Central Oregon Lakes, May 2014

Central Oregon Lakes, May 2014

(Little Lava, Lava, Crane Prairie Reservoir, Elk, Cultus, Little Cultus, Hosmer, South Twin, North Twin)

Mon., 5/12/14

Once again, the preparations are complete—the lists, the packing, the organizing—and we’re getting ready to take off.  Just in case you’re wondering about Shoppie’s portion, here’s what her list looks like:

·         Cat Food

·         Litter Box

·         Food and Water dishes

·         Scratch Post, plus weights to hold it down

·         Dot toy (laser light), catnip mice to play with

·         Brush, grease (for hairballs)

·         Afghan

·         Carry cage with cushy towel and old shirt for comfort

It’s amazing the trailer has any space for Chris and me!  Although we did better this time in terms of the lists (i.e., we didn’t have to double-back for any items), we both thought we’d better double-check the front door to make sure it was locked…it was.

Aaaaaaaand we’re off once again!

This time our goal was to explore some of the Central Oregon lakes along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway.  We wanted to find a camp spot to plunk while we checked out the whole area and we wanted to do said exploration/camping trip before campgrounds got too popular and crowded, i.e., before school let out.

Travelling by audio book, it was all smooth sailing into Bend (for gas/propane), except for a new thing with our cat.  Shoppie had an odd reaction to her sedative this time in that she wailed at odd times in her sleep, especially when we stopped…odd.  It was like she was sleep-walking and then went right back to sleep once we were moving again.  Hmmmm…not real relaxing for her human companions!

After our Bend stop which included lunch, we continued down to Sun River and over to the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway from there.

When Co-Pilots Sightsee Too Much…

Things went a little haywire on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway.  Evidently, as it turns out, there are several “Cascade Lakes Scenic Highways” and, okay I admit it, I was oohing and aahing at the scenery probably a bit too much as our “pilot” Chris drove us to where I directed.  At one fork, he started to veer left and I corrected him—“No, it says Cascade Lakes Highway straight ahead” and off we went…  It occurred to me that we might not be on the right scenic highway when we started to see snow…lots of it.  And then we climbed in elevation and wound up at Mount Bachelor ski lodge which was closed and full of snow.  This was our sign that errors had taken place perhaps.  It turns out Chris the pilot was correct (oh, I hate it when that happens!)  in the veer left decision and my Co-Piloting skills took a hit (can you say, never-live-it-down?).  Chris commented that if we were contestants on “Naked and Afraid”—a visual that is so wrong in so many ways—my navigational score would have taken a dive:  “Like if it started at 7.2, it would have gone to 3.5—a generous score only because we were able to find our way back!”

Which we did.

And we scouted several of the lake campgrounds to see what looked good for our “plunking” spot.  The lakeside ones were more populated—with people, dogs and bugs—so we opted for a riverside spot at Little Lava Lake which suited us just fine.  It was private, quiet, and had plenty of space all around us.

We got camp set up and ate well on food we had cooked for the trip:  chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, salad, and of course 2 brownies for dessert.  Our record-breaking diet smashing continues on with this trip…oh welllll!!!

Preuitt Terminology #1—Sleeping In

When I say that we “slept in” it means that we somehow made it past the dark hours and woke up when the sun was actually up.  Sleeping in for us is probably equivalent to most peoples’ description of getting up at the crack of dawn.  When we eat breakfast, get dressed and are out the door by 8:00, we’re “late” and we’ve “over-slept”—got it?

Tues., 5/13/14

So here ya go:  We slept in and woke to a gorgeous morning.  We had breakfast and headed over to the boat ramp near camp (Little Lava) to enjoy the scenic lake with a 3-mountain backdrop (Mount Bachelor—a place we felt rather intimate with now—Broken Top, and South Sister)—absolutely beautiful.  We decided to take a drive today and scout out the other lakes in the area—great idea! 

On the way to Crane Prairie Reservoir (a large rather popular and populous lake most times of the year), we ran into a spot where a whole bunch of pelicans were hanging out, so naturally we had to get out and film that—neat!

Chris then proceeded onto a private spot to fish off of Crane Prairie and we had it to ourselves—enjoyed the beauty, the birds (I spotted/filmed a beaut of a wood duck—sweet!) and Chris caught several nice-sized rainbow trout.

