Crinklys Pacific NW jaunt (5/29-6/20/2021) Day 2 Hiking in the snow(5/30)

Wake up and do yoga (Russell joins without a mat which is impressive) Have to walk around to eventually find a bathroom thats open (4 bathrooms for the whole place). Have breakfast at the hostel but theres no honey so having oatmeal without sweetener which isnt that great. We head out to explore cascade lakes as the road was just cleared and opened for the summer (closed for winter cause of snow fall). The drive up is beautiful with snow all over the place. People are still skiing (its almost June). 

This is memorial day weekend; either way, tis beautiful.

Playing with a half frozen lake. Recipe for disaster.

Nice shallow lake to wade through.

Thats me standing not far from a boat hahah

Just 2 dudes hanging out in the mountains

Some of the snow we were hiking through.

Hard to believe that this and the picture before were taken same day not too far from each other.

Launching boats to go enjoy the day

2 peaks... more mountains more beauty.

Little diner action to refuel from the morning jaunt.

Waterfall action!!!

Upper lake feeding the waterfall as we look out onto it from the bridge/dam.

Downstream view

Just looking at some waterfalls

Just one of the many black rocks we were walking among.

Surprised there is still snow down here, but alas there we are.

View from the top

Nature uhh finds a way

Another view of the lake

Another view of that boat and just how shallow the water is.

Russ chilling in nature

Is that a third peak? oooo la la

Another view of the lake feeding the waterfall

Loving the contrast in this pic

Really cool to see the obsidian flow from afar how it just wiped out where the trees were.

View from the balcony looking out over the city

Loving the transition of the colors in this flight. 

View from earlier but showing the path we were on (whether we were on the right path or not is another question)

Total view of the obsidian flow

Food accompanying the rainbow flight.

Waterfall falling

Get to a place to hike and go for a nice hike through snow and eventually wind up at a frozen lake which was serene and peaceful, there was one other person up there with us. Eventually get back to the car and keep driving and stop at a few more lakes including Devil's lake which we find a grassy spot and I take my shoes/socks off and wade into the water which is really cold. The lake itself is shall so as I wade out it never gets up to my knee. There are people paddling around in little inflatable boats looking at us like were crazy (maybe they are right? hahah). The scenery as we drive all around is stunning. Get out of the mountains and back to the highway further south of Bend and stop at Gordys diner for a bite before continuing with our day. Theres like 1 main server serving the whole place and hes trying his hardest but hes just understaffed; so we had yet another bad hospitality experience. Food was ok for diner food but they had brunch options which was nice. The icing on the cake came that we were noticing people that came in after us leaving and we still didnt get our food; turns out the guy forgot to put our order in so we were there even longer. Eventually we finish there and head up to Newberry Volcano. The obsidian trail is cool as there are just different black stones all over the place creating a cool view as you walk around. Go see the Paulina falls which are huge and beautifully awesome. Then we go and try and hike the crater trail and get lost a couple times as the markings are not that great. The trail to Paulina peak was closed. Drive back into town and go to Monkless Brewery for dinner but they have a wait so Russ stays there waiting for our table and I go grab groceries down the road. Get back and order some beers/flights (i got the 8 beer flight) while we enjoy the sunset views from the balcony. Dinner was delicious; the place is great and to top it off, the service was pretty decent. Get back to the hostel once were done with dinner and we shower and get ready for bed.