Smith Rock, Oregon

Oregon is not only the coast and endless pine forests. In Central Oregon you can find a high desert landscape and lots of agriculture. I ended up visiting Smith Rock State Park – a beautiful place in the high desert of Oregon. And I enjoyed hiking the Misery Ridge Loop with Eyra (4 miles, 700 ft up, 700 ft down).

Two days later I came back with my mountain bike and Eyra could relax back in the RV. I biked the Summit Trail / Wolf Tree Trail loop (7.5 miles, 1000 ft up, 1000 ft down). I only had to walk about 0.4 miles because there are parts of the trail that are too steep or too dangerous for riding the bike with my skill level. And I spotted another snake. This one was quite big – it was relaxing on the trail and I had to hit the brakes really hard – but as soon as I was ready to take a picture, it vanished…

The other day I visited the Cove Palisades State Park to do the Tam-a-lau Loop Hike. But I had to turn around because it was just too hot for Eyra – I really liked hiking in the hot desert, but my furry friend had just too much fur for these temperatures… and there was a lake for Eyra to cool down before we went back to the RV to relax.