One of my favorite parts of our trip to Bend, Oregon last August was this hike to Proxy Falls. Not only was the hike amazing, but the whole journey there was such a surprise…and I love being surprised on a vacation!

The biggest surprise was going over the mountain only to find it was all lava beds for miles. I had no idea! It was completely amazing. Then, over the summit or ridge it was nothing but lush trees as we twisted our way through the windy road. The hike, though, was mixed with lava rocks as well, but the environment was mainly trees. Beautiful.

We’d gotten to the trail parking lot and we were the only ones there for a few minutes until another couple arrived. We chatted with them at how we couldn’t believe we were the only ones! Early for the win! And that’s not even as early as I like to hike either. The journey there took longer than we thought, especially because we stopped at the ‘observatory’ in the lava rock area.

The other big surprise was that there was no outlet for this falls. All that water collected into a pool. The lava rock in the pool is porous and and it drains below where it follows an underground stream and emerges a few miles away. It was absolutely fascinating!

 

I used Brooklyn to create my title and stamped it with Ali Edwards’ Willamette ink. Ya, like I would use any other green for an Oregon-based page. (If you don’t know, there’s the Willamette Valley in Oregon. :) )

I also printed a subtitle obtained from the trailhead map (shown below).

 

 

To finish it, I added a little ‘fern’ touch with a stamp from Nature Lover and topped it with a date strip using my new favorite 1 Canoe 2 date stamp. swoon.

And I just have to add that the map at the trailhead for Proxy Falls is the best map ever. I will add this photo to a page in my travelers notebook eventually, but for now…. :)