The Falls Trekkers

Mary and I went on our first day hike with the group from The Falls known as "The Trekkers". The Trekkers usually take two hikes monthly. Most of the hikes involve anywhere from 3 to 6 miles with elevation gains from darned near nothing to 700 or 800 feet. The hikes are lead by Larry & Mary Thornburgh - two retired schoolteachers that spend a lot of time doing these kinds of activities. They usually take the trip twice. Once to make sure it is suitable for folks in our age bracket and then the second time when the group goes. In the winter The Trekkers trade in their hiking boots for snowshoes and we explore other areas - usually much flatter. 

The Smith Rock Hike

Smith Rock State Park is a world-class rock climbing area, and there are some interesting rock formations. You can usually find people with a death wish hanging around in precarious positions as they attempt to scale the various routes. (No thanks!) If you want to see some of the pictures, then check the photo album called Hiking Photos. If you look carefully, you will see tiny figures clinging to some of the rocks, most notably - the close-up of Monkey Face.

The picture above was taken from our deck. Smith Rock is about 10 miles away as the crow flies. If you click on it you will be taken to a website about the area.

This hike was about 4½ miles round trip and involved dropping in altitude about 200’ to 250’ from the parking lot to the Crooked River. We crossed on a footbridge, and then walked a couple of miles along the river and then climbed about 400’ up the hill. From there we could see several of the Cascade Mountain Range volcanoes. There are several other ways to hike the area, but as this was our first time we took the easy one. The next time we'll give "Misery Ridge" a try.

Some Other Hikes

As the summer progressed, the hikes we went on included: Big Eddy Rapids on the Deschutes River, Tumalo Mountain (With a 360 degree of the world), a 6-mile scenic trail to Matthieu Lake, a 5-mile hike along Tumalo Creek in Shelvin Park, and Clear Lake. With fall colors in full display, Clear Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in the area.

In 2007 the hikes have included the Eagle Crest River Walk along the Deschutes River here in Eagle Crest (3.3 miles), a trip up Pilot Butte in Bend (2.5 miles/500' gain), Alder Springs (3 miles/350' gain), and the Burma Road near Marsupial Crags (4.5 miles/720' gain). The Burma Road is above and to the east of the Smith Rock area. In the picture above it would be along the ridge that starts in the corner of the shadow line to the right of the lower rock outcrops. If you go to the website link from the picture above you will see a portion of The Burma Road in the picture titled "Marsupial Crags".