SCENIC BYWAY.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

WILLAMETTE AND DESCHUTES NATIONAL FORESTS - Have you done "the loop"?

Some say it's too much for one day, at least with the kids. Others scoff at that, claiming they can do the loop - and nine holes of golf, to boot.

Still others will have no idea what you're talking about - even though, chances are, they've driven it more than a few times.

Highway 242's annual reopening last month after the spring thaw has again provided motorists with the missing link to "the loop."

The roughly circular 90-mile route, which will remain open until November's likely snows close 242, moves east from McKenzie Bridge to Sisters along 242, then northwest, west and south along highways 126 and 20, back to McKenzie Bridge.

Despite two national scenic byways so designated for their natural beauty - McKenzie Pass for the leg along 242, Santiam Pass for the rest - comparatively few people set out with the intention of driving all of it, said Steve Otoupalik, of the McKenzie Ranger Station.

"Most folks don't view it as `Come up and drive the loop,' ' he said. "They'll drive it from the east side to the west side, or west side to east side."

That's because you need at least five hours, and even folks on vacation don't always have that kind of time. But that's just one take; "the loop" inspires a range of reactions as diverse as the attractions themselves.

Proxy Falls

Almost 10 miles in and eastbound, the ears pop as you climb winding Highway 242 between towering Douglas firs that line the road like the walls of a canyon.

Just minutes from the roadway is idyllic upper Proxy Falls: Surrounded by a natural amphitheater of firs and fractured sunlight, white water rushes over rocks into a pool so clear you can count the pebbles. It's the kind of place where you propose to somebody.

Duane and Betty Mills, 65 and 63 respectively, contemplated the serenity this week. Though native Oregonians, this was their first trip on 242; they moved around for much of his 23 years in the military.

The Mills, who had knocked off most of the loop by the time they reached the falls, empathized with vacationers unable to do the same: "People from out of state probably haven't got that kind of time," Duane said.

Dee Wright Observatory

Call it an "extended honeymoon" for John and Sandy Johnson: They got married two years ago and it's been a honeymoon ever since, they say.

The couple, in their 50s, took in the sites from the observatory that gives views of the area's craters and peaks, about 15 miles west of Sisters.

You can't blame the Johnsons for being "loop-illiterate" - they're from out of town, St. Louis, Mo., to be precise. "We did not hear anything about the loop," John said. "We're just going to look at the time" and decide whether to drive it.

They didn't know it then, but the Johnsons would end up doing just that.

Your perspective changes, however, if you've got children of 4, 2 and 1, said 28-year-old Jennifer Hubbard, of Crooked River Ranch.

Her husband's been talking about the loop since the family moved here from California eight months ago, but doing the entire route will have to wait for a growth spurt or three.

"The kids are too little to make all the stops," Hubbard said. "We try to break it down. Otherwise, it's exhausting."

Sisters

You can get a loaf of jalapeno-cheese bread for $3.50 and a leather cowboy hat for $20 while walking the old-style Western storefronts of this crowded tourist town.

The blank stares come free when you ask about "the loop."

"I honestly don't know anything about it," said Diana Cretsinger, 45, owner of Tumbleweed Country Store. "I hadn't heard it called that."

Cretsinger knows 242 well, of course. To her it's the McKenzie Highway, a narrow serpentine route forbidden to the big rigs, with hairpin twists sure to roil a sensitive stomach.

"For those of us who get car sick, it's not a fun road to go on," she said.

For that reason, Cretsinger is more likely to be on the bigger highways, 126 and 20, if headed west. She suspects it could be the same for other travelers.

"I'd say, for the most part, most people don't do (the loop)," Cretsinger added. "It could be (lack of) time."

Suttle Lake

Time seems irrelevant here at the leisurely Suttle Lake Resort, where ducks and sailboats wander the water and, from a stereo system, Jimmy Buffett croons, "Why don't we get drunk, and - " ... you probably know the rest of that one.

The loop?

Resort owner Ronda Sneva, 50, of Sisters, has never heard of it. "I've lived here my whole life - where's the loop?" she asked. "This must be valley talk - `the loop.' '

Sneva can make the 37-mile trip west to the Belknap hot springs in 35 minutes along highways 126 and 20, but it's been 30 years since she had the time to negotiate 242, she said.

Yet Jean and Ernie Owen, vacationers in their 60s from Arizona, planned to do the entire loop - and then some.

Check the itinerary: The two left Eugene at 9 a.m. that morning; they played nine holes of golf near McKenzie Bridge; they ate lunch at a spot on the McKenzie River, then visited Sahalie and Koosah Falls before rolling into Suttle Lake to snack on watermelon.

It was early afternoon, and they still planned to shop in Sisters before taking the return route west along 242.

"Piece of cake," Ernie said.

Sahalie and Koosah Falls

Remember the Johnsons?

After moving west through 242, the perpetual honeymooners from the Midwest took Highway 126 north to these explosive falls, virtually completing the loop before they pointed the car west toward Portland and the airport.

While John dished out feed to a team of ground squirrels that walked up his legs in search of handouts, the couple reflected on the loop: shopping in Sisters, sight-seeing atop the observatory, the cool rush of air next to a roaring waterfall.

All in all, Sandy said, the loop was "very relaxing."

"You're talking to a woman who went to four countries in three weeks this summer in Europe," she added, laughing. "(The loop) was not that hectic!"

CAPTION(S):

Corey Downey, 11, from Boise, eyes a piece of folk art on a bench in Sisters at the loop's eastern end.