OSBT Day 20-More About the Hike Than the Bike

Last night I heard the strangest thing. It was the sound of raindrops on my tent! Didn’t last long though, and my tent was dry in the morning. 

The ride from Walt Haring just outside Chemult to La Pine State Park was rather boring. It was fast, relatively speaking, because it was mostly trending down, but it was just a long straight road. I did have a brief time (okay, 1 whole mile) off 97 on a bike path between Crescent and Gilchrist, but otherwise it was the Hwy to La Pine. I Googled how to get to La Pine State Park. Google failed me by trying to take me through a gated community. I was able to reroute easily. Then, Google took me down a 1/2 mile of gravel road. Again, not terrible, but really??? It was about 48 miles today. 

Anyway, I made it to the campground. They do not have tent sites here, just hookups. At least I was able to get the last electrical site at $26 instead of a full hookup at $29. I can use the electrical outlet to charge everything. Also, I didn’t have to pay for camping the last two nights, so it kind of evens out. 

Once I got my stuff set up, and took the first shower in two days, I put my trail shoes on, and went in search of a viewpoint and a big tree. The park map was not very precise, and the trail signage was slightly less than adequate, but I managed to make it to McGregor Viewpoint. One might think it was named after Farmer McGregor of Peter Rabbit fame because, on the way to the trail I saw these. 

Pretty sure that’s Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. 

There’s ol’ Peter himself. 

McGregor Viewpoint was this awesome bend in the Deschutes River. 

The Deschutes is very curvy!

From the viewpoint, I headed for the “Big Tree”. Since I was out for a hike, I did the Cougar Woods Trail to get to the Big Pine Trail to get to the “Big Tree”. There were some more awesome views of the river. 

The trail came down along the River here. 

Finally, I reached the “Big Tree”. 

Photo doesn’t really do it justice. 

I made my way back to the campground completing a 7.3 mile hike. The Strava picture of the route is very loopy (hmmm...just like the river). 

Back at my campsite, I heard something I’ve never heard while I was camping. A guy said, “Hey Siri.” I don’t know why that struck me as so strange??? 

It’s sunny, but the wind makes it chilly. I’m sitting with both my hoody and my jacket hoods up. Might be another early night into the tent, just for warmth.