As a mental health prophylactic, we took a little trip over the Cascade mountains and went back into the Deschutes Natnl Forest and spent a few days in the silence. Saw 2 other humans all weekend, now that is some healthy social distance! This area is a huge 7,000 plus year old lava field, a incredibly rich dormant volcanic area. Some powerful voices up there. Was about to collect sage, but instead was compelled to leave my cannabis. Camped at 4,500ft asl and hiked up to 5500, and I'm used to being at 50 ft! What I brought back was a desire to stop smoking and get the hell out of Portland for good. Back in town with all the crazy folks now. Here's some underwhelming pics, I wish they could convey the awesome power of the spot:

That looks like a magical place null.

That's awesome Null. I lived in Bend for a few years and am pretty familiar with the area.

It's a shame that i haven't explored the east side at all really. I had a complete misconception of what the environment there was like. Probably going to spend a lot of time east of the Cascades this summer. Had no idea how high it is either! It's crazy how far you climb coming east and then just pretty much stay at pass elevation. I got winded really easily, and could get stoned on a hit of weed! My friend said his leg pain was absent, and it returned when we got to sea level. I told him it would be awful for him to have to move out of the city for his health! It's always been kinda tough on me to spend time above 4000 feet or so for some reason.

The strange thing is that there were NO animals. Saw few insects, a few birds and raptors in the mornings, and other than ground squirrels up on the field, nothing. We picked a place to set up and there were two buck elk in the trees maybe 40 yards away that took off when i tried to take a picture, but we never saw ot heard them again. Dead silent at night, it was eerie.

I wonder if they were all scared off by the sudden reappearance in the woods? We were going to do some shooting but didn't for that reason, weren't hunting and didn't want to scare any animals to death. People haven't been able to legally go back there for a long time, last weekend was the first since Covid that campground were open. I don't know about the US Forest where we were, but i think it just opened too.