Aug 31st - Bend Birthday Dinner

Hiking out of camp we slipped up and headed down the Glacier Way Trail.  Instead of backtracking I had the great idea to follow an old abandoned trail along the dry river but it turned into an interesting bushwhack back to the PCT.  Fun but tiring going uphill through the densely wooded parts.

Next some really cool lava flows.  Sybille hiked into Lava Camp Lake to pick up the rental car we had staged while I continued on to McKenzie Pass through huge lava fields.  Met another SoBo PCT hiker named Lezlie and had great views of the Dee Wright Observatory Tower from the lava fields.  A short road walk took me to De Wright Observatory, a neat stone tower with windows showing each of the mountains around the tower.  From the top platform you had even better views.  We gave Bryan, Lorak's brother a ride into Bend and we got a room at the Cascade Lodge Hotel.

While in Bend I tried to see if I could get some medication to be sure I had the giardia under control.  I am feeling much better but was not sure you could completely kick the giardia with medication.  They wanted lots of money and were insisting on doing tests and waiting 3-4 days for test results before they would treat me.  No way. 

We drove downtown, walked around a little and found ourselves at the Pine Restaurant for surf and turf dinner.  They even gave us a free birthday dessert!

Dee Wright Observatory