Paulina Peak in Newberry Crater Provides Great Views

We have hiked Paulina Peak a number of times over several years, but haven't had the opportunity to do so this year until last Saturday, June 10, 2023. After a long winter with a lot of snowfall later in the season, access to higher elevations has been limited. However, the road to Paulina Peak provided us who hiked or mountain biked a chance to climb to almost 8000 feet and experience the beautiful views available from the top. 

The road to Paulina Peak climbs 1600 feet over 3.75 miles, slightly longer than the trail, but easier to travel on, especially with snow on the trail and no motorized vehicles allowed to drive the road yet. While people were entering Newberry Volcanic National Monument and driving to Paulina and Eastlake, we saw no other hikers on the road to the Peak while we were there. Rather, only one mountain biker passed us during our hike and we chatted for a bit at the viewpoint at the top before he headed down. All in all, it was a wonderful day for a great hike in Central Oregon.

Tumalo Mountain Trail Covered With Snow

We typically hike Tumalo Mountain once a year - usually late spring/early summer once the snow melts. However, we have been anxious to get back into the Cascades after a winter of hiking in the High Desert and the opportunity to tackle Tumalo Mountain arose last Saturday. Tumalo Mountain, just north east of Mt. Bachelor, has a height of 7,779 feet. The hike up to its peak climbs over 1400 feet in two miles and is considered difficult due to its steepness.  However, we have never attempted this hike with snow on the ground and found the trail challenging. The snow drifts were from 3 to 6 feet, although the snow was compacted and we managed with a GPS to somewhat follow the trail to the summit using trekking poles and micro spikes. Once reaching the summit, the views towards Mt Bachelor and towards the Three Sisters and Broken Top were outstanding. After enjoying the views and a quick lunch, the return trip had additional challenges as the snow softened with the warm weather. All in all, we saw only one other hiking couple and a pair of paragliders jumping from the peak on our return. It will be awhile before the snow fully melts in the Cascades after the winter storms. But in the meantime, we will take advantage of any hike we can access as soon as it becomes passible. 

Chush Falls is Snow Free and Ready for Hikers

We have hiked Chush Falls several times, usually during the fall or winter with snow and ice. However, this Memorial Day weekend we elected to take the hike in the Three Sisters National Wilderness snow free. Unlike earlier hikes, many of the recently downed trees from the 2017 Milli Fire had been cut which enabled us to more easily hike the first two miles. However, the last quarter to half mile to the viewpoint had yet to receive this attention and scrambling over and under downed trees can always create challenges. The viewpoint overlooking Chush Falls is fairly obstructed by trees, so we typically take the very steep path down to the base of the falls, a path which should only be taken by people who are fit enough to make it both down and up.  We had never seen  the 60 foot Chush Falls as full as it was with the snow runoff from our wet winter really impacting the rivers and streams. Unlike winter time, if we got close to the falls, we would have been quite wet so we stayed a bit back and enjoyed the view from a distance.  

After clambering back up to the viewpoint, we decided to extend the hike to Upper Chush Falls, having never gone past Lower Chush Falls during our previous winter hikes. No attempt had been made to clear any downed trees, so hiking with GPS was very helpful since we often had to leave the path to maneuver around large fallen trees. It wasn't far past Lower Chush Falls that we reached the first lovely waterfall, the Cascades. Located on Whychus Creek just above the confluence with Park Creek, the Cascades is viewable just from the trail, without an easy way to get closer. Continuing past the Cascades, within a half mile we were surprised to see the spectacular, 200 foot Upper Chush Falls. For those of us familiar with Central Oregon waterfalls, Bend's popular Tumalo Falls is 97 feet. We didn't expect to see such a beautiful, towering waterfall. Following a social trail, we attempted to find a great viewpoint, but ended up on a steep ledge which felt a bit perilous, so we backtracked down to the base of the falls, getting as close as the vegetation would allow.  All in all, we were very happy with our decision to hike the extra distance to experience all 3 waterfalls. Per GPS, we traveled a total of 6.25 miles with 950 feet of elevation gain (more than most trails note due to our steep side trips). 

Bend Home Sales Take a Downward Turn

The Bend real estate market has been on a roller coaster over the past few years. The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a massive boom in Bend single family home sales, resulting in multiple offers, dramatic price increases, and limited inventory.  However, since the peak in home prices the summer of 2022, home prices and home sales have dropped, inventory levels, days on market and interest rates have risen while new homes hitting the market are significantly down.  Many Bend homebuyers cannot find property that meets their needs. While more homes are on the market, the numbers are still not at balanced levels with less than 2 months of inventory. If we throw into the mix the shifting mortgage interest rat...

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Bend Home Buyers and Bend Home Sellers Have a Different Perspective

After months of seeing record breaking prices where multiple offers, bidding wars, and buyer panic was the norm, we are finally seeing this historic balance between buyers and sellers start to reverse both nationally and in our Bend Real Estate market. The major reason for this… Buyers have simply had enough! Although those saying it's a good time to sell reached another record high according to a recent Fannie Mae survey, home sellers saying it's a good time to buy also reached an all-time low. We are certainly seeing this trend locally as well with an end to the recent "panic" buying and even a lot of "price improvements" as buyers are no longer willing to pay thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars over asking price.

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