Last weekend was a holiday and our day off work, so we took a small 4-day vacation down to Bend, Oregon. Bend has to be one of my favorite places to visit. There’s so much to do there and miles upon miles of mountain biking and hiking trails. We wimped out on the camping, so we brought the new Mini Cooper instead. It was a great time! On the way down we took the highway down the Columbia River due to not having snow chains for the Mini yet. We sometimes forget that while we only get rain out on the peninsula, it IS starting to snow up through the mountain passes. Luckily we made it through with no rain and minimal traffic. Stopped briefly at Multnomah Falls to stretch our legs.
Once down closer to Bend, we started our weekend by hiking up Haystack Butte so Jason could go paragliding. The directions on the local club’s site were pretty out of date so we ended up bushwhacking up a mountain essentially only to get to the top and have the wind not be right and hike back down. Bummer, but the view was pretty amazing and we heard coyotes howling in the distance so I was grateful to not have to hike down the mountain by myself. 😉 We also saw a small herd of deer led by a gorgeous buck that was too far away for me to get a photo of, unfortunately.
After that adventure we were both pretty beat, but stopped at Peter Skene Ogden State Park for some sightseeing. The park overlooks the Crooked River and features 2 auto bridges (including hwy 97) and one railroad bridge.
The City of Bend is just super cool. It has multiple different areas to explore.. Downtown has tons of nightlife and restaurants and shopping. We really enjoy the Old Mill District. They really tried to keep the industrial feel of the mill but upgrade it to a posh shopping area. Interesting place to visit and really great food! (and also a few miles of walking trails)
No visit to Bend is complete without a hike up Pilot Butte just outside town. The view is different every time we’ve been up. There wasn’t even any snow this time! Excellent at sunset.
There are also apparently some amazing waterfalls at the Tumalo Falls State Park, but we didn’t go this time since it’s down a gravel road and we were in the little car. We’ll make it up there eventually.
One thing we did get to do this time that we had to pass up on our previous trips was Smith Rock State Park. We stopped once before but didn’t have time to really explore… This time we set out in the morning before the sun was even really up and headed up the main trail to Misery Ridge. Gotta say though, after the previous day’s “trail”, this one was super easy. There were even steps! The park is super popular with the rock climbing crowd and there were multiple groups getting set up as we were starting our hike. Maybe someday I’ll try rock climbing. It looks fun but terrifying.
Another great weekend spent relaxing in the desert! Can’t wait to be back down there!