Ian and I have lived in Bend for almost two years now, and we feel like we have barley scratched the surface of things to do in Central Oregon - there are so many beautiful places to explore! So with two days off, we decided to explore a place we've only read about in books....Paulina Lake. We've had friends tell us about it, and read about what a great place it is to spend a weekend! So we figured with lots to do, only 30 min away, we were ready for a fun-filled weekend of camping! Unfortunately Ian worked until 11PM on Friday night, which means we didn't leave Bend until Saturday morning.
Now, camping at Paulina, there are no reservations - its all first come first serve.
Have you ever looked for a camp spot on a SATURDAY in July?? if you haven't, one thing to keep in mind - its busy - (this thought didn't exactly cross our mind until we arrived) and the camp sites were full - FULL i tell you! We drove through one loop - no site - twooo loops - totally full - three loops - no place to lie a tent! What a bummer, we were loosing hope, and getting really bummed, until we reached the last camp ground on the furthest away lake (east lake) and RIGHT when we pulled in, campsite #33 was free and clear of any peeps! It was the perfect site. ahhh ....a place to lie our tent! (and our bikes, and our kayak...)
Once we unloaded our stuff, claimed #33 as ours for the next 24 hours, we decided to hike up to Paulina Peek! It was a tough hike! Straight up, but the views at the top were breathtaking!
There is a gravel road you can DRIVE up to catch the view - buttt we didn't drive, oh no no, we hiked. And it was rad. The view from Paulina Peek they say is the best in Central Oregon. On a clear day you can see mountain peeks from all over the state! On this Saturday you could kind of see Mt. Bachelor, and make out a few of the Sisters, but all the smoke from the Northern Cali fires have been smokin' us in! So the view wasn't as good as it could be, but its better than the view of our TV, eh?? :)
There really is no better way to celebrate a few hour hike, than with a trip in the o'll kayak to cool down, relax, and swim swim swim! We're getting much better at paddling together, and looove playing in the kayak!
We made some dinner, watched the sunset, played in some hot springs && cuddled by a cozy camp fire!
It was a well needed, perfect weekend together!
No comments:
Post a Comment