Cougar Reservoir Hwy 126
When full, Cougar Reservoir stretches for 6 miles and covers 1,280 acres. The dam, located at the north end of the reservoir, was completed in 1963. It is the tallest rock-filled dam in Oregon. The view from alongside the reservoir provides outstanding vistas into the French Pete campground to the Three Sisters Wilderness Area which is over 1 million acres. Drive over the dam to access additional campgrounds and boat launches. Read the rest of Cougar Reservoir Hwy 126 »
So many times I just love wandering about to find the wild abandon of nature, to see what I can see and I never know what I will run into so this next little area was nice for me in a moment of rush, rush, rush.
Towering forests of Ponderosa pines, snowy Cascade Mountains, pristine rivers, lakes and streams, sun drenched days and star-filled western nights - this is the special beauty of Sisters, Oregon. Sisters is located in Central Oregon, 16 miles NW of Bend on HWY 20. Once a lumber producing town, Sisters is now known as the Gateway to the Cascades and is unprecedented with its many specialty stores, galleries and sightseeings. 
Suttle Lake Resort is located outside of Sisters Oregon, approximately 30 miles West of Bend on Hwy 20 and is nestled among towering pines and against the lake’s edge. A quiet place for solitude, or the activity minded in a country setting. 
A cascading series of hot soaking pools in a valley of old-growth cedars and Douglas fir. The popularity of Terwilliger Hot Springs is well deserved. The hushed stillness of the old-growth forest surrounds a person’s soul as they hike through the woods or soak in one of the many pools of varying degrees. Terwilliger hot springs has a unique setup for warm water soakers. The main pool, being the top pool is set at the mouth of a shallow cave in which warm water flows out. Crawl up in the cave and you feel cold water dripping from above you. Intense feeling of the combination of hot and cold. 
If you go approximately 45 miles South from Bend on Hwy 97 you will end up in Crescent, take a right onto the Crescent cutoff and follow 12 miles to the stop sign which is Hwy 58, take another right and 9 miles up you will come into the tiny town of Crescent Lake. The town itself consists of a few small stores, places to eat, motels, gas, and the one of the general meeting places called Manley’s. Across from Manley’s is the road to the Crescent Lake Resort. Now while I have never stayed at the resort itself I have done my share of camping on the lake and eating at the resort, as well as much sightseeing. This is a beautiful place. I love it especially in the winter. 
There is this great looking log cabin in LaPine which is the home to one of the three local American Legions. The Legion in LaPine is Post 45. The other two Legions are located in Prineville and Redmond. Most people, when they think of The American Legion, think of it as a members only club that is full of veterans. In one case they would be right, it is full of veterans. Though knowing this post intimately I can say it is more than just about veterans and it is not always a members only club. 
South Twin is home to numerous summer visitors who flock here to picnic (yes, even in the winter), rent boats, swim, fish, hike, camp, run rampant, spend money at the store or whatever. This is a great place for kids as there are many shallow spots all the way around the lake. It is one of Central Oregon’s hot spots for lakes. 
Camping with a twist! Do you have a side of you that says you are a pirate and want to sail the seas or try and taste the salt or do you just like to talk like a pirate, and who cares if you’re horrible at it? Or do you have the more mystical, magical, mysterious, free spirit, dance-in-the-moonlight, spellbinding side that says you are a gypsy? Do you just not know but feel as if you are missing something? If so the pirate-gypsy gatherings are exactly what one needs to express this side/or the missing side of your personality. The gatherings are held in different places around the Western part of Oregon. One day Central Oregon I hope. 
Just what is the High Desert in which we live? People might confuse the term desert with the arid and hot descriptions of unending sand, maybe a few cactus and little wildlife. Well we do have our arid moments, our cacti are in the form a many different varieties of trees, flora and fauna and animals, we have our share and they are abundant. The question I might ask at this point, “Is where would one go to view it all at once?” The High Desert Museum of course!
