The BulleTin • Friday, July 30, 2021 B9
East Lake
Continued from B1
That also meant no S’mores,
but we got over that mild dis-
appointment, stayed warm our
first night even without a fire
and set off on adventures the
next morning.
If you’re looking for a variety
of adventure in Central Oregon,
East Lake and the surround-
ing Newberry Rim offer plenty.
First and foremost, East Lake is
a fishing lake. Fly and spin an-
glers both crowd the lake for a
chance at a variety of species,
including rainbow trout, brown
trout and kokanee.
East Lake is also an ideal
spot for paddling and moun-
tain biking.
We set out from our camp-
site early in the morning on
a tandem kayak, hugging the
north end of the lake along
towering rock walls. A great
blue heron on the shore
watched us suspiciously as we
floated by, then took off in
flight in search of fish.
On the west end of East Lake,
we explored the clear, light-
green water and saw three rain-
bow trout swimming nearby.
We continued to follow
the shoreline as we rounded
the south end of the lake and
watched an osprey fly over-
head, occasionally making a
dive for a fish.
According to my Garmin
watch, by the time we arrived
back at the campsite we had
paddled about 5 miles in 2 1/2
hours.
The next day, we decided
to mountain bike part of the
Newberry Crater Rim Loop
Trail, which is 20 miles long
and circles the entire caldera.
I drove to the summit of
7,987-foot Paulina Peak with
the bikes on the rack. After
soaking in the dramatic views
from the summit, we biked
down to the start of the Crater
Rim Trail, about 500 vertical
feet below the summit. The
loop, best ridden counterclock-
wise, ends at Paulina Lake Re-
sort.
The ride offers majestic
views of the ancient Newberry
caldera, 17 square miles and
1,000 feet deep in most places.
Sitting in the caldera are both
Mark Morical/Bulletin photos
Paulina and East lakes and sev-
eral lava beds.
Mason and I knew that
neither of us had the energy
to ride the entire loop, so we
opted for an out-and-back ride
of about 8 miles.
The first part of the trail is
rocky and a bit technical, and it
climbs eastward along a ridge-
line just south of the lakes. Be-
low us was Big Obsidian Flow,
a huge mass of gray lava rock
formed about 1,400 years ago
when, according to informa-
tional material provided by the
U.S. Forest Service, the Paulina
Lake ash flow spread from near
the south caldera wall to Pau-
lina Lake.
Eventually the riding sur-
face turned from dirt to pum-
ABOVE: Kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding are popular on East
Lake. LEFT: A mountain biker rides the Newberry Crater Rim Loop trail
just above the Big Obsidian Flow.
ice as we advanced along the
trail and began descending the
ridge. The loose terrain felt al-
most like popcorn as our tires
dug into the light gravel. One
small lapse in concentration
and the uneven, unpredictable
pumice would make us pay.
About 1,600 years ago, one
of the Newberry Volcano’s
many eruptions produced the
Newberry pumice-fall deposit,
which blanketed the east flank
of the volcano with the pumice
there today, according to the
Forest Service.
After 4 miles, we turned
around to climb back along
the rim toward Paulina Peak.
Looking south we could see
numerous buttes, and even
Fort Rock, appearing like a
ship floating in a haze of wild-
fire smoke from numerous
fires to the south.
The climb back was some-
what grueling, especially the
last 500 feet up the gravel road
to the summit. The 8-mile ride
took about 1.5 hours.
The entire 20-mile loop is
aerobically strenuous and tech-
nically intermediate — typi-
cally requiring about three to
five hours.
Back atop Paulina Peak, we
once again took in the hazy
panoramic views of the cal-
dera, the blue lakes and the
Cascade Range before loading
up the bikes and driving back
home to Bend.
e
Reporter: 541-383-0318,
mmorical@bendbulletin.com
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