Three Ways To Lose…Yourself, Your Pants, And Your Woman!
We’ve been having quite the exciting and social week here at Diamond Lake. A couple of days ago our buddies Lu & Terry from Paint Your Landscape arrived, squeezed in their huge rig (we now have 3 “beastly” rigs all cozily camped at this “officially” 35-foot max park), and joined us in exploring this lovely area. Besides hanging and biking from the campground, and exploring Crater Lake there are actually tons of other activities to do around here and you can “lose” yourself (both figuratively, apparel-wise and physically) in quite a few ways. Here’s just a spattering of adventures we’ve had these past few days:
1/ Waterfalls, Waterfalls (Lose Yourself In The Wonder)
It turns our our current spot is a waterfall wonderland and you can see 4 of Oregon’s best waterfalls within ~20 miles of Diamond Lake on the very scenic Hwy 138. Toketee Falls, apparently the most famous of the lot, is gorgeously framed by long basalt columns and is just a short hike from the parking lot on Forest Service Road 34. Should the viewing spark the mood for more you can then go and explore Watson Falls, Whitehorse Falls and Clearwater Falls on your way home and lose yourself in the wonder of it all at every stop.
2/ Hot Pools (Lose Your Pants)
If you’re the type who likes a natural breeze in the nether-regions, open view (in every sense) and hot pools, then head on over to Umpqua River Hot Springs, just a few miles past Toketee Falls from #1. These natural hot springs overlook the river and are very popular with the local crowd. If you’re hiking the Umpqua River Trail (see #3) you’ll actually hit them just about 3.5 miles east of Toketee lake. They are also, in case you didn’t get the hint, clothing optional…or rather clothing-very-unlikely since most of the hot-tubbers definitely prefer dipping au naturel. Sorry, no photos folks, so you’ll just have to leave it to your imagination….
3/ Hiking (Don’t Lose Your Woman!)
Just in case the 90 miles of hiking in Crater Lake aren’t enough for you, you can indulge yourself in an additional 100+ miles or so right around Diamond Lake.
For a river-walk pick up any side of the lovely Umpqua River Trail which stretches almost 80 miles along…you guessed it….the Umpqua River. Everything you’d want in a pretty river trail complete with bridges, fern-lined paths, hot pools (see #2) and scenic picnic spots.
For the more adventurous lot, attack the 10.6 mile round-trip to ~8,400 foot Mount Bailey directly from Diamond Lake. It’s a spectacular hike with 360-degree views and a heart-racing open ridge-crossing sided by 1,500 foot drops right before the last summit stretch (I made it right up to that point). As a public service to all menkind however, I recommend keeping track of your woman. Alex and Paul he-manned up the mountain, managing to totally lose Ellen and I on the way down, and even going so far as to drive off and leave us wondering in the woods. As you can imagine the girls were not amused, and yours truly rattled off a string of $$##!! curses worthy of a drunken sailor on their eventual return. Thankfully I’m a hard lass to get rid of, but I still don’t recommend the attempt. Lads…you have been forewarned….
And Finally….Lounging (Bring A Glass)
What better way to end the day than a glass and good company around your campsite? Despite the sites here being a bit of squeeze for our size the campground boasts some enormous sitting areas, easily able to entertain a rabble of at least 50 RVers. During the day we spread out with the animals, hang a little yoga, lounge with a book, and in the evening our little group of 6 has been enjoying some relaxing get-togethers. We may have lost several things this week, but we always find each other at the end of the day 🙂
P.S. All the above activities and hikes are paw-friendly, with the bonus that doggie fits right in (as-is) for dipping in-the-free 🙂
That Deep Mountain View photo is great, nice job!
Thanks. I enjoyed the shades of blue in that shot too!
Nina
Beautiful pix, you’re in agorgeous area!
Thanks…we sure are!!
Nina
Well that title sure gets attention! Nice summary of things to do in the area. But how did you get into a 35′ max campground with BIGGER rigs?
Love the two yogis picture!!
