Sunday we invited Steph and Brittain for dinner cooked over the fire, only our wood burned so quickly there were embers to cook the paella over, so it took longer than planned. In the meantime, a friend from game nights at the church came by with his son. They were meeting friends in Bend for dinner so didn't stay. Before we left for the summer, I had told them they could borrow our kayaks to explore the lake when they came up, but our attire indicates that this was not a welcome offer when they arrived.
Mikkel and his son visiting on a chilly evening
Monday it was back to work at the visitor center. We are becoming more familiar with the building, resources, store inventory, and answering visitor questions. Made a lovely discovery as I put my name tag on my uniform. The company that made the ID is from Attleboro, my childhood hometown. Once know as the Jewelry Capital, most of my family worked in the jewelry industry at some point. I used to think that Balfours was the family shop, since so many members worked there and we went to their family picnics every year.
On Wednesday, I went roving, which involves going out to sites or on trails and interacting with visitors who have questions in the field. I decided to hike the Paulina Lake Loop from Little Crater Day Use area to the hot springs, and back, an easy 5 miles.
Wolf lichen on stump
The flowers were bloomimg everywhere and the wildlife was delightful
Thursday was Matthew's birthday and Steph and Brittain Barnes made a sweet banner and a paper hat for him to wear. On Thursdays Emily, our lone ranger, comes up for the day and up to 4 other volunteers can come up that day to rove, do maintenance chores, and offer programs for visitors. The Barnes bought pies to celebrate the birthday boy and Emily made delicious scones.
The birthday boy
Although the road to Paulina Peak isn't yet open to the public we all drove up there to see the view and get oriented to the site. The peak is about 8000 ft, about 1600 ft above where we are staying.
The Three Sisters and Mount Jefferson
Some of the 400+ cinder cones of Newberry Volcanic Monument
Paulina lake on the left, the Central Pumice Cone with Little Crater in front in the middle, and East Lake to the right
The Big Obsidian Flow,the youngest land in Oregon, flowed 1300 years ago
After our Peak experience, Matthew went to the East Lake hot springs to learn the measuring process. This spot is 130 degrees F at it's source output
A new horror unearthed - Thatching Ants that are highly territorial and aggressive.
Pussypaws
Our former boss at Yaquina Head, Andrew, came up with his wife Tina to visit. We had a lovely dinner at the East Lake Resort, with an incredibly huge and yummy berry cobbler with ice cream for dessert.
Paulina Peak heading "home" from East Lake
Friday morning we met up with Andrew and Tina for a hike around Little Crater before they headed home.
The Big Obsidian Flow
We ended the day with a lovely sunset reflecting off Paulina Peak
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