Category: Hiking

Suttle Lake Hike & Ice Flow

It’s foggy in Sisters, but again no snow on this visit so we’re on the way to another hiking trail. This one, further up the pass than yesterday’s Metolius River hike, is a quick 3-plus mile jaunt around Suttle Lake, just five miles below Santiam Pass and 13 miles west of Sisters. 

It’s a beautiful gem of a place in the Deschutes National Forest that we’ve stayed and hiked before during other snow-less or low-snow trips. Today, we again feel lucky to live near Oregon’s Cascade Mountain range as we break through the fog to blue sky and pull into the lodge parking lot and head quickly to the black cinder beach.

The lake appears frozen in places, but clear under a thin layer of ice as we begin our hike on the sunny side trail. A snow-capped jagged mountain peeks out in the distance as we make our way on a well-worn trail through the pines – Ponderosa, Lodgepole, and more.

Soon, the sound of shattering glass cuts through the silence. The highway is above us on this northern side of the lake so my senses are alert.

But it’s not coming from above.

We come upon ice clusters on the shore and look just offshore to see a downed tree, branches pulling back, then popping forward. At first, we think it’s an ice-trapped fish running like when you just hook it on your line. Or maybe the work of a beaver, or two, harvesting the limbs for a dam that appears to be nearby. See what we saw below.

Then we realize it’s the lake’s current sliding ice sheets under the tree, the limbs reacting to the force as if it’s alive. We’re in awe of this simple act of nature – in all of our hiking and outdoors years we’ve never seen this before, and our timing to catch this is perfect as the sun heats up the ice and other hikers begin joining us on the trail.

We decide to double back once reaching the western side of the lake to stay in the sun and the ice marvel is over – the lake water free of its ice shield like it never happened.

Central Oregon’s Metolius River Beauty

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It’s January but it feels like spring as we reach the trailhead for Central Oregon’s Metolius River. We venture to Sisters each MLK holiday weekend usually for the dry snow and endless snowshoeing trails with our dog. On this day we have complete sun and fairly dry conditions, so we travel up highway 20, head east past Camp Sherman until we hit the fish hatchery.

As soon as we open the car doors, the sound of water roaring fills our ears and we take in the view. Tall pine trees and glacial blue water. We came here because a recent trip to New Zealand made us doubly appreciate our own state – we are so lucky to have a crystal-clear river and riverside hiking within several hours of Portland – and this is just one of thousands of beautiful rivers in Central Oregon.

We head upriver, dew droplets still in tree branches, sun filtering through huge pines. In some places the river hits series of rocks, crashing over and forcing upwells on the other side. Downed trees and mini island debris create obstacles and water parts ways, then coming back together.

In sections the roar subsides and the water is coasting – slowing until the next rapids force it to pick up speed, choosing a direction at a junction of logs downstream.  A recent windstorm tore bunches of fresh pine needles to the ground, fresh bright green moss from tree trunks. Drying needles from previous storms crunch softly under our feet.

Fly fishermen and women are up ahead, casting over a deep, ultra-clear turquoise pool where the water seems to just float by. The sun hits this spot perfectly and it’s like a scene from a River Runs Through it.

Appreciating the moment and feeling lucky for this day and this place, we continue on.

New Zealand’s Castle Hill

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After a quiet and restful night at Jackson’s Retreat, we’re nearly the last campervan to leave the holiday park this morning. It’s a bit sad, it’s our last campervan day in New Zealand’s South Island before we check in the van back in Christchurch and have our last night in the city.

But it’s another beautiful, sunny and hot day so we “break camp” as we call it and follow our host’s suggestion to hike Castle Hill –  a huge cluster of limestone rocks further down Arthur’s Pass toward Christchurch. If you’re a Lord of the Rings movie fan, you may recognize these as we did once we belatedly caught up on the trilogy. I’m pretty sure a trekking scene passed right through here – and we see why once we’re hiking among the giant boulders. There’s just something about being up close to such geologic magic – something that has been here for eons. I feel this way hiking in old-growth forests too – a sense of permanence. Continue reading New Zealand’s Castle Hill

New Zealand’s Arthur’s Pass

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It’s day 9 of our campervan trip on New Zealand’s South Island and today is our last 24 hours of our van journey. We’re leaving the teal blue Tasman Sea waters of the West Coast and headed inland, toward Arthur’s Pass National Park.

We backtrack from Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks south to the turnoff in Kumara Junction and head into the mountains on highway 73. Like much of our trip, we could spend more days out here exploring the many hiking trails, many with above-treetop views of the snow-covered Southern Alps.

We opt for a fairly easy hike to a gorgeous waterfall, then head to Arthur’s Pass Village for a relaxing lunch and to try yet another New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on a sunny restaurant deck. After, we try another short hike then head to our space for the night – Jackson’s Retreat Holiday Park.

The couple who runs the place toured the world by sailboat before buying and running the park, which sports a few cute ADU-type cabins, nicely-spaced plug-in campervan spots and open, grassy camping areas. Like the other holiday parks we’ve visited in New Zealand, it sports nice and clean shower facilities, a comfortable cooking and eating area and some supplies you’ll need on your journey far away from cities and stores. They even have a few glow worm dells you can visit at night and a hike to a waterfall.

Set on 15 acres in a soothing valley rainforest, with views of the Alps and Taramaku River, this was no doubt our favorite spot of the trip. And, we’ve got wine to finish off with our camper-cooked sunset dinner, so we enjoy the last evening with the campervan just hanging out in our little grassy area picnic table.