Redmond, Sisters, and Bend (OR) ; Newberry Volcanic National Monument ; On to California
(posted at Oroville, CA Chamber of Commerce)
(This post covers 1-3 October, 2009)
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Saturday, 3 October-
We had about an inch of snow overnight. It was just enough to make our campsite and the surrounding forest very pretty.
After breakfast we drove back to the hard road then turned to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. The road was snow-dusted but melting as the sun climbed above the horizon.
We drove the ten miles or so to the Pauline Lakes within the Monument. These two lakes are inside the caldera of what was formerly a volcano. The temperature was around the freezing mark and the wind was blowing about 10 knots so we were surprised to see a few fishing boats on the East lake. Otherwise, the park was deserted. The visitor center is closed for the season as are several of the park’s campgrounds. We’re lucky to have found our little campground in the National Forest since the ones at the National Monument were $10 more per night.
We explored each of the turnoffs in the National Monument, making the only tracks in the snow for most of them. The surprising one was the Big Obsidian Flow. We saw a massive jumble of volcanic rock as we approached and then the sun hit it at a glancing angle and we saw the flashing reflection of obsidian, the glass-like mineral the Indians traded for centuries and made into cutting implements. There were pickup-size blocks of it throughout the jumble.
We worked our way back out to Highway 97 and turned south. We drove to Crater Lake National Park, entering by its North entrance.
I don’t know what I expected but we were floored by Crater Lake. Our approach from the north was a great setup for the grand reveal. Our road climbed and we took turn after turn with nice views but then we topped out at the rim and there was Crater Lake in all its glory. I think I had expected to be circling the lake at or perhaps a bit above the surface level of the lake. But to climb to the top of the caldera rim and look over is fantastic.
After a few stops at pulloffs to admire the lake, we drove on to the Crater Lake Lodge as it was nearing lunch time and we figured the lodge would have a great view. We had a long lunch with a hot toddy for me and a glass of wine for Labashi while we admired the view. We didn’t tarry too long, though, as snow was predicted for this afternoon and a few flakes were starting to fly.
We descended to the main visitor’s center and took in the orientation movie and then headed out of the park. Along the way we saw fumaroles, which are conically-shaped pillars of rock formed by the volcano gases escaping vent holes. These are buried at the time the volcano is still active but these were revealed by the erosive action of Annie Creek. So what you see is the typical valley cut but a stream or river but here and there stand stone pillars, looking like giant upside-down sugar-cones.
We then drove on for a few hours to the town of Klamath Falls, arriving about 1530. We checked a few bookstores in our search for a map book of California since we’re about to leave Oregon. But no luck. The local outdoors shop had sold their last one this morning.
We drove on down 97 and crossed the border, looking at Mount Shasta off in the distance. Actually, we couldn’t see most of the mountain; it was in cloud.
We continued on to Weed and Mt Shasta, then turned eastward. This route in effect went around Mt. Shasta. And as we drove east, we came to a ‘vista point’ which we thought was going to give us a view ahead but instead turned us around to a beautiful view of Mount Shasta. It was clear on this side. What a treat! We had a full moon coming up over the horizon to our East and a great view of snow-covered Mount Shasta to our north-west. Wow!
We continued on east on Route 89, driving for mile after mile of straight-as-an-arrow road through tall pines and National Forest in the golden hour of sunset. Just before dark we reached our goal, a state park. We picked this one in order to have showers tomorrow morning. But it was not to be. The California State Parks are now charging $30 for a campsite, including tent sites. And showers cost extra. We left in disgust.
We had passed a National Forest campground only a mile or so back so we drove to that and took the last remaining site, this one for $6. It’s beside the lake and actually quite nice but doesn’t have a shower house.
Labashi made excellent soft-tacos for supper then we blogged and read the evening away.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 2 October-
Today we needed to contact the folks back home and send an email first thing. The library wouldn’t open until 1000 so we went to a Dutch Coffee kiosk we found on my wi-fi directory. We used Skype to make the phone calls and they were ultra-clear.
Today’s goal was to tour a scenic route in the Western Cascades, west of Sisters. As we left Redmond, we noticed that the deciduous trees suddenly stopped and the Ponderosa pines began. Sisters is a neat little town. We happened upon a nice little air park (as in ‘aviation park’) development just north of town. That would be the way to go. Build your house and personal hangar and keep your airplane next to the runway of a small private runway. What a great setup for weekending while you’re working in the city, then retirement later on.
