Don’t let the reports of a never-ending winter fool you. Spring has arrived in central Oregon. The snowpack around town finally melted. With longer days and buds ready to burst at any moment, it was time to get the camper back on the truck and head out for a quick weekend hike and some time around the campfire. We headed north to the Cove Palisades State Park and hit the Tam-a-lau trail. The trail starts in a climb from the level of the reservoir to a plateau called The Peninsula offering great views of the cascades and a portion of Lake Billy Chinook.
There was also a bit of wildlife.
I’m not sure if we were watching the birds of the birds were watching us.
And there were sure signs of spring if you looked close enough.
After our tour of The Peninsula we headed west in search of a campsite. We explored Perry South campground and it looked to be a great spot, especially if we had the boat along. We didn’t, so we continued on and landed at the Monte campground on the Metolius just upstream from the reservoir. The river was flowing with spring runoff.
We had a quiet night with the entire camp all to ourselves. We took a nice hike up river the next morning not seeing another person before meandering back home.
I can’t wait to get back out again, it’ll be summer way too soon.
