Timberline to Lake Simtustus

After working a graveyard shift I ran by the house and picked up my girlfriend and we headed up to our property to watch ground be broken for our house.



From Woodland we headed up to Timberline Lodge. From Government camp we took NF 2645 to the lodge which criss-crosses numerous ski runs.



I took the opportunity at Timberline to do something that's been long over due.



All that proposing made me hungry so we stopped into Charlies for a drink and a wonderful burger. After lunch we drove the Old Barlow Road, The route from the 35 is closed due to bridge work so we had to go to to the 43. Then we began our search for the perfect camp site which took us past clear lake and little crater lake.



Finally we found a site on Timothy Lake



After breakfast we headed south down the 42 to the 4260 which took us into the Warm springs reservation. Eventually this led us back to the 42 to the 110. On the 110 somehow I managed to get a whole in a sidewall. Just so happened that where I stopped to change the tire was in the middle of a bee swarm. so a 15 minute tire change took 45 minutes of dodging bees. We even had to tie the garbage bag to the back because it was full of bees. Once we were back on the road we fallowed the 110 to the 4220. This took us by Olallie Lake as well as numerous smaller lakes and streams.





Past Olallie lake The 4220 gets pretty rough, and was also one of the more scenic roads we drove on our trip.

From the 4220 we hopped on the 46 which took us into the Willamette National Forest.



We took the 46 down to Detroit lake where we camped. The next morning we Ate at Cedars, then refilled fuel, ice and beer in Detroit.

From Detroit lake we proceded down the 22 then headed south on the 2236 (cooper spur road) This is an area open to atv's, as was most of the Willamette National forest that we drove through. The 2236 has beautiful views of mt Jefferson. The smoke was pretty thick everywhere we went from all the wild fires.





After Crossing the 11 the 2236 became the 1162.

Tule Lake



After popping out on the 22 we headed west on highway 20 for about a mile to the 2676. I had planed on taking the 866 across Santiam Pass. However the 866 has been closed to motorized vehicles so we after taking a couple dead ends we took the 732 if I remember right. There were numerous atv trails for quads and dirt bikes. After a couple miles I ran into this sign.



Turns out that we had entered the Santiam Recreation area.The 42 took us to the 810 and put us back on track into the Deschutes National Forest.





Upon entering the Deschutes the 810 became the 500. we took the 600 towards a group of small lakes for a place to eat lunch, T this point the 13 year old map of the Deschutes showed its age.



After giving up on that we found our way back to the 500 and with Lightning in the distance we continued on the Santiam Wagon Trail.





We took the 1028 to the site of the Cache Creek Toll Station. At that point we were in the middle of a thunderstorm. We took the 2061 and crossed highway 20 onto the 14 to Camp Sherman. Then we took the 1126 to the 11 and headed north towards Lake Billy Chinook and the Crooked River National Grasslands. The 11 was the most wash-boarded road that we drove the whole trip, but the scenery was worth it. I didn't get very good pictures because we were dodging thunderstorms.

From The 1170 we took Montgomery Road to Grand View RD. At that point we were in the National Grasslands. I honestly am not Sure how I ended up where we did. The road names didn't correspond with the map, nor the GPS.

But here are some pictures none the less.









After a few more thunderstorms we decided to get a hotel instead of camp for the night.





After a night enjoying the pool and some karaokee we headed to Lake Simtustus. We camped at Indian Park, a small camp ground on the Warm Springs side of the lake. The way there was very scenic.









The next day we rented a boat and saw some horses.



On our way home we stopped a Charlies in government camp again for a wonderful lunch. and saw this sweet Comanche



Over lunch we decided to go to the beach and extend our trip for one more night.



Over all we had a great time. I wish we had more time to head further south.

and a couple extra pics

looks like quite the trip ben! thanks for sharing. and CONGRADULATIONS! assuming she said yes i know there is a nice warming hut neer warmsprings, ive been thinking about tooling around in this area for a while now, seems the snow is what draws me up there.

Bronze.

Congratulations on the new status of Fiancee...It looks like you had a great trip. I was down near the Detroit lake area camping over the weekend on some family land on the Santiam river, after seeing your pictures, I want to plan a camping trip and explore the area around there a little more.

Awesome trip, really awesome! Congratulations!

Do you know what peak this is?

No clue it was just south of the Santiam wagon train

Looks pretty epic!