Summer Land | Bend Oregon | Jared Withrow

Hello, everyone! 

My name is Jared and this is probably the first blog post I’ve written that will be seen by more than 5 people… and the first time I’ve done any thing like this in many years.  It feels good to look through photos and tell a story of my home for 25 years and share with you a few places that I’ve held close!  

Currently I live in a town called Bend (population 80,000) and is one of the most desirable places to live in the Pacific Northwest.  Within 30 minutes of downtown, we have six months of skiing available, mountain biking for the other six months, and hiking year round for anyone that wants to find themselves lost in the wonder of God’s green earth.  The photos I’ve chosen to share highlight places I hold most dear.  I hope you enjoy them!

  ^^Santiam Pass

Anyone driving to Central Oregon has seen the wonderful changes in landscape that the Santiam Pass has to offer.  It transitions from lush valley plantlife with lots of green leafy trees to thick evergreens growing hundreds of feet tall.  Away from the city lights, the summit of the Santiam Pass is a great place to photograph the night sky.  

 ^^Smith Rock  

For many, this is a place to find some of the best rock climbing in the world.  Thousands of routes call many more thousands every year to climb the ancient volcanic rock.  Besides climbing it is one of the most photographed places in Oregon and only a short drive from Bend.  If I ever have company visiting from out of town I will almost always take them to see this amazing place! It’s the icon of Central Oregon if there was one. 

^^Backporch Coffee Roasters

 

So maybe you need a weekend from your weekend outside… Backporch is without a doubt the best purveyor of specialty coffee I have ever had.  Dave, the owner, travels to farms all over the world to harvest coffee with them and bring home a crop to roast here in Bend!  I could talk forever about how wonderful everyone is that works there and the tight knit community that lives there.  

 ^^Three Sisters

  So if you can’t tell already… I love the mountains.  These are the Three Sisters.  Their names are Faith, Hope, and Love.  But the greatest is love right?  Correct!!  The South Sister is the highest of them all and I just had the joy of climbing it last weekend with a good friend.  They all stand at around 10,000 feet and on most days can be seen from any part of town!  

 ^^Tumalo Falls

Are you cold yet? This majestic waterfall froze this winter and a few of us were able to climb it before it warmed up.  I love this place and all the waterfalls that are in the area.  Definitely a classic.  Winter or summer, it is always one of the best hikes around! 

 Deschutes River Trail & Downtown Bend

Maybe one day you just found yourself downtown and wanted to go for a walk.  15 minutes? There’s a path for that.  15 miles?  There’s a trail for that!  The River Trail is one for long conversations with friends and walking the dog.  EVERYONE has a dog in Bend, except me… but I love them all!

A few more…

^^ Sometimes its too warm outside to do anything but go caving! There are 5 caves right outside of town that are such a great way to have fun and beat the heat! 

^^ The Deschutes River Trail as you leave town! So much contrast and beautiful colors in the fall! 

  ^^Crater Lake in the winter.  It used to be a huge volcano but exploded and left a lake behind! 

 ^^ The Painted Hills look like Mars…

I’ve been told that I try to sell this place off as the best place on earth all the time… but honestly it never feels like I’m trying!  Almost every week there is something else that happens to make me appreciate it more.  If you have any sort of itch for adventure this place will act like Miracle-Grow and you might suddenly realize that you crave the sun and outdoors more than ever!  Oh and another thing I forgot to mention is that the Les Schwab Amphitheater brings in many concerts for the summer such as The National, MGMT, or Jack Johnson!  

 I hope you have enjoyed this tour of Bend!  Many thanks to Abbey for the invitation to participate in her Summer Land Project!  It's a great idea and I can't wait to see what others end up sharing! 

***(abbey now!) thanks so much jared for kicking off the project so well! your corner of the world is "pretty neat." (wink wink!) who wants to visit now!? i think i'll start planning my trip, its like a calender... 

i can't wait for the rest of the places we all visit together.  

all photos and content by jared withrow