Reynolds Pond

Reynold's Pond is where Lane and I glamped on our visit to the Oregon Badlands Wilderness. "And what is glamping? you might ask. Or you might not ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Per Wikipedia, "Glamping is a portmanteau of glamour and camping and describes a style of camping with amenities..." The way I figure it, glamping is better defined as any kind of camping where you can use "portmanteau" in a sentence describing the camping thereof. Of course, many of my friends and my one wife would not even describe camping at Reynold's Pond as glamping, due to a perceived lack of amenities. From their point of view, it's like the phrase "Oregon Badlands" counteracts and neutralizes "glamour". I suppose it depends on perspective, really, because Lane and I found Reynold's Pond a much more cushier place than our usual campsites. 

Children love to wade in the water

While there were no restrooms, established campsites, electricity, or tap water; there were some rather luxurious aspects not normally associated with a Richard and Lane camping trip. For instance, there was my Jeep, loaded to the gills with such frivolous items like air mattresses, pillows, cold beer, electronic reader books, and clean clothing. Plus, on the second evening, we drove into Bend and ate Mexican food at a restaurant. If that's not glamping, I have no idea what is. 

This nameless canal feeds the pond

Reynold's Pond has the distinction of being the only place in the Oregon Badlands where trailhead camping is not discouraged. The pond also has the distinction of being the only water existing in the extremely arid and sere Oregon Badlands. The small body of water is fed by a nameless Central Oregon Canal branch canal and was enjoyed by kayakers, birders, fishermen, swimmers, children, dogs, and at least two hikers. And just to work up an appetite, Lane and I did a pre-dinner 0.6 mile hike around the picturesque body of water.

Afternoon sun

Because of the lack of water in the area, the pond supports a vibrantly twittering population of birds. In the cattail reeds surrounding the pond, dozens of red-winged blackbirds flirted and wooed each other in the stalks. We did see some larger birds like hawks and one bald eagle, sitting high atop the willow trees surrounding the pond. The willow trees also gave us a welcome respite from looking at the ever ubiquitous juniper trees. A large garter snake lay across the trail, the harmless serpent having both Lane and I jumping back in surprise, but at least nobody screamed like a girl or yelled out "Yowzah!" 

Curious lizards came to visit our glampsite

The sun was sinking in the late afternoon and the willow trees were burnished gold against the blue sky. It didn't take long to complete the loop around the pond so it was back to our campsite to cook and eat dinner. As we attended to our meals, bluebelly lizards came by to socialize, comically doing pushups on the rocks surrounding the fire pit. Obviously, the skittering reptiles are pretty inured to the presence of incredibly handsome hikers such as I. Surprisingly, the lizards were spotted in the higher reaches of a juniper tree shading our tents. 

Nothing quite like a desert sunset

Sunset was truly spectacular on each of the two nights we stayed there. There is just something about a desert sunset. In the evening, small rodents ran up and down our tents, making sure we were awake. And lest we sleep in, in the morning a choir of coyotes sang from the Howlin' Wolf songbook. Those are the kind of amenities that made this campout a true glamping experience, and you can put that in your portmanteau.

...and the coyotes begin to sing

For more pictures of this glampground, please visit the Flickr album.

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyHike