Donald G. McGregor Memorial Viewpoint at La Pine State Park, Oregon:

After a weekend of watching/listening to football and having friends Tom and Cheryl over for dinner, Cary and I decided to get out of the house for a bit yesterday afternoon.  It was partly cloudy and sort of muggy, getting up to 62*.  We drove up to Paulina Lake and I'll do a short blog post on that part soon, as well as our stop at the beginning of The Peter Ogden Trail.

We hadn't been to La Pine State Park in a while, so after leaving the mountain we headed there.  It was so funny what we discovered inside the park not far from crossing over the bridge: The Donald G. McGregor Memorial Viewpoint.  I don't know how we missed it prior to this.  I think that the short driveway was snowed in when we drove past it before on our way to the campground.  Turning right at the sign and going down a short drive to a small parking lot, we found the most beautiful treat.  You can see where it is on the middle of the map below: 

Source: Oregon State Parks.org

After getting out of the car and walking a tiny bit, this was our discovery:

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

This memorial was dedicated in 1973 to Donald G. McGregor:

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

There is a picnic table, a hiking trail and the most incredible scenery.  That is our car in the background, where the parking area is.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Wow!

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

There was a great view of Paulina Peak, the place where we had just came from:

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

This is the Big Deschutes River.  I had to mentally track where it came from, and to my best guess it arrived here from the back of Wickiup Dam, past Haner Park and Pringle Falls, making its way under the bridge at La Pine State Park and wrapping around to this viewpoint.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Cary is taking a look at the view.  A lady and her dog came jogging by and I asked her where this trail ended up.  She said that if you stayed on to the north, it would eventually take you to Fall River.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Here is me, Grandma Kathy posing for the camera.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

There are some really cool trees there too; I love the Ponderosa Pines.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

In trying to find out more about Mr. McGregor, I discovered this newspaper article about him.  It talks about the park that they named after him at Lost Creek Dam near Mt. Ashland, and mention the La Pine State Park Viewpoint near the end:

Source: Newspaper Article About Don McGeagor

So, if you ever get the chance, this is an easy and pretty sight to see.  If you enjoyed this post, I think that you will also like the one that I made about  "The Big Tree", also located in La Pine State Park.

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