It's our third day in Central Oregon, and our first full day in the Deschutes forest outside of Bend. We made a quick trip into town today to restock on food, but we ran back up to the mountain as fast as we could to spend the day playing in the woods. It's so beautiful up here, and the weather our whole trip so far has been absolutely perfect - in the 80's and 90's and full of sunshine!
When we were first driving up to our campsite yesterday and again today when we were coming back from town, we passed this gorgeous little lake named Devil's Lake on the side of the road. It really stood out because the water is this amazing blueish green turquoise color, I've really never seen anything like it before! We decided to spend the day exploring and hiking around it today, and I am so glad we did because it was so beautiful and peaceful.
We hiked all the way around the lake and every turn led to an even better view!
Along the way, Rowan picked up a new dirt mustache!
When we got back to the beginning of the trail by the parking lot where we had started, the kids decided to take a dip in one of the little pools of water near the campground:
Sadly, shortly after they started dashing in and out of the water, Rowan tripped and fell on the extremely sharp gravely rocks that made up the shore. She howled and sobbed and bled a bunch. Matthew carried her up to the car where he cleaned out all the little rocks from her cuts, while I distracted her by making a carrier for her stuffed animals out of a hard cider cardboard case. It worked! She was smiling again in no time, but decided she was all done hanging out at this particular lake!
We spent the rest of the day hiking around the trails near our campsite and gathering wood for the evenings fire.
The kids also spent a lot of time creating chipmunk houses with sticks and a bag of peanuts we had brought along for just this purpose! They made them right before bed, and we felt pretty confident that between the blue jays and chipmunks, there wouldn't be a single peanut left in the morning. Those critters hit the campground jackpot at our tent site!
When we were first driving up to our campsite yesterday and again today when we were coming back from town, we passed this gorgeous little lake named Devil's Lake on the side of the road. It really stood out because the water is this amazing blueish green turquoise color, I've really never seen anything like it before! We decided to spend the day exploring and hiking around it today, and I am so glad we did because it was so beautiful and peaceful.
We hiked all the way around the lake and every turn led to an even better view!
Along the way, Rowan picked up a new dirt mustache!
When we got back to the beginning of the trail by the parking lot where we had started, the kids decided to take a dip in one of the little pools of water near the campground:
Sadly, shortly after they started dashing in and out of the water, Rowan tripped and fell on the extremely sharp gravely rocks that made up the shore. She howled and sobbed and bled a bunch. Matthew carried her up to the car where he cleaned out all the little rocks from her cuts, while I distracted her by making a carrier for her stuffed animals out of a hard cider cardboard case. It worked! She was smiling again in no time, but decided she was all done hanging out at this particular lake!
We spent the rest of the day hiking around the trails near our campsite and gathering wood for the evenings fire.
The kids also spent a lot of time creating chipmunk houses with sticks and a bag of peanuts we had brought along for just this purpose! They made them right before bed, and we felt pretty confident that between the blue jays and chipmunks, there wouldn't be a single peanut left in the morning. Those critters hit the campground jackpot at our tent site!
