Reporting in from LaPine State Park
It’s just over one week that I’ve called LaPine State Park home. I’m sitting at my picnic table in the full sun, but still on the edge of cold. I hear the wind whipping in the pines and cedars above me. The sky is blue and dry. I already love it here.
I was delighted on my first day to find one of the other hosts is also a solo woman traveler. In fact, she’s been traveling solo for seven years full time in her RV. Beth has shown me the ropes here and made sure I feel welcome. She’s agreed to tell her story on my podcast, so stay tuned for that.
I’m in the North Loop where there are about 50 sites. I’m the only host in this loop and I answer a lot of questions about how to pay, where to hike, where to get ice and about making reservations or open campsites.
So far my daily routine has been pretty easy. I usually wake and do some journal writing cuddled up in my sleeping bag. The mornings are quite chilly. Twice my hose has frozen overnight. I feed Olive and then she and I go on a short walk. There’s an easy access to the river from the campground. After breakfast, I get Olive settled in the van and get started on my camp host duties. I grab my gator and load it up with a shovel, rake and trash picker. I check the list of campers leaving that day and go from site to site, picking trash, clearing firepits and raking sites. After a few hours, I’ll take a lunch break, walk Olive again and then head back out to clear the sites of the stragglers.
In the afternoon, I work in the woodshed, bundling packs of firewood for sale. Most of my time is my own. I went into LaPine one day off to run some errands, the other, I spent biking around the park, exploring all the nooks and crannies.
LaPine State Park is right on the Deschutes River. It’s running pretty fast right now, so I haven’t launched my kayak yet. I had some friends visit and we ventured out to visit Newberry National Volcanic monument and Sunriver, which I’d never been to before.
The park is home to a heritage tree, one of the biggest ponderosa pines in the world. There’s miles and miles of hiking a mountain biking trails. So much to explore. I’m really happy with my decision to come here for the month before I head out on more adventures.
