We discover that this trail is completely unlike the first two trails we have covered. In fact, each trail has been unique. This trail is in the forest and the scenery and trees are much like we would find in our province of British Columbia. Very green.
When we depart Lana wants to stop at the local grocery store for a loaf of bread and pull into Starbucks drive thru for a chai. Directions to find SW Century Drive in Bend are not clear, but we manage. There are very few vehicles on this excellent highway through the forest and then Mt. Bachelor on the left. We see a sign "Green Lakes Trailhead" and we pulled over. The instructions were to look for Fall Creek Trail? Parking is available and there is the requisite form to complete and file in the box just like our day one hike. We were on the trail around 11:15 am and it was light rain and somewhat chilly.
Lana was on a work call for about 30 minutes while she was hiking and realizes that she can't really talk and hike at the same time without gasping for air!!! There was only a couple of ladies on the trail going in our direction. Given we were in the mountains on this hike there was quite the variance in weather for the duration of the hike! We took off our rain tops as it was sunny and warmer for a period of time. Then it got chilly and drizzly rain. This hiking trail is a real treat as it is soft and not much in the way of each step. Pretty easy to walk at a decent pace. Lots of horse poop on this trail! Plus, the usual dogs hiking with their masters. Many hikers going in the opposite direction!
Signage at the beginning of the trail. Green Lakes Trail is the line in the middle of the map that goes up.
A second sign we came across early in the hike. There are a few other trails that intersect with the more main Green Lakes Trail and they are listed on the sign below.
Lana on the first wooden bridge that crosses the river. There were a total of three bridges. You need to have good balance on the other log bridges as there are no railings. Lana has her earplugs and is on her conference call with SAP workmates.
The river runs through it. While hiking we enjoyed the sound of the river below. ;-)
The first waterfall.
Fortunately these log bridges are pretty flat, but you need good balance.
Lana hiking beside the river and then the lava flow/scree (?) on the side. Check out the incredibly smooth trail.
Randy believes this is mostly scree left from a giant glacier. We don't believe this is an obsidian lava flow. George??
Scree or obsidian lava flow? There were large boulders of obsidian rock along the way--glossy and shiny, with smooth curved edges that totally stand out from all the other rocks.
This is the trail at the top and takes you directly to Green Lake. Super smooth and wide and very easy to walk. As you can see at this moment it is very overcast and quite chilly. Lana is beginning to regret wearing shorts and realizes she forgot to pack some fleece pants for this trip. Oh-oh--Lana feels a shopping trip coming our way :-)
The sign for hikers who plan on camping in the area. I think you can see the sleet falling on the right side of our picture? Yes, at this time (12:45) SLEET was falling! That is how cold it was and how diverse the weather was the entire time.
We arrive at Green Lake at 13:07 and it is time for lunch. The sun tries to come out, but when we first sit down it is a light drizzle. The wind comes up and it is freezing cold. We can barely feel our hands! Another great picnic lunch comprised of canned squid, Brie cheese, carrots and some bread. It really is peaceful as there is nobody around. We find a perfect log for seating and revel in the quiet and solitude. We depart at 13:35 and hope it warms up for our return hike to the parking lot.
Green Lake. The trail takes you to a 'day use' area where we had our lunch. Some trees, but lots of open space. Check out the beautiful green colour of the water.
When we first arrived at our lunch spot beside Green Lake there was a mist blowing over the lake and over the land. At least it wasn't raining at this point, . . . yet!!!
Eventually, the sun/blue sky appeared and we captured a picture of the north end of Green Lake.
Lana's selfie that captures the beautiful colours of the lake.
Online picture of the Green Lakes with Broken Top Mountain in the background.
Wildlife sighting! There was a very bold chipmunk right beside our lunch spot. We decided to put some bread out to lure him/her for a closeup picture. Can you spot the chipmunk with his tail up and back turned to the camera on the log?!??!!
Yup, the chipmunk (Alvin) took the bait!
Lana has a lot of energy so we hike at a super fast pace downhill to the car. Lana says she felt like she was jogging down the trail. Reasons:
- get to the car to warm up (heated car seats and steering wheel)
- hiking downhill
- Randy is wanting to go as fast as possible
- we are very cold and the faster you hike the warmer you get
- we have already seen this scenery
- two young guys in their mid 20s can't catch us!
The weather changes as well to warmer temperatures and at times some sunshine. Light rain comes and goes. Some windy conditions. Lana didn't find it necessary to stop and she stayed right with me. We arrive at our car at 15:10 so it only took us 1 hour 35 minutes to complete the return trip. The trip up was almost 2 hours and that was at a pretty good pace. Great hike today by Lana!
We tried to capture a cool scene of sunshine through the trees as the rain fell.
Green Lakes Trail Randy's Fitbit Ionic - Strava Map/Stats. Hike began at the bottom of the map.
Stats for Green Lakes Trail hike:
- 14.55 kms of hiking
- duration of actual hiking 3 hours and 9 minutes
- average pace 13 minutes per km
- 360 metres elevation gain
- 21,500 steps of hiking
Our first destination back in Bend is REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) as Lana wants to purchase fleece pants for hiking and proper hiking socks which will be longer than her very skimpy socks. She finds this stuff, but discovers at the checkout she does not have a membership to this coop. Cost of membership = $20. If you spend $100 you get a $20 gift card which pays for the membership. Voila she buys a dress (on sale - clearance rack) to his the $100 amount.
We both warm up with hot showers in the apartment. We're hungry and Lana is craving ramen so we get in the car and drive to Miyagi Ramen located fairly close. Parking right across the street. You order at the counter and then find a table. The ramen came hot and it was what Lana was wanting. We are so spoiled living in Vancouver as our ramen restaurants are first class and only inferior to being in Japan itself. The number one differentiation is the broth. This broth was not very good. Overall, the ramen experience was very inferior to our Vancouver ramen places but we appreciated their attempt. There was a long queue when we left so the locals must love the place.
We both ordered the Tonkatsu ramen (Randy had extra chasu pork) and we shared a small bottle of sparkling saké. This ramen came with nori, a soft boiled egg, carrots and bamboo shoots. The broth was pork and seafood flavoured. The chasu pork was excellent--melt in your mouth, a nice balance of meat and fat (pork belly).
Steamed buns: chicken and pork with marinated pickle and charred onion mayo with hoisin sauce and chili sauce for dipping.
Observation of Bend (from Randy): This city of about 100,000 people is not very diverse in terms of ethnic nationalities. From my Vancouver perspective this is a very "white bread" city. Very rare to see a black person, a hispanic person or an asian person.
We watched another episode of Black Mirror Season 5. Very dramatic series. Weather forecast for tomorrow is not good with rain and a high of 15 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow is our last full day in Bend and hoping for another hike.
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