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Radford Bean

Bend Family Camping Adventure—Day Three


August 1, 2024—We weren’t in a rush this morning to get to Sunriver for our planned bike ride since the bike rental shop didn’t open until 10 a.m. This allowed me plenty of time to fix a hearty morning meal of breakfast burritos, which was just what we would need for our bike ride. It also allowed my family to sleep in a little longer.


Breakfast done and dishes washed, we headed for the Sunriver Resort a little after eight in the morning. Before reaching the resort, we took a slight detour to visit Lava Butte in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. I thought we’d only be there a half hour, driving up to the top of the butte before stopping at the Lava Lands Visitor Center on our way out. However, I discovered that visitors can no longer drive to the summit in the summer. Visitors are now required to take a shuttle because the small parking lot at the summit can’t accommodate the large influx of summer visitors. At $3, the shuttle is reasonable and runs every 20 minutes between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.


The poor air quality and haze from the wildfires burning in the region made it difficult to

see the Three Sisters in the distance from the summit. Normally on clear days, you can make out North, Middle, and South Sisters clearly, but not today. It’s also why the only photos I shot while hiking around the rim of the butte were of large pinecones spotted growing on white pines, the dominant trees on the summit.


My daughter Jennifer wanted to hike the nature trail that was next to the visitor center, but it was already approaching 11 a.m., and we needed to pick up the bikes at Sunriver she rented. We decided that we would ride our bikes from Sunriver back to the visitor center and then hike the trail. It’s only a five-mile ride from Sunriver to Lava Lands Visitor Center. Since we had planned to ride to Benham Falls, which is just off the trail to Lava Lands, we could stop at both places during our ride.


We arrived at Sunriver Sports within minutes after leaving the Lava Lands Visitor Center to pick up the bikes. I did not require a bike because I had brought my bike with me. Jennifer had also rented a tag-along for my granddaughter Sophia to ride. However, after attaching the tag-along to the seat post on Jennifer’s bike, she was unable to lower her seat to where her feet could reach the pedals in their lowest position, so instead the rental shop switched out the tag-along for a Burley cart.


Once everyone was ready to ride, we set out on the extensive bike trail system that weaves throughout the Sunriver Resort. You can get in approximately thirty miles of riding if you cover all the trails in the resort. The trail system is so extensive that riders should pick up a map of the trail system, which you can get at the two bike shops in the Village at Sunriver. The map came in handy as we tried to navigate our way to the Deschutes River and Benham Falls.


We stopped along the Deschutes River for a break and to watch paddlers and rafters drift by. The temperature was beginning to get hot by noon, and the river looked inviting, so Jennifer decided to stand in the river to cool off while the rest of us ate snacks.


The rest period over, we continued onto Benham Falls. When we arrived at the bridge over the Deschutes River, we had to lock up our bikes because the trail past the bridge was dirt and better suited for bikes with knobby tires. This required us to hike a half mile to Benham Falls in 90-degree heat. Under more pleasant temperatures, the hike would have been easy and enjoyable, but today it wasn’t. The heat zapped our strength. By the time I reached the falls, my arms were drenched in sweat.


Sophia grew quite irritable during the hike. Even though she had easily hiked a mile the day before in the Lava River Cave, the heat was too much for her. She and Jennifer headed back down the trail after stopping briefly at the falls. Nick and I stayed behind so I could have lunch. He and I rejoined them at the bikes.


Because of the heat, we decided to forego riding the additional five miles to Lava Lands. Jennifer wanted to ride back over to the river where we had stopped earlier; however, I wanted to get more riding miles in, so we split up and took different trails. When I left them, my bike computer registered 101 degrees. I had never ridden in such a hot temperature, even as a teen living and riding in Phoenix, Arizona.


After riding for an additional ten miles, I rode over to the river where I expected to meet up with my family. The only problem was they weren’t there, so I started heading back to Sunriver Sports thinking they might already be headed there. It hadn’t occurred to me that they might not have reached the river. I had been riding for some time before reaching the river, so I was sure they had already stopped at the river and were now on their way back to the bike rental.


