It is about a 50 minute drive from our Bend Airbnb apartment to the trailhead. Spent quite some time last night trying to determine a foolproof route to this destination located in the middle of a forest. Eventually, I had confidence in a route and we utilized our GPS unit. We took US97 North out of Bend and then hooked up with US20 West towards the small town of Sisters. Quite a lot of traffic along the road where you could find some passing lanes. Lana saw a tiny home on a farm and thought it was pretty neat. We did find McKenzie Highway 252 and by Milepost 78 turned and we were quickly at the parking lot for the trailhead. Wow, so many parked cars in this area so it must be busy on the trails?
Beautiful trees on the route to our hiking destination outside of Sisters, Oregon. As you can see this is very arid country.
Results of huge fire in the summer of 2017 in central Oregon. Picture taken from side of the road Highway 242.
Another example of the 2017 forest fire from side of the main road.
Obsidian lava flow beside the main highway. Lana says it feels eerie to see this type of rock here.
Another obsidian lava flow beside the road.
Picture taken from side of the road towards a huge peak in the distance. Notice the obsidian lava flow in the foreground. This lava rock is very light.
This is where we turned to start our hike this morning. We parked at the Lava Camp Lake which is the trailhead for our hike.
Before you begin your hike you need to complete a permit and place in the box. Lana was laughing about the optical scanning circles--does anyone else remember doing these on tests and things? Tell us that the State system is pretty darn old--likely still a mainframe computer!!
Lana with the completed free permit.
First sign we encountered as we leave the trailhead. Check out the soft path!
As we are hiking there are gentle breezes for most of the afternoon. This breeze and sometimes wind is welcomed as it helps cool us off. Another cool thing is listening to the trees swaying in the wind. Mostly soft padded path through the woods. In some places there is even sand and dirt. Only a few places with exposed tree roots on the path. Lana has her wireless head phones playing her music.
This sign was at a number of spots along the hiking route. Not too helpful during our hike.
Yes, we are hiking in Deschutes National Forest and this is wilderness. This particular area is called the "Three Sisters".
Along our hiking route we encounter the burn pretty much everywhere.
This is Lana's knob.
Another example of burn area. Notice how the burned bark peels off eventually.
Sign along the trail and this one is important as it confirms we are on the correct trail and at this point walking the famous Pacific Crest Trail. The movie "Wild" hit the theatres in 2014 starring Reese Witherspoon based on a true story. Famous trail!
Map of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It starts near Tijuana, Mexico and ends up at BC's Manning Park.
Common signage near either of the Matthieu Lakes. Placed here mainly for hikers doing the PCT.
North Matthieu Lake taken from the shore line. The water is crystal clear.
North Matthieu Lake from another shore showing the lava flow pile in the lake.
North Matthieu Lake from a higher vantage point.
Lana on the trail shielding her skin from the sunshine. 
We decide to stop for lunch at South Matthieu Lake. It is a 4.9 km hike to the second lake and about 75 minutes of hiking. Sit on a log near the water. There are a couple of groups on another shore line. Shortly a group of younger people with a toddler and a dog show up. Many other places to pick. My rule when in the wilderness is when you grab a spot if you can hear your neighbours words then you are too close. Lana has prepared a great lunch of Italian salami, Brie cheese, Ciabatta bread, trail mix and some water. If it wasn't so heavy I would carry a nice bottle of white wine! :-)
We are in the shade and then a strong wind comes up and it begins to get chilly. We finish most of our lunch and decide to keep going to the huge lava dome in the distance to see a potential crater. This will dramatically extend our hike and our elevation gains. Funny thing is Lana could not get cell coverage down below, but up near the lake her cellphone is now connected.
Check the variety of colours of lava rocks. From red to black to brown to ....
Mountains in the background and more obsidian lava flow. Many different colours.
Lana navigating the trail with lava rocks on both sides, but a soft cinder-like trail path.
We guess this is a lava dome - completely black and the shape of a dome. There is no trail to ascend the dome itself. The trail winds around the dome with a fair amount of uphill.
Lana on the lava dome trail. Very sunny and hot so the umbrella comes out. This trail has soft brownish sand surface which is crunchy under the foot.
Another angle for the trail.
View from the lava dome showing the jagged mountains in the distance and the lava fields extending all the way there?
Picture of the very weird shapes in the lava stones and sand filling in the blank areas.
Mount Washington (?) framed by the lava dome and a treed hillside.
Another example of the very strange terrain in this elevated area.
Lana walking beside an obsidian lava flow.
