Karen and Tom Wanderings

Broken Top from the south With still more nice fall weather in store, we headed on down to Bend, Oregon (again!).  Why do we keep heading back there?  Sunshine and absolutely perfect (for us) mountain bike trails.  The drive down included some great fall colors in the riparian zones on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.  And of course a lot of big sage-brush country.  We also stopped at Smith Rocks State Park, a rock climbing mecca here in the NW.  And, it being a Sunday afternoon, we got to watch lots of climbing!  It's also quite picturesque in the late afternoon sun.  In Bend, we spent our days hiking and biking, then wandered into town along the Deschutes River for dinner.  Two of the days were spent revisiting a couple of our favorite mountain bike rides (Phils, Mrazek).  Both gave us a great workout, and were a total blast on the decent ... miles and miles of smooth singletrack!  On the middle day, we hiked to the ...

After a spell of cold and fairly gnarly weather, milder conditions returned ... and just in time for a hike to see the larches!  This year, it was a return to an old favorite ... Lake Ingalls.  Reports of huge crowds during the previous weekend (with not-too-great weather) motivated us for an early departure from Seattle.  Even so, we got the last spot in the parking lot.  The few-mile hike up to Ingalls Pass was reasonably lonely, but it was bustling shortly thereafter.  From the pass, the scene was mind-boggling ... the larches, in all their golden glory, filling Headlight Basin below, and Mount Stuart across the valley under crystal blue skies!  Ah, but the magic didn't stop there!  The trail wanders through the basin among groves of gold, giving close up views of the twisted trees.  Finally, a stretch of a steep, rocky trail brings you to Lake Ingalls.  No larches there, but the lovely blue lake surrounded by a combination of jumbled bou...