FOUR-PAGE SPORTS PULLOUT INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
THE REGION’S HUB FOR
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Each week in this section, you will find the area’s
most complete guide of what’s open and closed;
outdoor activities and events; top picks of places to
explore; conditions of hiking and biking trails,
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and more — as well as features from outdoor
writers and field experts.
High Desert delight
Otter Bench Trailhead
offers hikers breathtaking
desert scenery along the
Crooked River Gorge
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
CROOKED RIVER RANCH —
irds of prey flew in circles far
below as I walked along the
edge of Central Oregon’s mini
Grand Canyon.
At the bottom of the sheer cliff walls,
hundreds of feet down, the Crooked
River flowed serenely.
The Central Oregon High Desert
offers some memorable locales to hike
during springtime,
and the Crooked
River Gorge is cer-
tainly one of them.
Located just a
few miles west of
the Crooked River
TRAILS
Ranch Golf Course,
the Otter Bench
Trailhead gives hikers, mountain bik-
ers and equestrians access to about
8 miles of trail that highlight the
300-foot-deep, 4-mile-long gorge.
The trails, managed by the Bureau
of Land Management, include newer
sections and some reconstructed paths
that anglers have hiked for decades
to travel down the canyon walls and
reach the river below. The area is best
visited in the spring before daytime
temperatures become uncomfortably
hot in the summer and the trails be-
come dusty.
I arrived at the trailhead Tuesday
morning after about an hour’s drive
from Bend. The crisp, cold morning
would soon give way to desert heat.
I started the hike on the 1.7-mile
Otter Bench Trail, which climbed
gradually along the hillside. After ram-
bling through rolling terrain of juniper
trees and sagebrush, I eventually came
to a cliffside, where surging river rap-
ids flowed far below the towering, rug-
ged canyon.
It seemed impossible to make my
way down to the river, but the switch-
backing Pink Trail, three-quarters of a
mile long, makes the journey manage-
able for able-bodied hikers who don’t
mind precipitous, rocky terrain.
When I finally made it down to the
water, I soaked in the solitude and
stark beauty of the canyon.
B
See Otter Bench / B9
Mark Morical/Bulletin photo
The Opal Canyon Trail cuts along the Crook River Gorge.
CENTRAL OREGON TRAIL ALLIANCE
What does a volunteer trail work event look like?
tral Oregon’s mountain
biking trails. There I see
I’m riding my bike on a
multiple trail work events
local trail, and I pass a guy
posted, and they say “no
in a hard hat digging away,
experience required,” so I
surrounded by a cloud of
click “Attend Event,” and I
TRAILS
dust. What is this guy do-
am in!
ing? Looks cool! Where do I sign up?
The meet-up event directs me to
I joined Central Oregon Trail Al- meet at a local trailhead and bring
liance’s meet-up group online. The
my bike. It also tells me to bring
alliance is the local nonprofit that
certain safety gear: long pants,
builds and maintains many of Cen- closed toed shoes, eye wear and
BY EMMY ANDREWS
For The Bulletin
gloves. When I pull up, our crew
leader, Tom, has already set tools
out next to his truck.
Our crew leader’s commitment
to safety is apparent. Although each
person should assess their own
comfort level with attending this or
any event, to me, the event feels low
risk from a C OVID-19 standpoint.
The work is outside, the group is
small and we wear masks and stay
6 feet or more apart throughout.
To comply with U.S. Forest Ser-
vice safety requirements, we wear
hard hats, as well as the other safety
gear we brought. We sign a waiver,
and Tom gives our crew a safety
briefing describing the C OVID-19
protocols we are following, how to
work safely with tools and other
safety tips.
Tom explains the work we are
going to do. He has already placed
flags beside the trail at locations
where drainage could be improved.
We are going to build drains at
these locations. The drains will be
channels that branch off the trail
that will intercept water and snow
melt running down the trail and
divert it off the trail. The drains
will help the trail shed water faster
and better, protecting the trail
tread and minimizing mud and
erosion.
See Volunteer / B10