As I started to ride back to Sunriver Sports, Nick called to tell me they had yet to make it to the river. I was shocked to hear that since the trail from Benham Falls to the river wasn’t that long compared to the trails I had covered on my way back from the falls. He told me that Jennifer was struggling in the heat and had to take frequent breaks. Her asthma had flared up.


I rode back over to the river to wait for them. However, Nick called back a few minutes later to tell me that Jennifer was suffering from heat exhaustion and needed help. I decided the best and most expedient thing for me to do was to ride over to the fire station to get some help. While heading to the fire station, Nick called again to tell me a woman had stopped and picked up Jennifer and Sophia and taken them to her house. She could see my daughter was in distress.


Nick and I decided it would be best for me to ride back to my truck and drive over to the woman’s house to pick my family up. It was tricky finding my way to the woman’s house as the street signs in the resort aren’t easy to find. I arrived at the woman’s house and picked my family up. Jennifer had called Sunriver Sports and told them what happened. Thankfully, they were able to drive over to the house and retrieve the bikes.


Why the heat affected my daughter and not me was likely due to two things: Jennifer suffers from asthma, and I had brought along a bottle of Powerade to replace electrolytes lost to sweating while riding. In addition, I’m sure the poor air quality today didn’t help Jennifer’s asthma. In the future, Jennifer committed to bringing along Powerade with her when she goes bike riding.


We left the Sunriver Resort after eating some ice cream and stopping at a store to get Jennifer the Powerade and headed back to camp. I still wanted to hike up to Upper Tumalo Falls. Jennifer wasn’t up for a hike and instead wanted to take Sophia over to Tumalo State Park’s day-use area to wade in the Deschutes River. As we drove back to the campground, Jennifer mentioned that she liked the amenities at the Sunriver Resort, so we discussed returning next summer in late June and along with my next-door neighbors who I am good friends with renting a house there.


After dropping Jennifer and Sophia off at camp, Nick and I headed to Tumalo Falls. The falls are about a 45-minute drive from the state park, so the sun had already begun to sink below the treetops when we arrived at the parking lot to the falls. Because the sun was getting low in the sky and I needed to get some pictures of the falls while there was still adequate light, hiking to the upper falls simply was out of the question. In addition, I still needed to fix dinner before it got dark, so Nick and I just walked to the lower viewpoint to snap some photos of the falls. I’ll have to return at a later date to hike to the upper falls.


We also had to contend with an issue regarding my canoe. The drive over a bumpy gravel road to get to the falls loosened the straps holding down my canoe, which had subsequently shifted on the rack. Nick and I wrestled with getting the canoe back on the rack where it belonged and tying it down again. In all the years I have been hauling that canoe, including over bumpy gravel roads, that canoe had never come loose until today. I’m not sure why it happened, but I suspect the buckles on the straps are wearing out and that it might be time to replace them.


One thing I had mentioned to Jennifer on the drive back to camp is that she needs to stop visiting me during the hottest time of the year. She always visits me in late July when the temperatures are the hottest and wildfires are most prevalent.


Hotter summer temperatures and wildfires having to do with climate change are having negative impacts on outdoor recreation these days. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts now need to plan camping trips earlier in the summer before the start of the heat and wildfire season, which is starting earlier and lasting longer. Either that or they must rethink what outdoor recreation activities to take part in later in the summer. The problem with recreating earlier in Oregon is that it usually rains for much of May and June, though lately both months have been relatively dry compared to a decade ago. Camping earlier in the year might mean camping in the rain and then having to dry out wet gear before putting it away. The other possible choice is camping at the coast where it is cooler throughout the summer months and less impacted by wildfires.


There would be no playing games after dinner tonight. We were all very tired after today’s bike ride and the heat, and the day had been rough on Jennifer. After a late dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, and garlic toast, and after the dishes were washed, we all turned in. I could barely keep my eyes open. We all needed to be up relatively early in the morning to have breakfast and get cleaned up before breaking camp, packing up the gear, and driving back to my house.



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