Well it’s just a question of scouting out and seeing if you can physically fit. There are not many sites that can take our size here, but we managed to find 3 pretty close that just barely fit the 3 “beasts”. Most National Forest campgrounds put in size limits, but don’t necessarily impose them and not all the size limits are absolute. It’s kinda of a “enter at your own risk” deal. Usually we stick with 40-foot-sized campgrounds, but sometimes (just sometimes) we’ll squeeze into a 35-foot max. It all depends on the layout and site access.
Nina
Very colorful tale! Seems to have outdone trekking in Nepal – at least in one respect. I don’t recall seeing one of those signs along the trail, anyway!
Cheers, Lauren
Yeah, we didn’t have much in that line on our trek…haha. But thankfully no armed ax-men around here.
Nina
nice ‘chair’ Paul is sitting on?
Well Paul’s actually the one lounging on the kick-back chair in the middle, but I think you might be referring to Terry who’s stuck on the cooler at the far right? We do need to get more chairs!
Nina
Great blog, Nina. I’ve been “pinning” a lot of your Oregon blogs for future reference in my “Places I Would Like To Go” board on Pinterest.
Glad you enjoy the posts! Nina
Excellent area with many things to do,enjoy your winter,we are “closed” for the season,see you next Spring.
Yup, I was following your posts this year (altho’ I didn’t comment much), but thoroughly enjoyed your trip.
Nina
yep we missed that spot so will keep it on the back burner for the run through Oregon…
It’s definitely a spot worth coming to. In fact I’ve enjoyed the area even more than I originally imagined.
Nina
How many years have we lived in or visited Oregon and never gotten to those places? Diamond Lake, you’re a target in the future. As for the hot springs, at least one of us prefers to avoid that!
Glad to have added another target to your list!
Nina
Absolutely beautiful area, as well as your photography. Very nice, I could easily spend an autumn, or at least part of it, in this area.
I think Sept is the PERFECT month here. Weather is just right! Oct starts to get cold with some overnight (harder) freezes. Still, it’s a gorgeous area to hang out and enjoy the fall.
Nina
I absolutely enjoy your blogs I have been reading your website for the last 8months .I trully enjoy it. We have a 36ft Holiday Rambler.We are in the process of selling our ranch in ojai ca . And start enjoying ourselves on the road fulltime RVing.We are a little nervous but you guys seem to make life quite fun .My wife and I are in our early 50`s we both love to surf.So we will probably stay near the coast for a while.I always look in the back round of your photos looking for surf .We heard oregon has good surf in the summer. If your ever in ojai ca and need a place for the nite or 3 we have pasture will hold 3 42 footers no problem.We would love to have you guys stop by. Ojai is very quaint.Used to be a cow town Lotta cowboys and ranches Now movie stars.Guess could be worse We hope to be out of here by dec jan .Thank you so much .and keep up the great work .We look forward to meeting you and your husband Paul Thanx again Joel and Rebecca
Congrats on your up-coming fulltiming and cheers very much for the offer to stay with you! Hubby likes to surf, but I have to admit not me. He did do alot of surfing in San Diego, and we’ve seen folks out surfing off and on along the Oregon coast. DO let us know if we get close and can meet-up, and I will keep you in mind if we pass by your neck of the woods before Dec.
Nina
These are the hikes and waterfalls we missed. Your pics are great capture as always.
I’ve heard of the downward facing dog pose in yoga, but that’s the first time I’ve seen the side-lying cat pose ever performed! Well done Taggart!
Hehehe..yeah, I think I’m going to name it lazy cat yoga. It’s the pose everyone can enjoy.
Nina
I’m finally getting caught up with all my posts after being sans internet connectivity. It was great fun spending time once again with you and Paul and getting to meet Alex and Ellen. Thanks for the tips. Terry has already ordered a new antennae so hopefully I will stay connected in the future. I still haven’t quite figured out how the boys missed you girls on the mountain but wish I would have had a camera in my hands when we saw Paul and he realized you weren’t back in camp with us (lol)! See you down the road. 🙂