SPORTS PULLOUT & CLASSIFIEDS INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 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,
fishing holes, water flows, camping spots, parks
and more — as well as features from outdoor
writers and field experts.
What could possibly
be a more classic
Father’s Day outing?
Take dad
fishing
BY MAKENZIE WHITTLE
The Bulletin
I
f you’re lucky enough to still have
your dad or another father figure in
your life, take him fishing once in a
while — if that’s what he’s into, of course.
My dad, Mike Whittle,
taught me to fish when I
was old enough to hold
my Mickey Mouse fishing
pole, but still young
enough to not realize
that there was no hook at
FISHING
See a break-
down of fishing
spots around
Central Oregon,
B10
the end of the line (I kept
catching my parents with it). My sister and
I grew up learning to cast, tie the improved
clinch knot and the most important lesson:
Even if you don’t catch anything, a day
spent fishing is still a good day.
For the past few Father’s Days, we’ve
taken him out for a whole day of fishing,
just the three of us. We rarely catch
anything, but floating in our kayaks on
one of our favorite lakes while quietly
chatting is still worth the smell of
Power Bait and worm guts that lingers on
our fingers by the end of it.
This year, Dad and I took the trip a little
early and went bank fishing at Lava Lake
along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, a
lake that we’ve frequented countless times
Makenzie Whittle/The Bulletin
since moving to the area in 1990.
Mike Whittle gathers supplies from his tackle box while preparing to fish at Lava Lake.
See Fishing / B10
La Pine State Park is an easy
ride for new mountain bikers
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
Mountain biking does not
have to be all about gut-bust-
ing climbs, jump-filled de-
scents and technical features.
Sometimes we just want
to take a nice, easy bike ride
through a pretty place on a
sunny day.
La Pine State Park is the
ideal spot for that.
While mountain bike trails
in Central Oregon seem to
be increasingly geared to-
ward advanced rid-
nontechnical nature
ers who want to take
of the High Desert
on jumps and more
trails makes them
challenging terrain,
perfect for family
the trails at La Pine
bike rides with the
State Park are ideal
kids or for older rid-
TRAILS
for beginners and
ers looking to log a
few miles on easier terrain.
families or those just looking
Most of the trails are well-
for a mellow ride.
signed and designed in short
The 2,000-acre park in
loops that, when combined,
southwest Deschutes County
allow a biker to experience
includes about 14 miles of
much of the park on a ride of
mostly singletrack trails that
just two or three hours.
are shared by hikers, bikers
and equestrians. The flat,
See La Pine / B9
Bend’s Mason
Morical, 13,
rides his
mountain
bike along
the crys-
tal-clear Fall
River in La
Pine State
Park on
Saturday.
Mark Morical/
The Bulletin