Bend Oregon and Newberry National Volcanic Monument

We sadly left Portland but were excited that I was able to book five nights at Tumalo State Park just outside of Bend Oregon. Luckily for us someone cancelled and we were able to snag these five days as Tumalo SP is difficult to book for any length of time at the last minute like we did. We began to set up at our site (an excellent back in site number 166) and realized that we must have lost (yet another) 50 to 30 amp converter. We spoke with the camp host who said that the best place to get one on a Sunday was Walmart so we headed over to the store where we luckily found one to replace ours.

While at Walmart we got a text from Pam and Vic who pen the blog The Big EZ.  They invited us to happy hour at their new townhouse.  It was great to see our friends and enjoy some local craft beer Pam had picked up in growlers from their local Fred Meyer store.  What a great visit we had and it was fun to hear all about their sale of the motorhome as well as their lifestyle adjustments to transitioning from the motorhome into their new home here in Bend.

The next day we decided to drive over to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We showed our National Park Access Pass and were given a timed pass to drive to the top of 5,020 foot tall Lava Butte to hike the rim trail around the relic volcano that last spewed lava some 7,000 years ago. It was a short hike but one with fantastic vistas of the old lava flow below as well as the Sisters Mountains in the distance. I found it interesting to ponder as we hiked around the rim of about this once violent caldera…

We then took a mile or so hike out into the old lava flow on the Trail of the Molten Land. They have built a really nice trail that took us out into the flow that to this day supports only the toughest of species as water in the lava flow is scarce at best. A few small bushes and an occasional pine tree have managed to gain a foothold in this extreme environment. We were hoping to see a pika in the lava flow but weren’t successful. We did spot a few rock wrens hopping about and saw some really fascinating basaltic rocks and formations.

     

When we were done with that hike we still had an hour or so before we were going to meet up with some folks that contacted us on RVillage. So we drove over to take a look at Paulina Lake which is one of the deepest lakes in Oregon as it fills an old caldera similar to Crater Lake but not nearly as magnificent. Near Paulina Lake we found short trail that took us to the foot of Paulina Falls. Paulina Falls is a beauty as the water falls over 80 feet as it rushes over the volcanic cliffs. We have seen lots of waterfalls on our western trek this year and this one is a must see in our opinion.

After the hike we headed back into Bend, Oregon to meet up with our soon to be friends at the Deschutes Brewery Public House for a few crafted beers. We had a fun time meeting up with fellow RV’ers from Texas, Robert and Diana and look forward to other RVillage meet ups in the future…