B10 The BulleTin • Friday, March 12, 2021
TOP PICKS
WHERE TO EXPLORE
High Desert destinations
Makenzie Whittle/Bulletin file photo
The Christmas Valley Sand Dunes as a rainstorm approaches.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Book
Continued from B1
Alberg’s day job is as the se-
nior brand communications
manager for Hydro Flask,
and his wife Rae Alberg is the
founder and teacher at Bend
Forest School, a nature immer-
sion and early education pro-
gram. They have two children:
a son Loren, 5, and daughter
Birdie, 4.
“I personally love just the
rhyme and the lilt of Marga-
ret Wise Brown’s original text,”
Lucas Alberg said of “Good-
night Moon.” “And being an
outdoorsman and just loving
the outdoors, and working
in the outdoor industry, too
… we’re just an outdoor fam-
ily. So I kind of wanted to pay
tribute I guess to that original
book, but through the vein
of the outdoors. That was the
goal. There’s no pretending it’s
not inspired by that book. It’s
very analogous in cadence and
such to that book, and that was
intentional just because I think
that book is so wonderful. But
I did want to put an outdoor
spin on it.”
Alberg — who was born and
raised in Kansas and has lived
in Bend for the past 11 years
and the Pacific Northwest for
more than 20 years — said he
and his family have camped
frequently over the past year
during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, often camping locally
at dispersed areas throughout
the Deschutes National Forest,
including forest roads near the
Metolius River.
“My kids love camping,” Al-
berg said. “This past year with
COVID, we camped more and
more. That was one silver lin-
ing. We camped more locally,
just dispersed camping back
on forest roads and such.”
Marie Myers said the book
is ideal to bring on camping
trips.
“That would be really fun to
be reading this story to your
kids in your tent or camper as
you’re going to sleep,” she said.
Aside from providing some
nighttime reading on camp-
ing trips or just at home, Al-
berg wanted to pay tribute to
“Goodnight Moon,” one of the
first books he and Rae read to
their children.
“There’s a ton of ‘Good-
night’ spinoff books, but one
thing I realized was that none
of them really did pay trib-
ute or were an homage as far
as the text,” Alberg said. “For
me, that was one thing I really
wanted to do. It’s inspired by
that classic book, but it also
pays tribute to it.”
When Alberg received his
advance copy of “Goodnight
Great Outdoors,” Loren, who
is in kindergarten and just get-
ting started in reading, read
his father’s name on the cover.
“That was a pretty cool mo-
ment,” Alberg said.
After writing the book and
li erg approached Marie Myers
for the illustrations. Born and
raised in Medford, Myers, 37,
has lived in Bend for six years
and paints original artwork
and designs her own line of
greeting cards, fine art prints
and calendars. An avid trail
runner like Alberg, she owned
his trail running book and had
worked with him previously
on a project for Hydro Flask.
“I read his manuscript,”
said Marie Myers. “I just re-
ally loved the cadence and the
word choice. I thought it was
really pretty.”
And she was extra moti-
vated by the outdoors angle,
as her favorite projects are in-
spired by a connection to na-
ture.
“That was the most exciting
part,” Marie Myers said. “It was
a project completely aligned
with my personal work and
what I enjoy most. It felt natu-
ral. It was a really easy project
to say yes to.”
Alberg’s process for writ-
ing “Goodnight Great Out-
doors” was in stark contrast to
his process for writing “Trail
Running Bend and Central
Oregon.” Obviously, they are
much different books, but the
trail running book took years
— researching, running and
writing. The children’s book?
Alberg said he wrote it in just a
few hours.
“I whipped it out in an eve-
ning in all honesty, and there
was very little refinement or
editing,” Alberg said. “And
then I pitched it and they were
like, ‘Yeah, this is great.’ It’s
funny how that works. You
work and work and work on
something and don’t get any
bites. Then something else you
don’t work on as much, people
love it.”
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0318,
mmorical@bendbulletin.com
Christmas Valley Sand Dunes — The sand dunes about 20 miles
east of the town for which they’re named are an off-highway-vehicle
rider’s playground. The constantly shifting dune system here is home
to 11,000 acres of bare dunes open to OHVs. The area is rugged and
doesn’t have trash collection so pack out what you pack in. The dirt
and gravel access roads can be impassable when it’s muddy, so al-
ways travel with caution and stay in designated areas as surrounding
lands are a mix of private property and areas strictly closed to any
motor vehicles.
Flatiron Rock Trail — Winter is a wonderful time to explore the Or-
egon Badlands Wilderness Area just east of Bend. The sandy terrain
hardens up this time of year making a day hike out there a breeze.
Flatiron Rock offers one of the best views in the Badlands of the Cas-
cades to the west while being completely immersed in High Desert
landscapes. Take the Flatiron Rock trailhead for about 2.75 miles to
reach the triangular-shaped rock, from there, you can take the half-
mile trek east to the Castle, another interesting lava rock formation.
Tam-a-lau Trail — The steep hike up the trail at Lake Billy Chinook is
only about 1.5 miles before it levels out on the high plateau above the
lake west of Culver. Any amount of extra energy you spend getting
to the top is worth it for the views that await. It’s another good trail to
take during cooler months as there is little shade. The full there-and-
back-again mileage comes in at 6.5 miles, but there are several spots
along the ridgeline to turn back and cut the journey short. Right now,
hikers will need to park in the Upper Deschutes Day Use Area and walk
back across Jordan Road towards the campground for the trailhead.
— Makenzie Whittle, The Bulletin
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