Youth rock climbers from Bend Endurance Academy (BEA) took their skills to the national level this past weekend, participating in the USA Climbing Youth Bouldering National Championships held in Madison, Wis. Leah Pfeiffer, 14, Brady Pfeiffer, 12, and Mira Capicchioni, 10, all representing the Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Team, competed in the three-day bouldering event […]
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Natural World
Robin red breast
The American Robin is one of the most common native birds found throughout Central Oregon and it's usually the first on the list for anyone who develops an interest in birds, whether age six or 96. Robins are everywhere, but there’s more to a robin than meets the eye. The robins seen here in winter […]
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Go Here 2/10-2/17
Bald Eagles and More The Children’s Forest of Central Oregon is offering an array of activities for children and their families this winter. One program is an annual Eagle Watch Celebration at Round Butte Overlook Park in Culver, Feb. 27-28. The Children’s Forest of Central Oregon provides a network of outdoor places and programs dedicated […]
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Oceanfront Cinema
Pacific Reef Hotel debuts outdoor theater
The Pacific Reef Hotel in Gold Beach, Oregon, billboards its new oceanfront outdoor theater as state-of-the-art. Viewers might label it using many other superlatives. It is another first for Oregon: the hotel industry’s first oceanfront outdoor theater. The Pacific Reef Adventure Theater is a smart-technology glass screen measuring 33 feet wide and 12 feet high. […]
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Friends of the Central Cascades Wilderness
Volunteer group seeks to protect the backcountry
Every week, Molly Johnson posts at least one hiking trip to the Bend Adventure Group’s online Meetup page. The trips are typically recreational, but she also leads work parties into the wilderness to install trail signs, clean backcountry camp sites, and, unfortunately, pick up human and dog waste along the trails. Johnson moved to Bend […]
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Go Here 10/21-10/28
High Desert Tree Peeping Central Oregon isn’t renowned for fall foliage, but it should be. True, we’re lacking in the big hardwood giants that makes going to New England in the fall an item on many a bucket list, but we don’t suffer a lack of autumn awesomeness around these parts either. Shevlin Park This […]
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Lessons From the Land
Coalition fights to save outdoor school for Oregon students
Two years ago, just one quarter of Bend-La Pine students got to attend outdoor school. By the end of the 2015-2016 school year, every student will have that opportunity. And advocates with the Oregon Outdoor Education Coalition are hoping to build on that success and expand access for students across Central Oregon and the state […]
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Death on the Highway
Speed kills wildlife, and people too
Back in the early ’60s I began placing U.S. Fish and Wildlife #9 bands on the legs of golden eagle nestlings. I had been climbing into-and-out-of eagle nests in Deschutes, Lake, and Jefferson counties from about 1953, trying to learn more about their diet, territory, mortality, and natural history. I found nestlings and adults shot […]
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Standing on the Edge
Ski BASE jumper Matthias Giraud on taking risks
Matthias Giraud thrives on being the first to conquer an adventure. His first first was boosting off of Mt. Hood’s Mississippi Head. For some, such a feat would be the culmination of a life of daring. For Giraud, it was just the beginning. “The next thing I knew, I was getting calls from CNN and […]
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DO Go Chasing Waterfalls!
Despite the disappointing snowpack across the state, sunny skies and warm spring temperatures mean it’s waterfall season in Oregon. Here are three worth leaving the county for. White River Falls State Park This park contains at least three of my favorite features: huge geologic landforms, a series of cascading whitewater falls, and the physical remains […]