buckyball1
New member
...continuing my hiking road trip...so on an "off day" i head down toward Bend, an area i hiked a lot last year ( Black Butte, Black Crater, Tam McArthur Rim, S Sister)..has numerous inexpensive or free, utilitarian USFS and state camping spots
I had done NO research on Smith Rock, a high desert Oregon State Park near Terrebone, north of Bend and assumed it was a nice place for a picnic/lying in the sun with some cool scenery and rocks...how uninformed i was. Smith Rock is the "birthplace" of American sport climbing and a climbing mecca attracting people from all over the world to high quality, high level routes. In Powells (yes Kevin, i always go there
),I later saw multiple route guides for Smith and Smith alone that were 2-3" thick , well over a 1000 routes. Cost to enter park is a well spent $5.
I did an "easy" 4ish mile hike counterclockwise around the Park along the Crooked River and up over a steep ridge "behind" Monkey Face (see below)-a good workout, nothing serious. Unfortunately there were few climbers on the wall as it was 96 degrees and full sun at 4 in the afternoon. I still found a few places to sit and be mesmerized by by people doing "impossible" (to me) stuff.
The pics pretty much speak for themselves
looking NW early in the hike-Crooked River and Smith Rock
typical rock
climbers
Monkey Face, 350' pillar, as unique as i've seen
view from behind Monkey Face
Every corner of the park has views/rocks like this. As a hiker you could easily spend 1/2 day; as a climber perhaps your life.....check it out if you're in Bend
jim
I had done NO research on Smith Rock, a high desert Oregon State Park near Terrebone, north of Bend and assumed it was a nice place for a picnic/lying in the sun with some cool scenery and rocks...how uninformed i was. Smith Rock is the "birthplace" of American sport climbing and a climbing mecca attracting people from all over the world to high quality, high level routes. In Powells (yes Kevin, i always go there
),I later saw multiple route guides for Smith and Smith alone that were 2-3" thick , well over a 1000 routes. Cost to enter park is a well spent $5.I did an "easy" 4ish mile hike counterclockwise around the Park along the Crooked River and up over a steep ridge "behind" Monkey Face (see below)-a good workout, nothing serious. Unfortunately there were few climbers on the wall as it was 96 degrees and full sun at 4 in the afternoon. I still found a few places to sit and be mesmerized by by people doing "impossible" (to me) stuff.
The pics pretty much speak for themselves
looking NW early in the hike-Crooked River and Smith Rock
typical rock
climbers
Monkey Face, 350' pillar, as unique as i've seen
view from behind Monkey Face
Every corner of the park has views/rocks like this. As a hiker you could easily spend 1/2 day; as a climber perhaps your life.....check it out if you're in Bend
jim
