From Alpine Meadows to the Desert

After leaving Mt Hood National Forest we crossed the 45th parallel, just like the marker a few miles north of Oamaru.  It gives a momentary feeling of familiarity.  Then we hit the prairies and traveled through the desert at 70mph to reach Madras where we weakened and had pie and coffee. The Black Bear Diner  https://blackbeardiner.com/menus/ has as it's mission statement "to serve home-cooked meals in huge portions".  They succeeded ...
We waddled out and continued driving south to Smith Rocks National Park. The rocks are a rock climbers mecca. There was no chance of us climbing any rocks after The Black Bear Diner Blue Berry Pie, but we staggered up the aptly named Misery Trail admiring the efforts of the lithe young callow youth attached to ropes and climbing sunny vertical red rock.  The backdrop of the prairies and snowy volcanic cones of Mt Jefferson and the Sisters was stunning. No wonder people want to live here.

Not long to Halloween.

Smith Rocks

Most people take their dogs for a walk. These guys took their remote-controlled cars for a drive up the Misery Trail.

Romantic interlude caught on the Misery Trail with Mt Jefferson behind.

Great views across the plains to The Cascade Range Volcanoes. Rock climbers on the tower on the right working off their pies.

Panorama from the top of Smith Rocks.

We really liked this house overlooking the river below the rocks.

We arrived in Bend just in time for happy hour and "local's night" at the Deschutes Brew Pub. Beer at $3.50/pint and the place was humming. Great beer, as we'd been led to believe as Bend is another craft beer oasis. The locals we sat with were very keen to hear what we and our countrymen (and women) thought of the POTUS. We diplomatically sidetracked, saying we were only observers but democracy was a weird thing in USA.  And in NZ, with Winston holding the country to ransom as we speak. Our new educated and talented friends were very anti-Trump, which is probably consistent with most voters on the West Coast USA.

Bend supposedly is the place to live if you are interested in the outdoors.  111 people move to Portland every day, and many move to Bend.  There is fishing, climbing, skiing, hunting, hiking, arts, wine, craft beer, coffee roasters -- you name it - it's all happening in Bend.  The city was lovely and warm when we arrived and the old Down Town area was lined with trees in autumn colours. People are super-friendly and proud of their town.

The second night we went to Deschutes Brewery for a drink it was again too crowded to get a seat. This time because it was a fund-raiser for planned parent-hood.  Definitely not a Repubican stronghold.

Three Fingered Jack, Black Butte and Mt Jefferson from the A20 highway to the Sisters.

Or first choice of place to explore in the morning was likely to be closed due to the early snow so we went for a walk beside the Metolius River near Camp Sherman.

It was very quiet, the cafes and general store that would be so busy in the summer were closed for winter. There were loads of little summer cottages beside the river, older folk reclining in deck chairs beside sleeping dogs, contemplating life. Deer ambled slowly across the road in front of us and looked on calmly without fear.  The hunting season appears not to have started yet.

We saw a couple of fly fishermen who had caught and released trout, and the river was full of little Kokanee Salmon.

The whole river amazingly emerges from a spring, straight out of the mountainside.

Survey marks for the family surveyors.

Chilling out at the Camp Sherman General Store.