In the original plan for Becca's visit, instead of going back to The Dalles we would have gone straight to Breitenbush Campground. This campground is located on the west side of the Cascades, a couple hours south of Portland. It is supposed to be gorgeous, and is a relatively short (1 or 2 mile) hike from a natural hot spring. This, unfortunately, didn't work out.
As I think I mentioned previously, the forecast for Becca's visit wasn't great. Rain was forecasted all over the state for every day she was supposed to be here. As is typical of Oregon weather, it was much rainier on the west side of the mountains. Particularly rainy directly over that campsite (or so I imagine).
Instead of waking in Breitenbush and taking a leisurely stroll to the hot springs, we spent Sunday morning trying to find someplace in Oregon that had two things: a scenic campground and a good forecast. Eventually we found Prineville Reservoir State Park. It is located in central Oregon, a couple hours away in the high desert. The campsite itself is situated on the shores of a large lake. Most importantly, however, the forecast was only calling for showers over the next few days. That was all I needed to see. We packed up and were on the road in a flash.
The campground was great. The lake and surrounding desert were beautiful, the staff were very nice, and the wood was actually dry enough to burn. The last few times I bought camp-store wood did not work out well, so this was a great relief.
The staff thought we were a bit daft checking in on a Sunday night with a forecast of rain and nighttime lows in the 30s, but they were very nice. We were pretty much the only folks there (excluding a few RVs), so we were probably some of the first campers of the season.
Everything turned out well. It was raining pretty hard on our way there, but at the campsite it only ever sprinkled. The first night was cold, but I brought some good sleeping bags out with me, so we kept warm. We took part in the typical joys of camping, namely: Roaring fires, drinking in the woods, making s'mores, etc. I had planned a menu, and everything was good. Perhaps the greatest discovery being raspberry s'mores.
On Monday we checked out the park's lake trail and Chimney rock. Here are some pictures from the lake trail (Chimney Rock to follow):
Beautiful, beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you guys had a good time and got to spend some time together.
I check the weather fairly often in The Dalles and it is always raining! Is this a seasonal pattern?
I think the amount of rain we have been receiving is actually quite peculiar for the time of year. I have heard from several people that we're about a month behind on the spring to summer transition. Not to mention that the water levels are outrageously high right now through the entire Columbia river, even with the dams to control flow.
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