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🛣️ The road up Pilot Butte is open

🛣️ The road up Pilot Butte is open

The road up Pilot Butte is open, a local couple launches a buy nothing app, and RendezVan kicks off at Mt. Bachelor

Derek Carlson
April 15, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning, Bend! With the forecasted high of 75 degrees today, I’m shutting down the laptop and heading outside for the day.

In today’s Bend Buzz:

🛣️ The road up Pilot Butte is open for the summer
🎁 A local couple launched a buy nothing app
⛷️ RendezVan kicks off at Mt. Bachelor

Let’s get to it.

— Derek Carlson

SNAPSHOTS

🔥 Prescribed burn season is almost here

Winter is finally over (I think), and, unfortunately, that means it’s the beginning of smoke season in Bend. The Forest Service is planning for nearly 9,000 acres of prescribed burns across the high desert this spring. This includes areas around Cascade Lakes Highway, Forest Road 41, Skyliners Road, Phils Trailhead area, and the Deschutes River and southeast of Bend near the junction of Forest Road 18 and Forest Road 25.

You can follow CentralOregonFire.org for up-to-date info on the timing and location of the prescribed burns happening in the area.

🚡 RendezVan kicks off at Mt. Bachelor

Van lifers and weekend warriors unite as RedezVan kicks off at Mt. Bachelor on Thursday. This weekend-long gathering combines live music, spring skiing, and van-life culture. If you haven’t yet booked your camping spot for the weekend, then you’re SOL, as these spots sell out almost immediately when they go on sale (and that happened months ago). But that doesn’t mean you can’t still head up to the mountain to take in the festivities.

The Hasbens kicks off the party on Thursday at 6 PM, and we’ll have the rest of the weekend lineup in Friday’s edition of the Bend Buzz.

🛣️ The road up Pilot Butte is officially open for the summer

There is no surer sign of spring than the opening of the road to the top of Pilot Butte. Now you can save yourself the hike, cycle, or jog to the top and enjoy the sunset without breaking a sweat. The gates are open daily between 10 AM and 9 PM. Don’t get locked in!

BUSINESS HAPPENINGS

🎁 A buy nothing app for Bend locals: Love the local buy nothing Facebook groups (a place where you can share and exchange items and services for free with other locals) but don’t necessarily love the Facebook component? A Bend couple felt the same way, and rather than just complain about it on…Facebook, they took things into their own hands and created a buy nothing app specifically for Bend. Porch Swing (available on iOS & Android) is a free-to-use app that doesn’t require a Facebook login and makes gifting and receiving a breeze.

🫙 Locavore is expanding liquid bulk options: If you’re looking to cut your single-use plastic waste, Locavore is bringing another option to town. For the past three years, Locavore has offered reusable glass containers for bulk dry goods, and now, thanks to a grant from Rethink Waste, they are expanding to liquid bulk options as well. They are accepting clean gas jars or containers (with lids!), so bring a few by the next time you stop in!

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LOCAL LOWDOWN

Tuesday 4.15

🥛 Make your own coaster: Join Bridge 99 Brewery and Violet Oak Studios for a DIY coast night where, at the end, you’ll walk away with your own botanical-themed stoneware coaster. 5:30 PM Bridge 99 Brewery

🧘‍♂️ Winter yoga sesh: The weather may be getting warmer, but it isn’t quite time for Emily from Do Yoga Outside to fully transition to doing yoga outside. For three more weeks, you can join her flow yoga class, which includes time for community connection at the end. 5:30 PM NE Bend (location shared after signup)

🎪 Science circus extravaganza: Bring the kids to the library for an evening of learning the science behind circus tricks. Master juggler Rhys Thomas will put on a show while talking about topics like gravity, centripetal force, center of balance, and inertia. 6 - 7 PM Downtown Bend Library

🧗‍♀️ Ladies climb night: Connect with the local ladies’ climbing community at the Bend Rock Gym at ladies climb night. 6 - 8:30 PM Bend Rock Gym

