Secret Lake, Oregon
September 2-4, 2016
After a year and a half of camping in our 27-foot class A RV, Bessie, we returned to teardrop camping with a weekend at our favorite Secret Lake. Our friends Kelly and Cindi were already there, and they had managed to nab the most coveted spot (3). We got 4, next to them.
We brought our cat, Gypsy, with us. She had traveled the first year of her life with us in Bessie, so she was a natural camper. Unfornately, Cindi's dog, Walker, is a cat chaser, so Gypsy had to spend a lot of time closed in the teardrop. But she did get out for a two-mile hike in the woods with us and Bailey. She ran right alongisde Bailey, on her leash, and was in her element.
We all had blow-up canoes and enjoyed canoeing the Deschutes River, just before it flows into the lake. And hanging out on the bank of the river in the warm sun. Cindi's son, Cody, and his girlfriend came up for the day.
August 11-13, 2013
I think we might have discovered our new favorite campground. We love it so much, in fact, we're keeping its location secret. We came here directly from Crane Prairie Reservoir, and we met our friend Kelly and her dog, Bella. We had two wonderful days here, and we wished we could stay all week.
Secret Lake is much smaller than Crane Praire, and the campground is much quieter. Only electric motors are allowed on the lake, so it's mostly kayakers and canoers there. But our favorite part was the smaller river coming off the lake. It lead to a quiet, grassy slough that was perfect for lazy paddling and bird-watching. And because fallen logs blocked direct access to the lake, it was a private paradise.
It's hard to find a site in this non-reservable campground (hence the secrecy). But getting there around noon on a Sunday helped. We found a huge, private site available and grabbed it. We were right next to the best site in the campground, which was right on the bank of the river. And when those people left early the next morning, we grabbed up our stuff, tent, hammocks, bikes, boats, and trailer, and moved right in.
We were here at the height of the Perseid meteor shower. The first night, we sat out in a clearing and saw 20 or so meteors fall within an half hour's time. I had my camera set up on a tripod, and with a long exposure, I caught a couple of them.
We set our alarms for 2:30 (the predicted peak) and got up for another viewing. It was too cold to enjoy it for long. (It got down in the 30s both nights.) But it was an amazing thing to see.
The next day, we paddled both in the lake and the river and enjoyed just hanging out in such a beautiful spot.
The other wonderful thing about this place was the friendliness of all our neighbors. Most of them have been coming here every year, and those who hadn't promised to. It felt like a little community that we were welcomed into. We look forward to coming back here every year, too.
Highs: Great weather, friendly neighbors, not bad pit toilet, meteors, huge sites, peace and quiet.
Lows: COLD at night. Bailey got very sick our last day. We got home in time to get her to the vet. She'd gotten giardia from drinking infected water.
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Dangers to Dogs while camping: Giardia is quite common for dogs to get, and comes from parasites in water. Even water that is moving and clear and looks perfectly drinkable. So don't let your dog drink from lakes or streams, and never from a puddle. Symptoms are vomiting and diarhea, leading to organ damage if untreated. Heavy duty antibiotics are the cure. Other dangers include blue-green algae, which can be fatal to dogs. It's caused by pesticide run-off and is common in the valley. Don't let a dog swim in a lake that has blue or green scum floating in it. One more fatal danger, especially here in the northwest, comes from salmon. Cooked salmon is fine for dogs, but any part of raw salmon can transmit a microscopic parasite that is often fatal to dogs. Keep dogs away from anyplace where people clean fish.
