Bend, Oregon
We had high hopes, once again dashed by the weather!
When researching weather for possible destinations, I was heartened by the average May high of 65° F in Bend, OR. Apparently, I needed to be reminded that past performance is not indicative of future results.
Deschutes National Forest
We arrived in Bend on Saturday, May 7 to below-freezing temperatures and a forecast of snow. After a chilly night in Shasta, we decided to splurge on an Airbnb in town for a couple nights so we could enjoy a hot shower, do laundry, and regroup.
The forecast didn’t look promising; the week was in the 40s and low-50s, with overnight lows in the 20s. It looked like things would get up into the 60s by the weekend, but that was several days away. We decided to tough it out, at least for a few days, and found a spot to camp in Deschutes National Forest near some beginner-friendly mountain bike trails that allowed me to build my confidence. It snowed pretty much every day we were there, but our campsite got at least a little sun daily, stayed dry, and was protected from wind.
Turns out, the Cascades got some spring snow, so snowpack at higher elevations was substantial. We had grand plans of hiking South Sister, a challenging but gorgeous-looking hike in the Three Sisters Wilderness, but when we went to scope out the area to see if we would need gaiters/an ice axe/crampons, we found that the road leading to the trailhead was still closed for winter. Looking at the volcano from a distance, the entire thing was covered in snow. Neither Lee nor I have experience hiking in anything more than ankle-deep snow, so even if we found a way to access the trail, we didn’t feel comfortable attempting to summit it.
As we continued to explore options around Bend, we found that most of the things we wanted to do were still covered in snow. We checked the forecast for the lower-altitude coast, but the weather there wasn’t much warmer, and it was much wetter, so we regrettably decided to head back to California a little earlier than planned and camp out in the lower-elevation Sierras, where we can count on highs in the 70s and minimal rain.
View from the hike up the Sierra Buttes.
Sunset from our campsite the first time we came to Downieville; we came in the busy season, so we drove a couple thousand feet up from town to find more solitude.
The last bit of the Sierra Buttes hike to the lookout/weather station; some of these stairs span gaps in the rock with thousand+ foot drops below, so I do not recommend if you're afraid of heights!
Two Downieville downhillers goonin' it up downtown.
Hiking down from the top of the Buttes.
Signs like this pepper trails near the rivers. This sign looked fairly recent, others were worn almost to the point of illegibility.
Campsite on our second visit to Downieville; turnouts like this are all over forest roads.
A questionably abandoned mining shack near the river. It didn't look inhabited, but the door and windows looked new enough that I kept my distance, lest some shirtless man in overalls come out with a shotgun.
My friend Hannah described Bend as “full of white fit outdoorsy people,” and from what we’ve seen, that checks out. The town caters to the “outdoorsy” and all of the things that come with that label, namely lots of great coffee shops, health food stores, locavore restaurants, breweries, and gear suppliers. Driving through the neighborhoods, nearly every house had a camper, van, trailer, or some type of mobile-living-mobile parked in the driveway. While we still locked up the bikes when we parked, Lee and I joked that since everyone there has a nice expensive bike already, we had to worry less about someone trying to steal ours off the back of the car.
I was ecstatic when we first arrived in town to drive past the last remaining Blockbuster in the world. I squealed with delight and Lee swerved into the parking lot so I could get a photo with it. I usually hate being touristy, but I felt better after seeing there were a few people ahead of me also waiting to take pictures. If we had a way to watch a DVD, or better yet, a VHS, you can bet your butt that I would have rented something while we were there.
Bend
This was our intended camping area; a tree blocked our vehicle's access, but we crawled under it to hike into the area. Despite the clouds, the view did not disappoint! This area is probably overrun in warmer months, but we hope to camp here in the future.
Views of Mount Eddy from our campsite.
Mount Eddy, but cloudier. PC: Lee
While the weather was suboptimal for camping, it was ideal for hiking.
We found rock circles of varying sizes scattered over the camping areas on Shasta. Some were 100' wide, others smaller. Aliens? Most definitely.
The tree that blocked us from our campsite :shakes fist:
There were no sightings of the owner of this impressive paw print, fortunately!