Unfortunately, Diana just fractured her ankle in a freak stumble right at the end of a run, so she was hobbling with her foot in a boot. At least we could still do a driving tour, short hikes where she waited for us, and meals at the local establishments.
We were excited to see more volcanic features, so they took us up to Paulina Falls, a part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument that we hadn't seen before. Quite a sight!
Even better - The Big Obsidian Flow, where we become more interested in rocks than at most points of our lives.
Giant hunks of black glass, that's pretty cool:
Robert getting a close-up with his phone camera:
We've never seen so much obsidian - in such large pieces - in one place.
And the scale of the lava flow was awesome - here's the edge of it, with a pond at the bottom:
John warming up his hands/communing with lava rocks:
Looking over at Paulina Lake beyond the lava flow:
And up to Paulina Peak (we still need to see the view from the top when the road is open - next time maybe!):
A huge jumble of lava rocks, or from John's perspective, a day-long hiking opportunity (he really does blend in like he belongs there, doesn't he?):
The distant horizon is the edge of the Newberry crater, I believe:
I'm not sure we've ever seen such a tall edge of a lava flow, that is quite impressive:
Back in town, we finally made it to the top of Pilot Butte (and someday we'll actually climb it on foot...). Wonderful views of the mountains! It was a great place to learn which ones were which. For the photo, we posed in solidarity with Diana - get well soon, Diana!
Broken Top and the Three Sisters:
Black Butte and Mount Jefferson (memorable from our solar eclipse experience in 2017):
And somewhat visible quite some miles away - Mount Hood! It was so nice having great visibility for once, we appreciated the views the whole time we were there.
John and I spent the next day at Smith Rock doing some "scramble training", something between easy off-trail travel and hard (for me) rock climbing. We aren't the normal Smith Rock visitors. Most people are either trail running or scaling the sides of the cliffs. For our bigger mountain adventures, it's more helpful for me to get used to the stuff in between and to practice with a short rope so John can belay me (and occasionally I can belay him) and together we can move over terrain I wouldn't tackle otherwise.
And we couldn't have picked a prettier place on a nicer day! This is an amazing park, we must come back and spend more time here.
Heading down the trail to cross the river and explore some of the rocks:
A pose I cannot imagine making while clinging to a wall - or quite possibly, standing on the ground:
A bunch of folks over on Rope-de-Dope across the way:
John trying a bit of bouldering:
One of these days we'll get him some real rock climbing shoes, I think he deserves some.
Admiring some crack climbing:
Inspired by what I was seeing around me, and remembering a bit from our canyoneering experiences, and this photo really is oriented in the right direction (good thing I have some danglies for proof):
Which reminds me, I need to get back to my plank practice one of these days...
Heading up Asterisk Pass, a rock scramble where "rope use is recommended" - perfect!
I'll try with a little help from my friend:
How is that thing just sitting there? Maybe it's the "*" of Asterisk Pass:
The view on the other side of the pass was just as good:
I'm a lucky gal to have married a mountain goat:
He seemed to be enjoying himself too:
The Crooked River down below, with Monkey Face in the upper right:
He's not as high off the ground as it might seem...
We clambered up climber's trails toward Monkey Face for even better views. Several times we just sat and admired everything around us and the mountains in the distance. Spectacular.
Close up of Monkey Face (yep, there are bolts, no surprise that people have climbed it):
We took the trail over the top of Misery Ridge and back down to the river. There are many more trails to see (and things for John to climb), hope to be back soon.
On the way back, John asks "hey, do you want to stop at the alpaca ranch?" and I was like "the only answer to that has to be 'yes' even if I'm not sure why."
OK, that's why. They are frickin' adorable. The round head on the end of the super-long neck, the fuzzy coat, the cute face.
Hello sweetheart! Thank you for my new pair of super-soft socks :)
After that was another excellent dinner in Bend - fun times, thanks Diana and Robert (and alpacas)!
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