We enjoyed our drive-about and got out at most all of the lakes—the list includes Lava, Crane Prairie Reservoir, Elk (closed/snowed in), Cultus, Little Cultus, Hosmer (Fly-fishing only), South Twin, and North Twin.  They are all pretty, each having their own personality, especially now before Memorial Day when all of the campgrounds officially open and fill up.

After making a final stop on the way back to pick up some firewood, we finally got back to camp relaxed, tired and hungry.  We ate some more of our chicken with chips and then napped while listening to our latest audio book.

We woke up at 5:30 thinking we might paddle around in our pontoon boats on the lake, but by the time we got the boats put together and over to the boat launch, the wind had picked up, making it more of a workout than we were after.

So, we did what any survivalists would do in such a situation:  We came back to camp to set up the satellite dish system.  We really do know how to tough it out.

Wed., 5/14/14

We slept well once again—and got coffee/tea then had a nice breakfast (hash, eggs, and mandarin oranges—yes!).  We planned to pontoon boat ourselves around Little Lava Lake and that we did.

Wow is all I can say.  Pontooning on Little Lava Lake was like a dream come true for me—it was fairly calm (actually like glass when we started!) and we paddled around for hours—yes!!  Fish were jumping for the first hour, but none were biting.  I had some moments where I could float and read and Chris fished—heaven!

We got back to the trailer tired and hungry and made a big Chicken Caesar Salad with our remaining chicken, then took a nap---whew!!

We woke up in time to take an evening drive to explore and stopped/hiked a trail that went along Chris’ old fishing spot on the Deschutes River but it was changed to the point of it not being doable (to walk/hike and fish like he did years ago).  Still, it was a nice walk!  We finished our drive by checking out the fish action at Lava Lake—a beautiful evening (filmed a heron eating and getting pestered by black birds—funny)…saw LOTS of fish and several people fishing but not many catching.  Chris and I were able to see lots of trout right off the dock—pretty amazing!

Dined on surf and turf tonight (Chris’ rainbow from yesterday at Crane Prairie and steak)—yum!

Thur., 5/15/14

Started the day with pancakes and headed to Crane Prairie for some pontoon fishing…another beautiful day!!

Had a very peaceful quiet time fishing from pontoon boats tied together and anchored to a stump from under the lake.  Saw deer, various birds, and enjoyed the sounds/scenes.  Finally gave up (fishing not so hot although we did get one of the brook trout Chris was hoping for), had lunch and listened to our book.  We were both yawning on the way back to camp but Chris wanted to check out a river spot—I opted to skip the walk and read since my shoes were wet and I had already put on dry socks and sandals.

Stopped at Lava Lake Lodge for some ice cream and decided to come back to Lava for some pontoon boating later.  Nap time!

After naps, we headed to the big Lava but the wind had picked up enough to make it not very attractive for pontoons…watched a couple of fly-fisher folks battle the wind and then decided to go back to camp and make the most of it.  Taco meal (yum!) and a movie—bed time and interestingly enough, we were able to fall asleep again (Shoppie too—amazing!).  People were already starting to move into campsites, so we decided we would head back towards Salem tomorrow as weekends get so crowded at the camp grounds.

Fri., 5/16/14

So we had our breakfast, packed up, and headed out to Bend to gas up and dump, with me, Ms. Co-Pilot, trying to redeem myself by giving really really really accurate directions—okay, over-doing it (Chris doing the eye-roll as I gave my overkill directions).  Leaving Bend, we decided to see what Detroit Lake (about 50 miles east of home) was like and were going to stay the night with full hook-ups and do some pontoon fishing at Big Cliff if conditions were right for us.  The day looks a little cloudy (rain supposed to start tomorrow but today looks a little iffy as well)—we’ll see!

And see we did…and drove right on by, because Detroit Lake was hosting a fishing derby that brought in the crowds and hoards…  We stopped for a lunch break on the trailer and then headed back for home.

We can do Big Cliff pontoon boating on future day trips during the week…that sounds like a plan!

Sometimes shorter trips are great shorter trips…this was one of ‘em!!