A great picture of a lava flow. Our trail is on the left and the lava flow on the right.
Map that was shared with us by a couple who were hiking a similar route. This was helpful for us to confirm the Matthieu Lakes Trail loop.
Lana took this picture of a dead tree damaged by the wildfire and a green growth at the very top of the tree.
The mountains in the distance and the lava flow in the foreground.
Another pic of the mountain and the lava flow in the foreground. Different types of rocks here.
Closeup of lava flow of larger chunky rocks.
Randy hiking along the trail with the lava flow on the left.
Great picture showing a very deep lava flow.
Around 3 hours into our hike my Fitbit Ionic wristwatch battery goes dead. Not the first time and I have not replaced this wrist watch with a new one that Fitbit sent me. The Fitbit dies with around 11 kms showing for hiking.
Picture on the loop trail high above the North Matthieu Lake. The colour of the water is much like glacier fed lakes.
On the loop trail high above the lower loop trail. Notice the cool bent dead trees along our path.
On the hike back to the trailhead we are on the PCT. Very soft dirt trail for the most part. Lots of burn of course and we have some picture opportunities. Still pretty windy on the descent, but this cools us off. Over the course of our hike not many hikers going in our direction. A real diverse bunch of people hiking here and some with their dogs. Dogs must be on a leash. We did encounter butterflies, birds, grasshoppers and some varmints in the rocks called golden mantled ground squirrels. The last part of the hike is always the worse as you are tired and figuring the car is just ahead, but it isn't. I arrive to the car by 15:53. Lana is a little bit behind.
Matthieu Lakes Trail Loop stats, although this includes the extended hike around the huge lava cone:
- 520 metres elevation gain / iPhone app 107 floors
- around 24,000 steps
- 15 kms of hiking distance
- duration of actual hiking time = 4 hours +
- overall this was a pretty lengthy hike with decent elevation gain for a first day = good work Lana! Who by the way, was a pretty good sport about a 2 hour hike that turned into a 4 hour hike.
We are in the car and Lana discovers we have air conditioned seats! Quite a treat with a sweaty hot body and damp bum. Still a beautiful day and we have a fairly long drive to Bend.
Rancho Viejo in Sisters. After our gruelling hike, we were driving along the main drag of this 2,000 person town and our thirst guided us to stop at a pub and drink some beer and/or cider. We are thirsty and on vacation! Randy ordered a locally brewed Mexican lager 'Tres Arroyos'. Lana ordered a pear cider. The drinks were cold and refreshing so really hit the spot! We sat in the patio at the rear of the property at the counter. Very relaxing, although service was not timely. We are on vacation!
We arrive home pretty hungry. Bend is known for its brew pubs. Randy goes online to figure out a highly rated brewpub and we drive to Sunriver Brewing Company along the river. We find parking near the pub around 18:00 and notice there are a lot of people there already. For certain, we want a table in the covered patio area. We are told it will be about a five minute wait and she will grab us outside in five. We are there for at least ten minutes and Lana heads inside and the girl had forgotten about us. We are quickly escorted to the patio and our table. Randy orders a German Pilsner beer and Lana a lemonade drink. The server doesn't ask for our food order until we get her attention. She didn't come by as we had three menus and she thought we were waiting for someone.
One observation about Bend is this is a dog culture. They bring their dogs everywhere which means hiking and to the restaurants. Lots of dogs around us. Most well behaved. The menu includes a hamburger specially made for dogs! There is a huge Bernese Mountain dog and then a six month old pup shows up. Dinner is decent and the food portions are large. I order another German styled beer to help finish my meal.
Logo for Sunriver Brewing Company (Galveston Pub) located in Bend. The server brings a jar of mustard and ketchup. Big bold letters that it is Organic Mustard and Organic Ketchup!
Randy's order of Porkalicious Oregon hamburger: braised Carlton Farms pork, pepper bacon, Tillamook white cheddar, SBC barbecue sauce, crispy beer onions, regular bun. I love pulled pork but the bun was dry. The fries were pretty good.
Lana's order of Bacon Brew Burger: northwest natural beef*, Tillamook cheddar, pepper bacon, tomato, lettuce, onion, roasted garlic aioli, telera roll. She could only eat half so saved the other half for lunch tomorrow.
Lots of pictures to upload and organize for the blog. There is no way we will be able to get the blog finished before we go to bed. Regardless, Lana is asleep on the couch before 20:00 while watching Netflix. I manage to stay up until 22:00 and then to bed.
We are happy that the weather is good for you two. Sleep well xo
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