2021 May – Ten Mile Hikes

The group moved into Central Oregon and the Bend area for the next week.  They settled into the resort at Eagle Crest for a few days.  

Our first hike was Blue Pool.  People can hike out and back a section of the McKenzie River Trail to a spot where the McKenzie River comes out of the ground and forms what is called Blue Pool (aka Tamolitch Pool).  Let’s hear from our hikers.

Debbie:  Well the whole hike was about 10 miles round trip

Larry:  No, it is not that long.

Debbie:  Clearly, you were delirious because you never drink enough water that hike took forever.

Jerry:  Actually, the round trip is 4.2 miles. I looked it up on the internet.

Debbie:   Jerry, I think I can tell the narrative, Remember how you had to wait with Larry at the pool and he started making friends with the butterflies?  I think that you were distracted. Next you’ll be telling me that Al Gore invented the internet.

Larry:  We were at the pool so long because we were waiting for you and Joyce.

Joyce:  Because we were looking for you and Jerry plus we got tired and had to sit down. (Actually Jerry is correct it is 4.2 miles.) but it felt like 10 miles

Debbie:  After consulting with my hiking team, I would like to change my statement to we went on a hike that felt like 10 miles AND Debbie sat a blistering pace going back because she had not eaten lunch yet.

Joyce:  We stopped at Sahala Falls going home and Clear Lake to eat lunch.

Jerry:  Larry and I enjoyed our meal by the water.

Joyce:  I had to yell at Larry and tell him to stop feeding the birds.  They were dive bombing my food.  Luckily, I was sitting next to Debbie who scared them off with a stink eye and a well aimed pine cone.

Did the next hike go better?

Debbie:  We went to Smith Park and hiked another 10 miles

Larry:  Really?

Debbie: No, but it was really hard trying to walk up the hill to leave. Someone said that I was panting. It made me rethink my position on dune buggies.

Joyce:  The day after Smith Park we went to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Larry:  Who knew that Oregon had lava fields?

Jerry:  Yes, but some area were closed because of snow and Debbie wouldn’t get out of the car if snow was on the ground.

Debbie:  The GPS also tried to send us into the wilderness.  Google Maps betrayed us.  We had to stop at the Dollar store for directions. The Dollar Store totally beat out Google Maps on directions. I think that I hiked 10 miles.

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