November 2, 2015, 4:30 pm The day after our 8 mile hike along the Metolius River we did a bike ride out of Sisters and along one of our favorite riding roads. There was not much traffic, and in a couple of places the views of the peaks of the Sisters is spectacular. Afterwards, we visited Jim at his condo in Eagle Crest.
On the next day we drove over MacKenzie Pass (on highway 242) to a short-cut trailhead (there is only room for 1 car to park) to Linton Lake. This was a short hike—only a little over 3 miles—and the lake, especially this year, was nothing special. But the fall colors (mostly the brilliant reds of the vine maple) were spectacular. The lake was very low, but Linton Creek was still flowing. We have never made the bushwhacking hike up Linton Creek to Linton Falls, but we have always heard the noise from the falls and the rapids. A lot of noise from the rapids means it’s a pretty steep climb to the falls.
 Vine maple on the way to Linton Lake  Vine Maple Links:
—Linton Lake photo gallery
November 1, 2015, 3:46 pm Very early in the year I had made reservations for ten days in Sequim, WA followed by ten days in Sisters, OR. Then came the prostate cancer diagnosis and uncertainty if my recovery would be good enough to allow for a three-week trip in September and October, so I canceled all the reservations. By the beginning of September, I was confident I could manage days of hiking in the central Oregon Cascades, so I booked one of our favorite rentals in Sisters for nine days.
It turned out that Karen’s brother was spending a week in Eagle Crest so we invited them along on our first days hike along the Metolius River. Now central Oregon was in drought conditions, just like we are in California. There was very little snow on the peaks, and the rivers and creeks were low. The Metolius, however, is pretty much a constant flow year round. It was a beautiful day, and walking along the river-bank was beautiful. The fall colors, especially the vine maple, were abundant.
 Metolius River decked out in fall colors  Vine maple This was an 8 mile round-trip hike. Our GPS track on a topo map is in the photo gallery below.
Links:
— Metolius River, Sept 2015 photo gallery
October 30, 2015, 3:57 pm Having the prostate biopsy results and surgery still a month away, I felt the need for a change of scene. Some hiking in the Sierras seemed appropriate to relieve some of the anxiety. We headquartered in Bishop and did a couple of our favorite hikes. I don’t think I took my DSLR—all the photos are from my iPhone.
We hiked up to Blue Lake from the Lake Sabrina trailhead on our first full day. We were so unused to hiking that this hike was taxing. But, it is a beautiful area.
 Blue Lake The next day we hiked into Little Lakes Basin along Rock Creek. We kept this hike shorter than usual, but we explored some new areas in the basin.
 Little Lakes Basin To drive home I decided to go over Sonora Pass, which I haven’t done in some time. It was a nice, but not long enough, break from worries.
Links:
—Short trip, Eastern Sierras, photo gallery
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Consider this:“Let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” Romans 14:13 |
