Deschutes National Forest – Day 4

Another great day for hiking — light wind, 60 to y0-degree temperature, and blue skies.

‘Amanda, Bo, and Louie picked us up at about 11 for a drive to North Twin Lake. There is a lovely campground there and the trailhead for a trail that circumnavigates the lake. Except for a few steep rises and declines, the walk was mostly on level ground. Lots of Ponderosa, Lodgepole, and fir. There is a great deal of dwarf mistletoe in the area which is killing the giant Ponderosas. The forest service is attempting to remove the diseased trees and planting the area with sugar pine and fir that are not affected by the disease. As we walked in the shade of the pines we noted snowbrush ceanothus and brittle bush. The perfume from the flowers on the snowbrush was quite remarkable.

Louie enjoyed a few swims in the lake, but for most of the walk we were too far from it for him to retrieve sticks. As usual Louie covered more than our two miles. He would run ahead, return to join us, then run ahead again.

After-returning to the van, David sent up his drone for pictures of the river and surrounding mountains. Amanda, Bo, and Louie joined us later for dinner bringing pulled pork that had been expertly smoked by Brian.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)