Bald Mountain

Bald Mountain Lookout

Sometimes you have to go to a place simply because you have not been there before.  Bald Mountain, elevation 7,400', was one of those places.  It lies between Fort Rock and Silver Lake and I had heard that the lookout is seldom visited.  We spent two nights camped out nearby and saw not another soul.  In this time of Covid induced outdoor recreating, that is saying something.  Got a bonus night in at Upper Buck Campground on the flanks of Yamsay Mountain, another spot I had long wanted to visit.  It was a warm, sunny May weekend.  Southern Oregon - all of Oregon really - is in as bad a drought as I have seen.

Looking southwest from Bald Mountain

Buck Creek

 

Bellingham weekend

Bellingham waterfront

 

Enjoyed a weekend visit to Bellingham.  It was perfect weather and we were treated to an exploration of the mountain bike trail network at Galbraith Mountain.  Everything was so vegetated and green ... not used to that.

Big Red

"Big Red" Ponderosa

Maria and I recently spent a nice Sunday on a road bike ride from La Pine State Park.  Within this large park sits "Big Red"; presumably Oregon's largest Ponderosa Pine.  While not tall, it's girth is impressive.  It is a bit sad to contemplate what the Cascade east slope pine forests must have been like prior to rapid logging in the early 20th century.  I bet there were numerous Much Bigger Reds back then.