Bend Weekend
Bend Weekend
A while back (Before the start of this blog) I spent a
weekend in Bend, Oregon.
Needless to say it’s a place I’ll never forget.
Upon hours of searching for a splitboard my size (that wasn’t
2000 dollars) I happened to come across one on the Bend Craigslist. Excited, I
told my friend to pack his bag- along with his ski gear, his pup and a harness.
We left after I got off work, and made the six hour drive
from my hometown. We got in so late we ended up sleeping in the car that night
in a random campground outside of Smith Rock State Park.
The next day was incredible. For a Saturday in September,
there was hardly anyone out climbing in the park, even though it was a perfect
65 degrees and blue skies. My friend had never climbed before (or belayed) so I
was pretty limited as to what I could do. Thankfully, the park offers tons of
nice strangers who are happy to belay a young climber.
Summit of Mt. Cone |
I spent most of the
day setting up top ropes on fairly easy routes, but I still had fun. When noon
rolled around, it was time to meet the guy for the splitboard. He was super
nice, gave me way more than I expected for a lot less than I expected, and we
headed our own ways.
After coffee at the cutest coffee stand ever, we headed to a
friends house for the night. Deciding sitting around the house was boring, we
wanted to go skiing and break in the new board.
We drove only 20 minutes before hitting Mt. Bachelor. We
made a quick summit of Mt. Cone, and got in the first turns of the season!
The next day we explored some of the shops and when the sun
had finally warmed up the rock, we hit Smith Rock again for some sending. Our
friends had climbing experience, so I was able to hop on a harder route and
play around.
If you haven’t been,
Bend should definitely be on any weekend warrior’s to-do list.
There’s lots of free camp spots littered around the park, as
well as free tent camping inside the park.
Keep in mind that if you bring your dog, you have to keep in
on a leash within six feet of you, and it’s pretty strictly monitored.
Please don’t leave trash anywhere, and follow LNT rules to
the best of your ability. Keep these public lands public!
Parking costs $10. Strictly enforced. An annual pass for
Oregon state parks is $30, so if you plan on visiting more than once it might
just be more efficient to buy an annual pass and sell it to someone else after.
Happy Traveling!
-Noelle
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