I really, really like this area. Redmond is a clean, modern little high-desert town of 25,000. Sisters is even smaller (at around 1000) but is very nice. Bend is a small city of 80,000 about 15 miles from either while Eugene is 100 miles. West of the valley are the Cascades and National Forest lands surround it. We really liked the people we’ve met in the area (mostly at the library) and it ‘feels’ right.
Our scenic tour led west toward Eugene, then south toward Belknap Springs, then turned back east across route 242, a very narrow historic highway which passes through lava beds at the top of the mountain on its way back to Sisters.
Out of Sisters we turned toward Bend and only passed through a small portion of the city. We were hurrying a bit to go see the High Desert Museum. We arrived a bit late in the day and only had an hour at the museum but that’s fine, we’ve seen many museums and we’re familiar with the stories of the area.
After the museum we continued south, back into the Deschutes National Forest. We found a small Forest Service campground at McKay’s Crossing and were surprised to have it to ourselves. The sites are only $5 and given this is the start of the weekend, we thought we might have company.
We were only an hour before dark but took a walk on the nearby Peter Skene Ogden Trail until dark.
Labashi then made a scrumptious sausage-apple-mushroom stir fry and we had goat-cheese on our salad. We’re living like kings out here!
After supper we blogged and read. It’s a colder evening (35 degrees) here at 4000 feet but we have a full moon shining down on us in our pretty little stream-side campsite and we’re snug and warm in Mocha Joe.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 1 October –
Today was a stay-in-town day. After breakfast we shopped for a few supplies at Wal-mart and Albertson’s, then spent the rest of the morning at the Redmond Library, catching up.
After lunch we decided it was time to do the laundry, our first of the trip. We’re 39 days into the trip so it’s about time.
After we sorted and pre-treated the clothes and lugged them in to the Laundromat, Labashi sat about monitoring the washing and drying while I cleaned out the van. The whole process took us a couple of hours but it was well worth it later that night to crawl into newly-washed sheets and covers.
We finished up the laundry around 1700 and then went back to the very nice library for the evening. I had been spending all my time on the computer in the morning so now it was time to read a few newspapers and magazines.
The library closed at 2000 so at that point we returned to the brand-new Wal-mart for the night. We both felt like a bit of a walk so spent an hour in the Wal-mart. It’s one of the new open design Wal-mart layouts and is ultra-clean and very nice.
We turned in a bit early and read for an hour or so before sleeping. I’m reading a collection of diary accounts of Oregon Trail emigrants and love it.
***************** END OF POST ************
(posted at Oroville, CA Chamber of Commerce)
(This post covers 1-3 October, 2009)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 3 October-
We had about an inch of snow overnight. It was just enough to make our campsite and the surrounding forest very pretty.
After breakfast we drove back to the hard road then turned to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. The road was snow-dusted but melting as the sun climbed above the horizon.
We drove the ten miles or so to the Pauline Lakes within the Monument. These two lakes are inside the caldera of what was formerly a volcano. The temperature was around the freezing mark and the wind was blowing about 10 knots so we were surprised to see a few fishing boats on the East lake. Otherwise, the park was deserted. The visitor center is closed for the season as are several of the park’s campgrounds. We’re lucky to have found our little campground in the National Forest since the ones at the National Monument were $10 more per night.
We explored each of the turnoffs in the National Monument, making the only tracks in the snow for most of them. The surprising one was the Big Obsidian Flow. We saw a massive jumble of volcanic rock as we approached and then the sun hit it at a glancing angle and we saw the flashing reflection of obsidian, the glass-like mineral the Indians traded for centuries and made into cutting implements. There were pickup-size blocks of it throughout the jumble.
We worked our way back out to Highway 97 and turned south. We drove to Crater Lake National Park, entering by its North entrance.
I don’t know what I expected but we were floored by Crater Lake. Our approach from the north was a great setup for the grand reveal. Our road climbed and we took turn after turn with nice views but then we topped out at the rim and there was Crater Lake in all its glory. I think I had expected to be circling the lake at or perhaps a bit above the surface level of the lake. But to climb to the top of the caldera rim and look over is fantastic.
After a few stops at pulloffs to admire the lake, we drove on to the Crater Lake Lodge as it was nearing lunch time and we figured the lodge would have a great view. We had a long lunch with a hot toddy for me and a glass of wine for Labashi while we admired the view. We didn’t tarry too long, though, as snow was predicted for this afternoon and a few flakes were starting to fly.
We descended to the main visitor’s center and took in the orientation movie and then headed out of the park. Along the way we saw fumaroles, which are conically-shaped pillars of rock formed by the volcano gases escaping vent holes. These are buried at the time the volcano is still active but these were revealed by the erosive action of Annie Creek. So what you see is the typical valley cut but a stream or river but here and there stand stone pillars, looking like giant upside-down sugar-cones.
