Cascade Mountains, OR - Aug. 8 - 18, 2010
Wickiup Reservoir
On August 8 we traveled east from Eugene on scenic Route 58 following the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, turned north on the Cascade Lakes Highway past enormous lava flows and arrived at Gull Point Campground on Wickiup Reservoir just behind our friends Sheri and Allen. We located a double campsite and managed to wedge our coaches, cars and boat into the extra-long driveway. Gull Point is a non-hook-up, forest service campground (no water, sewer or electric), so conservation was our mode of operation during our six-day stay.
We had a wonderful time visiting, sharing meals, sitting around the campfire, reading, playing games and doing a bit of fishing. Well, actually, due to limited space in the boat and general lack of interest, Susan didn't fish. While the rest of the party was out in search of its quarry Susan was biking, hiking and sleeping late.
One afternoon Allen hauled our kayak and us up the Deschutes River, the lake's source, and we kayaked about four miles back to Gull Point. We hadn't kayaked for quite some time so it took a while to get coordinated, but once we relaxed we enjoyed the paddle. We were amazed at the numerous very large rainbow and brown trout, and kokonee salmon lying along bottom of the river channel. Considering the abundance of fish, why the three hapless fishermen only caught four fish is beyond this writer's comprehension.
East Lake
At the end of our six days at Wickiup we moved about 35 miles to East Lake for another five days of very unproductive fishing. East and Paulina Lakes located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument Caldera. East Lake at 6,400 feet elevation is fed by snowmelt and underground springs and has no outlet. Both lakes are incredibly beautiful and clear and, an unproven rumor has it, are full of trout.
This is a beautiful area with miles of challenging and easy hikes, good mountain biking opportunities, hot springs, waterfalls and fishing. The owners of the lodge on Paulina Lake told us that folks visit this area in the winter for snowshoeing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.
On August 19th we wished our friends good-bye and safe-journey back to Stockton, CA, while we headed back over the Cascades to Sweet Home.
