What started out as a bit of joke four years ago has morphed into an annual tradition. Neither Mia nor Yue-yun are big fans of the whole Valentine’s Day thing. In addition, my work gives me Presidents Day off, but Mia’s job doesn’t. This has given me and Dean an opportunity to get away for some goofing off. Valentines Day has been falling close to the Presidents Day weekend that is a three-day weekend for me. In 2026 it was actually the Saturday of my three-day weekend. But back in January Dean and I got verbal confirmation from both our wives, while all four of us were out a lunch, that taking off on V-day for this annual trip was totally okay.
The original premise was to head to Bend, OR for some fat biking. Year two I ended up solo because of Dean’s work schedule. Last year we added XC skiing to the fat biking weekend. Each time was at Loge in Bend as the base of operations. We would head to Wanoga Sno Park for riding and also have quick access to all Bend had to offer.
With just two weeks to go before our planned departure, I received an email from Loge that the Bend location would be shutting down for good effective February 11th. Our reservations were for the thirteenth to the sixteenth. This threw a huge wrench in our plans! Not only had I finally bought a new set of winter tires for the Subaru for this trip, but I also picked up new XC ski poles in the fall and I had built up a set of studded fat bike wheels in the summer of 2025.
In full disclosure though, Dean and I had already been tossing around the possibility of having to pivot. Oregon is having its worst snow season in a long time. There was not enough snow to groom the Wanoga fat bike loops and Meissner Sno Park had recently posted on Facebook that they were ceasing grooming operations until more snowfall. To some degree the closure of Loge was just the final nail in the coffin for a 2026 Bend trip.
After tossing around a few options to keep the trip alive we decided to just return to Cape Lookout State Park. We’d only been out here less than a month ago. That trip was for a single night though.
The same campsite, C11, was still available when I looked online, so I snagged it quickly before someone else could. Instead of a single night like in January, we’d be spending two nights and being able to have a more casual pace. The other plus side to this pivot is Tillamook is a smidge more than an hour from my house. Bend is a good three to three and half hours of driving. Given the likelihood of poor snow conditions in central Oregon it was a fairly easy decision to make to stay a bit more local.
I rolled into the campground right around 2:30pm. Technically an hour and half earlier than official check in. My experience with Oregon state parks is they are fine with showing up early, as long as it isn’t too early (before checkout for the people who may have it before you). Conditions were overcast and in the upper 40’s. The forecast was calling for some evening drizzle but no steady rain.
Dean arrived within forty five minutes of when I did and we quickly had camp setup and organized. After a short meander on the beach it was time to get a fire going and get dinner ready. Dean made chicken wings and tater tots, enough for both of us. Then it was just staring into the fire and talking useless guy stuff for several hours. We did get some light drizzle and slightly steadier rain for a little bit.
SUNDAY
With no need to be anywhere at any specific time we had a fairly laidback morning of breakfast, coffee and chilling out before heading out to hike out to the Cape Lookout viewpoint. Mia and I did this from the parking lot further down the road back in 2013 after only living in Oregon for about six months. Dean and I would be adding five more miles to the day by starting on the North Trail directly from the campground.
The first 2.5 miles from the campground climbs quickly and takes a few reroutes. There were a ton of downed trees from the wind storm back in the fall of 2024 (?) if I remember correctly.
The weather ended up being absolutely stellar today. Sun came out, no wind to speak of and temps right around 50 or so. I don’t know if we could have asked for a better February day for this hike.
the 2.5 miles (our miles 2.5 to 7.5) from the parking lot to the viewpoint were definitely busy. Quite muddy after the first mile or so too. We saw all ranges of clothing choices and footwear options on people including sandals/flip flops, Ugg boots, Chuck Taylors and even some cowboy boots. Sometimes I think people don’t plan to well for hiking……..just saying.
Tota roundtrip was a smidge over 10 miles. The middle five had the most people but the last 2.5 back to the campground we only saw two other people.
Upon return to the campsite, we grabbed some chairs and headed back to the sand to soak up some more sunshine. It was starting to cool down a little bit, but still felt nice with the sun beating down on us.
This evening was similar to Saturday night. Fire, food and useless guy chatter. Pretty much just what was expected for this 4th annual Bromantic Weekend. Looking forward to 2027!
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
Heh. I did not realize there is a LOGE in Bend, or more importantly was a LOGE in Bend. I’ve stayed at the Missoula one, it was fine. If you need another “campesque” motel in Bend, the Campfire was pretty good when I stayed there a few years back.
And +1 to Cape Lookout. It’s my fave hiker/biker site. I only did the full hike once, it was longer than I thought!
I’ll check out Campfire. We’ve stayed at Loge cabins just outside of Leavenworth, but not any of their other locations (yet). The Bend location was only around $130 a night with taxes which was ideal for this annual trip.