’t go your way (or when someone *cough, me* doesn’t do their research) the best answer isn’t to dwell on the problem, but instead to look forward and find a solution. And sometimes that solution might even be better than you planned.
Keep your face always towards the sun and the shadow will fall behind you. — walt whitman
So instead of backpacking around the lake, Ryan and I spent our time hiking and camping to our hearts content. With 30 degree nights and 50 degree days, it was cold, and clear, and crisp and absolutely beautiful.
Wednesday: 10 miles
When we arrived on Wednesday after our drive from Oakland, we immediately hopped on the trails, heading out of the main parking lot and up to Garfield Peak. We didn’t want to waste time putting up our tent in the daylight, so we decided to stay out and hit a few miles of the PCT before ending the day on the Watchman Peak Trail. We planned it so that on the way down we would catch the sunset. It was freezing(!) but magnificent.
Thursday: 17 miles
On Thursday, we were up before the sun, heading back up Garfield Peak to watch the sunrise. It was a crazy experience… going from ghostly ethereal, to inside a ping pong ball, to the most gorgeous blue peaking through the fog.
Our goal for Thursday was to make it all the way around the lake in our car, so we picked a few hikes that would lead us up, down, and around the main roadway. After Garfield Peak, we were back in the car and eventually made it up Crater Peak, then up Mount Scott, before finally heading down to the water via the only access trail in the park at Cleetwood Cove.
By then I was beat, so I headed to the lodge to review all the photos on my camera (and snag a cocktail from the bar) while Ryan put together a third summit of Garfield Peak, rounding out his miles for the day at 20…. ya…. he cray.
Friday: 7 miles
Crater Lake is a pretty small park, with only 90 total miles of hiking trails, and (as I’d earlier learned) no trails that encircle the lake. So by Thursday night we’d done 27 out of those 90 miles…we were ready to move on! Plus, we hadn’t showered since Tuesday night, and we’d spent the last two days dusty and worked, so we wanted hot coffee and a warm shower ASAP.
After leaving the lake bright and early on Friday morning, we arrived in Bend before our AirBnB check in time. So based on a recommendation from a friend, we visited Sparrow Bakery (and loved the delicious breakfast sandwiches and caramel lattes). And to kill some more time, we decided to do a few miles on the hiking trails on the outskirts of town. We ended up at Phil’s Trailhead, a local mountain biking trail network that on a Friday at noon, was perfectly crowded with office workers looking to get in some lunch time miles.
Eventually, we checked into our AirBnB, showered, and then walked all over town: from the White Water Park right down the street from our place where dozens of people in wetsuits were surfing, to the Old Mill District, and finally into Downtown Bend for dinner and dessert … for a rest day, our feet sure saw a lot of pavement =)
Saturday: 14 miles
On Saturday, Ryan wanted to venture outside the trails in town and head toward Mt Bachelor and the Three Sisters Wilderness. We followed the advice of some locals and drove the 25 minutes to Green Lakes Trail first, before heading up Tumalo Mountain Trail for a quick view of Mt Bachelor. And after heading home for a shower, Autumn and Andy joined us for dinner, ice cream, and sleep over. I am so grateful they got to come be a part of our trip!
Sunday
Sunday was our official rest day. We brunched, and said goodbye to our visitors, then headed to Pilot Butte scenic park. It’s the highest point in town, and gave us a view of all the surrounding neighborhoods. We explored the new neighborhood of NorthWest Crossing, drove past the new OSU — Cascades campus, and walked through some of the older parts of town.
It’s easy to see why Bend is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, and one of Outside Magazine’s 25 best towns of 2017… most of the city is walkable or bikeable, you’re only a short drive away to the mountains, there are breweries and coffee shops galore, new housing is popping up on practically every corner, and the weather includes four full seasons! This California girl is in love ❤
What’s next
On Monday, we (sadly) headed home, where we are currently dealing with home renovations necessary after the great hot water heater leak of 2018 (where our upstairs neighbor leaked over 50 gallons of water down the wall and into our apartment only two days before we left for this trip.) We’re now in the middle of repairing the ripped out dry wall and insulation and baseboards, and have half of our house boxed up to accommodate the crazy. TBD on how much and how long this whole debacle takes… we’re currently at $4k and two weeks and counting….
… and every morning we wake up and find we still have Bend on our minds…
thanks for reading friends,
samantha
