Easy, pretty overnighters near Bend, Oregon (USA)?

A really awesome trail that I did probably 4 times last years was the trail to Paulina Lake. It is outside La Pine a few miles.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72DTgBAjAwgAykeaxcN4jhYG_h4eYX5hPgYwefy6w0H24dcPNgEHcDTQ9_PIz03VL8iNMMgycVQEAObEnGA!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=&cid=fsbdev3_035878&navid=100000000000000&pnavid=&ss=110601&position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&ttype=detail&pname=Deschutes

The trail to Paulina Lake is 10 miles one way, it is really nice in the summer time. You will pass a few small but decent waterfalls and one really big one at the end. Plus you can hike all over the place up there, lots of areas to go.

Green Lakes Basin.

Its up in between South Sister and Broken Top.

I was up in that area just before Labor Day last summer, doing a o/n trip with Jim from another forum. We stayed on a very windy ridge up in the area I guess where Barry mentioned, at least the Sisters part. Pretty drive back in there too. Very Alpiney.
Duane

You definitely want to get two guidebooks by William O. Sullivan: "100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades" and "100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon." Bend is pretty much the boundary line between the two, so you'll find mountain hikes in the first and high desert hikes in the second. While these are in dayhike form, many are backpackable. I'm also limited by physical issues to 5-7 mile days, so I use Sullivan's books as much for backpacks as for dayhikes. I'm sure they are available in local book or outdoor shops; if not, there's always amazon.com.

Your part of Oregon is especially attractive to us "wet-siders" at this time of year. For early trips (like this month), the Metolius River Trail is a popular choice. You can also drive north to the mouth of the Deschutes River and backpack upstream. Plus there are lots of fascinating places in the high desert (found in the Eastern Oregon book).

Hopefully Jerry (retiredjerry) will come in here; he's been to that area more than I have. Also, you might want to browse the trip reports on http://www.portlandhikers.org for those from your area.

Thanks, guys. The Green Lakes Basin hike looks very nice. I'm told that in summer it's a tourist highway! Still, we have a few wilderness areas right in my backyard and the more I explore them, the more places I'll add to my list of swell places to camp.

Paulina Lakes — never been up there, would need to consider elevation gain/loss — loss, mainly — as that can hammer the poor foot under my fused ankle; if the ankle doesn't bend the foot has to take up the brunt of the action and it gets tender.

Mary D: Thank you for recommending those books, Amazon has 'em listed for cheap!

"You can also drive north to the mouth of the Deschutes River and backpack upstream."

Tell me more?

Yeah, Metolius River is nice, especially early in the season when it's snowy higher up. Same with Deschutes River.

Green Lakes is pretty busy in summer. Or Pole Creek trailhead up to Camp Lake. A lot of elevation gain.

McKenzie Pass south on the PCT is nice and not so much elevation gain. I've camped at North Mathieu Lake before but it's pretty busy in the summer.

Like Mary said – Sullivan is probably the best guide. Look at portlandhikers.org – Portland based but a bunch of East side info.

You can also drive north to the mouth of the Deschutes River and backpack upstream."

Tell me more?

Look at the field guide at portlandhikers.org

Fairly complete description

Also there are many trip reports for that area at this time of the year especially