We then drove on for a few hours to the town of Klamath Falls, arriving about 1530. We checked a few bookstores in our search for a map book of California since we’re about to leave Oregon. But no luck. The local outdoors shop had sold their last one this morning.
We drove on down 97 and crossed the border, looking at Mount Shasta off in the distance. Actually, we couldn’t see most of the mountain; it was in cloud.
We continued on to Weed and Mt Shasta, then turned eastward. This route in effect went around Mt. Shasta. And as we drove east, we came to a ‘vista point’ which we thought was going to give us a view ahead but instead turned us around to a beautiful view of Mount Shasta. It was clear on this side. What a treat! We had a full moon coming up over the horizon to our East and a great view of snow-covered Mount Shasta to our north-west. Wow!
We continued on east on Route 89, driving for mile after mile of straight-as-an-arrow road through tall pines and National Forest in the golden hour of sunset. Just before dark we reached our goal, a state park. We picked this one in order to have showers tomorrow morning. But it was not to be. The California State Parks are now charging $30 for a campsite, including tent sites. And showers cost extra. We left in disgust.
We had passed a National Forest campground only a mile or so back so we drove to that and took the last remaining site, this one for $6. It’s beside the lake and actually quite nice but doesn’t have a shower house.
Labashi made excellent soft-tacos for supper then we blogged and read the evening away.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 2 October-
Today we needed to contact the folks back home and send an email first thing. The library wouldn’t open until 1000 so we went to a Dutch Coffee kiosk we found on my wi-fi directory. We used Skype to make the phone calls and they were ultra-clear.
Today’s goal was to tour a scenic route in the Western Cascades, west of Sisters. As we left Redmond, we noticed that the deciduous trees suddenly stopped and the Ponderosa pines began. Sisters is a neat little town. We happened upon a nice little air park (as in ‘aviation park’) development just north of town. That would be the way to go. Build your house and personal hangar and keep your airplane next to the runway of a small private runway. What a great setup for weekending while you’re working in the city, then retirement later on.
I really, really like this area. Redmond is a clean, modern little high-desert town of 25,000. Sisters is even smaller (at around 1000) but is very nice. Bend is a small city of 80,000 about 15 miles from either while Eugene is 100 miles. West of the valley are the Cascades and National Forest lands surround it. We really liked the people we’ve met in the area (mostly at the library) and it ‘feels’ right.
Our scenic tour led west toward Eugene, then south toward Belknap Springs, then turned back east across route 242, a very narrow historic highway which passes through lava beds at the top of the mountain on its way back to Sisters.
Out of Sisters we turned toward Bend and only passed through a small portion of the city. We were hurrying a bit to go see the High Desert Museum. We arrived a bit late in the day and only had an hour at the museum but that’s fine, we’ve seen many museums and we’re familiar with the stories of the area.
After the museum we continued south, back into the Deschutes National Forest. We found a small Forest Service campground at McKay’s Crossing and were surprised to have it to ourselves. The sites are only $5 and given this is the start of the weekend, we thought we might have company.
We were only an hour before dark but took a walk on the nearby Peter Skene Ogden Trail until dark.
Labashi then made a scrumptious sausage-apple-mushroom stir fry and we had goat-cheese on our salad. We’re living like kings out here!
After supper we blogged and read. It’s a colder evening (35 degrees) here at 4000 feet but we have a full moon shining down on us in our pretty little stream-side campsite and we’re snug and warm in Mocha Joe.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 1 October –
Today was a stay-in-town day. After breakfast we shopped for a few supplies at Wal-mart and Albertson’s, then spent the rest of the morning at the Redmond Library, catching up.
After lunch we decided it was time to do the laundry, our first of the trip. We’re 39 days into the trip so it’s about time.
After we sorted and pre-treated the clothes and lugged them in to the Laundromat, Labashi sat about monitoring the washing and drying while I cleaned out the van. The whole process took us a couple of hours but it was well worth it later that night to crawl into newly-washed sheets and covers.
We finished up the laundry around 1700 and then went back to the very nice library for the evening. I had been spending all my time on the computer in the morning so now it was time to read a few newspapers and magazines.
The library closed at 2000 so at that point we returned to the brand-new Wal-mart for the night. We both felt like a bit of a walk so spent an hour in the Wal-mart. It’s one of the new open design Wal-mart layouts and is ultra-clean and very nice.
We turned in a bit early and read for an hour or so before sleeping. I’m reading a collection of diary accounts of Oregon Trail emigrants and love it.
***************** END OF POST ************
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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