Timberline Lodge’s magic

Another day filled with a tons of small events. After breakfast, we returned and walked alongside the Deschutes River this time in the opposite direction and again, had another great walk. 

The temperature was toasty, even more than the day before, but we managed the extra degrees quite well. We then brave a more serious heat as we climbed the Pilot Butte, an extinct cinder cone offering a 360-degree panoramic view of Bend, its surrounding high desert and the Cascade Range, including Mt. Bachelor, the Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson, Black Butte, and in the far distance, Mt. Hood. 

After that, we drove through Sisters a charming western town, had lunch there and proceeded driving North towards Mt. Hood. Before getting there I got stopped by an Oregon State Trooper for driving at 50 in a 35 mph zone. This had not happened to me in my 20 years of retirement! The officer was cool and let me go just with what I badly needed: a warning. 

Later we made it to the Timberline Lodge, at the foot of Mt. Hood, a place I hadn’t seen anymore since the 90s. When we got there, there was very little activity and barely any skier in sight, not ski teams for sure. 

Skiing was still on, skiers could get down to the lodge in spite of a warm 75 degrees temperature, a lot at an elevation of 6,000 feet!