Back to the Oregon Coast

June 18, 2019

Arrived, Beaver Creek State Natural Area.  We'll be here till Sep. 3, leading kayak tours for Oregon State Parks.  This is our third year at Beaver Creek for the summer and our fourth summer on the Oregon Coast. 

 Campsite

Beaver Creek Welcome Center

View of the marsh from the back deck

Wild flowers in the parking lot.

The welcome center was a private residence until 2009.

The grounds have a number of fruit trees including...

Apples,

Pears,

and cherries.

There's even some raised beds for a summer garden.

June 18, 2019

Pre-season paddle to see what changed from last year.

At the mouth of the creek where it flows over the sand bar to the sea.

The elusive Beaver Creek monster!

Lots of Beaver activity this year.

This Beaver  Lodge has been active for at least the last 4 years.

A new Lodge started this spring.

Coming next, 2019 paddle season starts.

Even More from Newberry Nat'l Volcanic Monument

June 13, 2019

Yes, we found another campsite, #46.

We were all ready to leave.  Our next stop was only an hour away, so we were taking it real slow, didn't have to be out of site #6  till noon.   We made one last pass through the campground to see if anything opened up. Low and behold we found one, with an even better lake view.  Instantly our plans for the morning changed, as did the day, and ultimately, the next 3 days.   

#46 is an open site, so we could stay up to the 14 day limit.

I thought I'd start giving a more visual indication of where we are and where we've been.

Here's some pictures of the rest of our time in the Newberry Caldera...

Paulina Falls. 

A lot of stuff was named after Paulina. Who was Paulina?

Here's what I found on Wikipedia...

Paulina Lake, Paulina Creek, and Paulina Peak are named after Paulina, a Snake Indian chief who headed raiding parties against whites during the 1850s and 1860s before he was pursued and shot by settler Howard Maupin.

While walking to the falls, we saw a fellow sitting on this log and using the stump as a table.  Sure enough, there's a good signal, IF you sit right here.

Hiking a segment of the Crater Rim trail.

Last sunset over Paulina Lake.

Coming next, On to the Oregon Coast.

More from Newberry Nat'l Volcanic Monument

June 10, 2019

The weather in Bend was starting to heat up, mid to high 80's.  That's not usually a problem, just open windows and turn on the vent fans. But... the Skyliners  road site was so dusty!  At 6500 ft, the Newberry Caldera was significantly cooler with much better scenery to boot.

While in the Newberry Caldera the previous day, we scouted 3 of the 4 campgrounds, 1 wasn't open yet this season.  Several sites apealed to us and being a Monday, there was a pretty good chance one would be available.  This is a National Forest site, some of the campsites are reservable and others open or first come first serve.

We broke camp at Skyliner road in no particular rush.  When we arrived at Little Crater campground, our first choice was taken but we found site 6 open for 3 nights.  We only planned to stay for 2 but signed up for 3.

The hairy legs are Rick's!

The next day we hiked the Little Crater trail, right behind the campground. 

Extra elevation, better cell signal, checking emails.

Great views  of the Big Obsidian Flow. 

Day 2, on the Paulina Lakeshore Loop trail.  Again, the trail ran right through the campground.

Great views of Paulina Peak.

About 2 miles from the campground there's several little hot springs along the shoreline.

Very hot, couldn't keep our feet in for more than a few seconds. 

The hairy legs are... well, you know!

It was our last night at site #6.  We had plans all set for where to go after leaving Newberry, but we were having such a good time.  We'd have to find another open site or leave the next morning, and it was Thursday with Father's day weekend coming up.

Last sunset on Paulina Lake!?

Stay tuned...

Newberry Nat'l Volcanic Monument

June 7, 2019

We arrived on a Friday afternoon, not a good idea when looking for a boondocking spot, especially close to a city.  The National Forest area off Skyliners road is only about 4 miles from Bend OR and right next to a popular mountain biking trail.

Our site was right at the beginning of the road, not a bad spot but very dusty.

We wanted to be close to Bend to do some shopping.  That done we headed south on US 97 to explore the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  Like John Day Fossil Beds, Newberry has several sites.  The first one we came to was Lava Butte, a Cinder Cone volcano that last erupted about 7000 years ago.  There's a winding drive to the top but only 10 parking places. They  allow 10 cars at a time and we could stay only 30 minutes before heading down to allow room for the next 10 cars.  

Looking north along US 97 toward Bend OR.

The Newberry Caldera about 17 miles southeast.

About 7:00am Sunday morning we awoke to cheers of encouragement and ringing cow bells.  Our Campsite was right next to the second aid station for The Dirty Half Marathon.   

Today we'd be exploring the  Newberry Caldera.  The most popular hike is The Big Obsidian Flow, or what I'd call it, Walking On A Mountain Of Glass.

Some fun facts about Obsidian. 

Hiking on snow in June, again.

Coming next, More from Newberry.