🐭 Disney mingo: What is Disney Mingo, you may ask? Well, I have no idea, so I Googled it. Turns out that mingo is music bingo, so if you grew up on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty & The Beast, then this event is for you. 5:30 PM Cascade Lakes Brewing

Wednesday 4.16

🦆 Nature kids: Spring is here, and so is the after-school Nature Kids program hosted by Deschutes Land Trust. This month’s event takes place at Sawyer Park and will be talking about all things birds. 2:30 - 4 PM Sawyer Park

👩‍🎨 Conversations for a cause: Join local writer/journalist Katie Morell at the inaugural Conversations for a Cause event. These events will focus on highlighting creativity in the community, and at this event, she will be talking with local ceramist Marité Acosta at her studio in Tumalo. All proceeds from the event go to local hospice provider, Partners in Care. 6 - 8:30 PM 19875 8th St, Bend

❓️ Mystery book club: Mystery, murder, and mayhem will all be on the docket at this month’s mystery book club meeting at Roundabout Books. 6 - 7 PM Roundabout Books

🤣 Wednesday comedy night: Celebrate making it halfway through the week with a night of laughs at Wednesday comedy night at Silver Moon Brewing. 7:30 - 9 PM Silver Moon Brewing

🧑‍⚖️ Lawyer in the library: Have a civil law (family law [divorce and custody], employment, housing, estate planning, etc) related question but don’t want to shell out the big bucks for a fancy pants lawyer? The Deschutes Library is offering free 30-minute sessions through Zoom. 5 - 8 PM Online

Thursday 4.17

🎸 Homegrown kickoff party: The Homegrown Music Festival gets underway with a kickoff party at Volcanic Theatre Pub. 7 PM Volcanic Theatre Pub

🍄 Enigmatic ecology of morels: Want to brush up on your knowledge of all things morel mushrooms before they start popping up in the next few weeks? Join the Central Oregon Mushroom Club for a talk on the knowns and unknowns of this prized mushroom. 6:30 - 8 PM Trinity Episcopal Church

🛎️ Quizhead game show night: Tired of the same old trivia nights at your local watering hole? Mix it up with a game show night hosted by Quizhead Games at the Boneyard Pub. (This event came highly recommended from Bend Buzz reader, so it must be good!) 6 PM Boneyard Pub

🏡 Community vision summit: Envision Bend and the City Club of Central Oregon are hosting a community vision summit exploring the future of workforce housing in the region. This event is free and will feature speakers from RootedHomes, Habitat for Humanity, The Oregonian, and Hayden Homes. 5:30 - 7 PM Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

🏃‍♂️ Bend trail series: Looking to get out for some low-key, midweek trail races that typically fall between 4 - 6 miles in length? The Bend Trail Series kicks off this week and continues with one race per month at various trails around the area. Fun fact: I ran in these races back when they were the Portland Trail Series in 2012 or so, and they were a ton of fun. 6:15 PM Maston Trailhead (day-of-race signups available)

🤝 Emerging talent social: Build out your professional network with a relaxed evening of networking at Seventh Mountain Resort. 5 - 7 PM Seventh Mountain Resort

Weekend Preview

Here’s a sneak peek of events happening this upcoming weekend in Bend.

LIVE MUSIC

Tuesday 4.15

Wednesday 4.16

Jerry Garcia Band Night | Silver Moon Brewing | 6 PM
Blackstrap Bluegrass | Old St. Francis School | 7 PM

Thursday 4.17

WHO’S HIRING IN BEND

Looking for your next job? Here are some local listings that have popped up over the last week.

Office Manager at Momentasize Construction Inc.
Terrain Park Manager at POWDR
Concrete Coating & Storage Craftsman And Apprentices at Webfoot Home Improvements
Warehouse Forklift and Materials Handler at Humm Kombucha
Lifeguard 2 at Bend Park & Rec
Market Manager at Crux Fermentation Project

Searching for a new job? Browse the full job board

Looking for local candidates for your open position? Post your job

THANKS!

Stay cool-ish, and thank you again for reading!

Have an event you want to feature or want to advertise your business to our 9,800+ readers in Bend? Drop us a line here → [email protected]

🛣️ The road up Pilot Butte is open