This summer, intrepid explorers can add one more environment to their local bucket list: Bend’s underground. Wanderlust Tours is offering lava tube cave tours, taking visitors deep beneath the high desert to explore a cavernous world. Tourists can visit Skeleton Cave or Boyd Cave, two distinct caverns that exemplify the common features of lava caves. […]
outdoors
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Quite Possibly the Creepiest Bug You’ve Ever Seen
Right here in our very own backyard —quite literally—is the strangest insect we will ever see: The Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus fuscus). However, to begin with, it’s not a cricket, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Jerusalem. (How it got that name is as baffling as how it got here.) It really belongs in a […]
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Go Here 7/20-7/27
Prineville Bike Park Kick up the dirt in Prineville! After a combined three years of planning and construction, Prineville Bike Park officially opened this past Saturday, July 16. The bike park is the first of its kind in Central Oregon and was designed to be versatile for all types of bikes and all skill levels. […]
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The Plight of the Western Pond Turtle
In this helter-skelter age it comes as a shock (to me) when suddenly someone says, “Hey, when was the last time you saw, this—or that—animal?” And that was the case when my herpetologist pal, Jesse Short from Central Oregon Community College, sent me photos of a western pond turtle, all excited about spotting it on […]
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Rattlesnakes: Born to do Battle?
In our travels assisting the Oregon Eagle Foundation to survey Central Oregon for active Golden Eagle breeding territories, my wife, Sue and I come across a wonderful variety of reptiles. When the days are nice and warm, just about all the lizards that live in the Great Sandy Desert dash across the road ahead of […]
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Go Here 7/13-7/20
Mt. Bachelor Bike Park The Mt. Bachelor Bike Park is now open for the summer. Mountain bikers can explore trails from the top of Pine Marten, including Lava Flow, Cone Run and lower Rattle Snake. Chairlifts open daily at 11am, closing at 5pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends. Lift ticket prices vary based on […]
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Let’s Pokémon Go for a Walk
Exploring Bend through new mobile game
I made my first important life decision when I was six years old: I choose Squirtle as my starter. This decision was made on a brand new GameBoy Color, and motivated by a desire to be competitive against my brother’s Charmander. A lot of people will comprehend those statements, but for the confused and uninitiated, […]
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Go Here 7/6-7/13
Lavender In Bloom Central Oregon’s high desert environment allows for the cultivation of some of the most beautiful and unique floral life in the world. Budding and seasoned florists can get a dose of that wildlife at Tumalo Lavender Farm. The farm grows the calming, purple flower, which reaches full bloom in mid-July. Visitors can […]
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Enduring the High Cascades
Riders compete to finish 100-mile bike race
With its mix of mountainous terrain and high desert flatlands, Bend is a mountain biker’s paradise. The trails here offer a variety of challenges and sights, and their abundance makes it easy for riders to spend at least a week exploring all of them. Or, they can compete in The High Cascades 100 and see […]
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Mercury in Our Air, Water, Soil and Fish
In April of this year the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) issued a warning about consuming too many bass found to be contaminated with excessive amounts of mercury in fish tissue sampled from a number of water bodies across the state. Dave Farrer, Ph.D., toxicologist in the Environmental Public Health Section at the OHA Public Health […]