N: We camped at Paradise Campground right on the river. It was awesome except at night when this bug would start making this really annoying noise while I was trying to sleep. When I heard it, I would grab the flashlight and creep over to the sound with the light off. Then when I thought I knew exactly where he was, I would flip on the light and try to spot it. When I didn't see him, I grabbed my hatchet and went straight ax murderer on the entire area. After completely demolishing his entire habitat, I went back to bed only to have him start buzzing again. I hate that bug. Eventually, I just stuffed my ears with TP and fell asleep.
P: You did want that bugs life. Poor little ugly bug. You knew it was ugly by the sound it was making. You just needed to embrace his annoying little noise and envision it a little chime putting you to sleep like I did. I didn't mind the bug. Anyway, when we got to our camp and first saw the river it was honestly the most incredible blue color I have ever seen in a river. Not even crayola could make a color like that. I loved just staring at it and didn't want to leave.
N: This is the McKenzie River Trail, which is a 30 mile hiking and biking trail that follows the river. This trail was the reason we came here. Polly is on her bike in this shot, but soon after this bridge, the trail turned to nobby, rough lava rock. She had to ditch her bike and hike to the Blue Pool. Only a few small parts of the trail are lava rock, everything else is nice dirt single track through old growth forest.
P: Yeah, I need to work on my mountain biking skills. Nathan was real patient with me because he is a real pro and I am a real beginner, lets just say I am a lot better on a road bike. However it was so much fun and the single track is really fun; well until we got to the lava rock. I said hasta la vista to my bike at that point. At least the old people I passed on the trail thought I was smart.
N: This was the Blue Pool. The river went underground for about a mile and this pool is where it reappears. Just another one of the really cool features on the McKenzie River.
P: Hiking through all the lava rock was totally worth it when I saw this little wonder.
N: This was Deer Creek Hot Springs right on the river's edge. We were the only one's there and it was a nice 85 degrees.
P: Ahhhh! The hot springs, it was glorious. A real gem.
N: This was our river guide Chachy. He lives on the McKenzie, works as a river guide in the summer and is on ski patrol in the winter. That sounds like the life. What am I doing in law school!
P:Chachy was a real funny dude who kept on telling Nathan to get out of the raft because he was a lawyer but that I could stay in because I am a massage therapist. He made the whole experience really great!
N: We rafted the river which was definitely one of the highlights of our whole trip. It was a little expensive but worth every dime. I highly recommend it if you get the chance.
P: Chachy challenged us to try whats called Riding The Bull. Right before we went down some big class 3 rapids we went and sat on the front of the raft, with our legs hanging over. Our only chance at staying on the raft was holding onto a single rope on the front of the raft. It was a little crazy! Nathan got bucked off pretty fast into the raft but I did pretty darn good. Then Nathan was some what of a beached whale on the floor of the raft, it was hilarious. This was my first time rafting and I loved it.
N: These were the falls on the river. The top one was about 70 feet tall and the lower one was about 60 feet tall. The falls rage even in August because the river is mostly spring fed rather than from snow melt. The middle picture is the section of river in between the two falls.
P: Hiking around the falls was awesome and quite a site. The guide from our river rafting trip told us that both of these falls have been kayaked over... crazy.
N: This was a little restaurant on Clear Lake. It had a great view but really it was all about the Marionberry Pie. It was unbelievable! The story is that an old grandma has made pies for the restaurant for the past 20 years, and delivers fresh ones everyday. Sadly, I have to admit that if I ran into that Grandma I would water board her for the recipe if needs be.
P: Yeah, I shnooked a bite of that pie and I was in heaven, wishing I could eat more. Nathan told me to take a picture of him so he could remember this amazing moment in time with his pie forever!
N: This is Clear Lake. It is the headwaters for the McKenzie River and is almost entirely spring fed from water that comes from a huge underground aquifer. Because the water is filtered by the aquifer, it is completely clear and really cold. The water temp never gets above 36 degrees in the lake.
P: The Beauty of the lake was incredible. The picture is pretty great but it doesn't do it justice.
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