I’m the very last person you’d expect to see at a monster truck show. I didn’t learn how to drive a car until I was 22 years old and seeing a fender bender or a tow-truck on the road can throw me into a full-on panic. And, in the two years that I lived in […]
Outside
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Go Here 3/18-3/25
With Great Gifts Come Great Vacation Itineraries
Spring has officially sprung in the Cascades and it’s time to stop looking mournfully at those snowshoes and Nordic skis, dust off your hiking boots, and hit the trail. As we give thanks for seasonally appropriate activities, let’s consider for a moment how fortunate we are to live in this majestic place. Should this reflection […]
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Get The Lead Out
Time to remove lead from hunting ammo
During a recent program at McMenamin’s in Bend, U.S. Geological Survey biologist and researcher Garth Herring presented the work he’s doing on the issue of lead in the tissue of wildlife, specifically big game, ground squirrels and raptors. Herring pointed out that the USGS research, plus other federal government and state agencies and private conservation […]
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Nicolas Yopp Retires
After a disappointing crash, he will miss this year’s Deaflympics
It was Friday the 13th after all. Nicolas Yopp was freeriding off Outback Chair at Mt. Bachelor when an unexpected bump threw him just slightly off balance. A skier since as long as he could walk, Yopp is a championship racer and not easily thrown. But he was railing a GS turn at 60 miles […]
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Get Your Rocks Off
We can thank Central Oregon’s tumultuous volcanic history for most of the things we all love most about living here: the outdoor recreation, the beauty, and probably even the beer if you want to talk hydrology (but you probably don’t, so…). One more gift bestowed upon us by virtue of tectonic mayhem? Rocks! Central Oregon […]
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Go Here 3/5-3/11
Long-distance hikes (that aren’t the PCT)
Since the deservedly successful novel Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, was published and adapted to the big screen, thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail has moved to the top of every Tom, Dick, and Sally’s bucket list. For those of us interested in the challenge and fulfillment a thru-hike offers, but seeking less of a time commitment […]
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Need a Little Alone Time?
The “new” Oregon Desert Trail offers an 800-mile trek through solitude
The difference between the Pacific Crest Trail and the Oregon Desert Trail, explains Shane Von Schlemp who has walked both, is a lot of “space-out time.” He goes on to explain that the famous PCT is well-marked—and increasingly well-trodden—while ODT is, at best, a faint trail that meanders through some of Oregon’s most hard-scrabbled and […]
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Boulder Bash Blows Up
Bend Rock Gym climbing competition goes big, and goes home!
For the past five years, the Bend Rock Gym has been hosting a competitive bouldering series called “Boulder Bashes.” But, these events have largely been self-contained to the climbers there to show off their skills. That is, until last weekend. On Saturday, the Bend Rock Gym hosted its final “Boulder Bash” of the season—and, Bend’s […]
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Ghost Towns
Growing up in the west, few things set my childhood imagination on fire like the dilapidated remains of once-booming frontier towns. As it turns out, they have that same effect on my somewhere-north-of-thirtysomething imagination as well. I was delighted to discover a slew of ghost towns within daytrip distance of Bend. This six-hour loop takes […]
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Fight Night
Big time boxing hits Central Oregon
Who doesn’t like a Cinderella story? The come-from-behind victory; the beaten and bruised opponent; hurt, written off, only to muster the strength for a final stand (and “final countdown”) and beat the unassuming favorite? It’s the type of story boxing lore is built on (see, Rocky, the first one, the Academy Award winner), and now […]