Oregon and California

Friday, July 20^th

Well this is probably the biggest post yet and my apologies for the lengthy Blah, Blah…LOL. We are in a commercial campground (rare for us) in Felton, CA surrounded by young Redwood trees. My brother and his wife live nearby and we’ve been spending some time with them, a rare occurrence since as my brother says “we live on the Right coast and they live on the Left coast”. It translates to a long way apart which has kept our face to face time to way too little. He’s my older brother who can still wup my butt!

This post has some great photos (at least I think so) and I hope you enjoy them. Check out the albums for Diamond and Crater Lake; LaPine;Redwoods; Lava Beds; Lassen; Monterey and Boulder Creek.

June 28

Our last day in Bandon. The visit here has been extra special considering who we got to see and the places we saw along with such exceptional weather. A special thank you to Michael and Regan for their hospitality. We had to spend the majority of the day doing mundane things like laundry and fixing the campers hot water heater that required a drive to Coos Bay and a RV dealer for a part. Since clouds and rain had returned it wasn’t a bad day for those things. We had a cookout at our friend’s house and said goodbye to them. They live in a beautiful little town and when I think of Michael’s choice to live here it reminds me of one of the Indiana Jones movies where he finds the Holy Grail being guarded by an old Knight who upon Indy choosing the proper cup says “he chose wisely”.

June 29 thru July 1

We said goodbye to the Oregon coastline and headed inland for Diamond Lake just north of Crater Lake NP. The weather is back to overcast and light rain but in a few days it’s supposed to improve to sunny skies. Diamond Lake is a very popular trout fishing lake and it has 3 different National forest campgrounds with over 300 sites surrounding it. We are camping at Broken Arrow CG on the south end of the lake and the mosquitoes are intense. For many years I camped and fished in Everglades National Park and experienced mosquitoes on a level most folks never want to see but these are baddddd and BIG. We are prisoners in our camper when at the site so we are on the go. We were here for a few days 20 years ago and we don’t remember them being a problem so it was probably drier and colder that year. The north entrance to Crater Lake NP is only about 10 minutes away and we drove up there 2 times. The first day we went up in mostly cloudy skies with occasional sunshine and while driving the rim road had to contend with driving through clouds with near whiteout conditions and the road has no guardrails with steep drop-offs and if you go over that’s it baby. White knuckle time with Linda in the passenger seat going “oh shit”.  On our previous visit in the 90’s we could not go on the rim road due to it being snowed in still but this time about 20+ miles are opened so we are getting a much better view of the lake. Crater Lake is over 1000 feet deep and it has amazing clear water and its cobalt blue color is intense. Diamond Lake has an 11 mile bike path around it and I have looked forward to riding it so we gave it a try even though my bikes rear tire is comical due to its rim having been bent when we had bike rack issues months ago. We didn’t get far due to our flying friends. We ran through numerous swarms of mosquitoes and enough was enough. It’s bad enough to have them bite you but we draw the line at eating them!!

The weather is improving day by day and on day 3 we drove and hiked to 4 different waterfalls here in the Cascades. Each one was special and I told Linda that considering my love of waterfalls a fitting epitaph for my gravestone would be “he never met a waterfall he didn’t like”…LOL. Near one of the waterfalls we stumbled upon Lemolo Lake resort which is small and off the beaten path. We had lunch and chatted with the owner and another couple from Tampa who 5 months ago sold most everything they had and hit the road in a camping rig along with 2 beautiful motorcycles and are looking for “the” spot to live.

To end the day we headed back up to Crater Lake in sunny skies and we were rewarded with beautiful views and color in the Lake.

Insert sunny pics of lake

July 2

This morning we are headed north about 70 miles toward Bend, Oregon to camp at La Pine State Park along the Deschutes River. Skies were very clear last night and the temp dropped quickly and at 5am this morning it was 36 degrees and it’s the 2^nd of July. We are at about 4800 feet and wondering when will we experience summer? I can only recall 1 day since mid May when we saw 80 degrees and that was just for a few hours.

Our prayers have been answered at our new camp ground, hardly any mosquitoes.

In the afternoon we visited Newberry National Volcanic Monument that has many campgrounds, lakes, waterfalls and lava flows and is quite nice. We hiked a trail through a lava flow from the last eruption that was 1300 years ago and it contains a huge amount of Obsidian glass rock. Our friends on the Big Island would feel right at home here. Unfortunately a road to Paulina Peak is not yet opened for the summer season due to snow; the views from there would be nice.

We also got in another waterfall, Paulina Falls, and it is a dandy one.

I forgot to include a photo in the Oregon coast album of the Octopus tree that I included the description plague for so here it is and it will also be in the album. Thanks Steph.

July 3

Another clear night and a nice campfire then this mornings low was 31 but the day warmed quickly. We headed north for Bend with more of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument along the way.  We hiked through another lava field and drove up Lava Butte that afforded great panoramic views.

Once in Bend we toured the Deschutes Brewery, a very informative tour and very good beer. In downtown Bend they have a restaurant at the site of their original brewpub and it was excellent and we followed it up with a walk around downtown in the cool twilight air.

July 4^th

Happy Birthday America!!

This 4^th seems very special having been to some many great places in our beautiful country and meeting so many nice people. We are blessed and while I look forward to doing some travel abroad there are enough glorious places in the US to keep you busy for a lifetime. Spend some money at home supporting your fellow citizens before you go abroad. (note Soapbox entry!)

We headed to a 4400 foot long lava tube in the National Monument and hiked through it at a balmy 44 degrees. Oh, it only got down to 36 this morning at the campground. Would someone find summer pleaseeeeeee. We had a nice early evening campfire and dinner and then headed into the little town of La Pine for a fireworks display that turned out to be quite impressive. I had fun taking photos of them using the manual mode along with a tripod and remote control.

July 5^th

We said goodbye to La Pine State Park, a dandy camping location, and headed for Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Redwoods National Park in the northwest corner of California. California State Parks and the NPS have teamed up here in a rather unique situation. On the way to Redwoods we took another recommendation all the way from Richmond,Va. (thanks Mike) for a lunch stop and went to Beckies just south of Crater Lake NP. What a cool spot in the forest and it has a long history and is VERY popular. They are famous for their pies and we were piggy’s and bought a whole Boysenberry but it goes a long way and is delicious. We even found some small cartons of ice cream that fit in our tiny freezer and have enjoyed a number of desserts and still have some left as I type this on the 12^th.  The trip to Redwoods was scenic and we found SUMMER! In Grants Pass, Oregon it was 90 but an hour and half later in Redwoods NP it was 60. Our reserved campsite was a challenge to get into and as we were trying to find ways to fit when the campground hosts, who have a son that lives in Jacksonville, drove by and saw our dilemma. They arranged for a larger site and we got settled in and it was so late we said to hell with cooking and went into Crescent City and ate at a place in the harbor with a dandy view of sunset.

July 6 and 7

Today marks the start of my 4^th month on the road, it doesn’t seem that long and I honestly don’t miss home and am enjoying the hell out of this. This is what I’ve been destined to do for a long time. We headed out to explore roads and trails in the NP and saw so many giant trees! The Redwoods here are in one of just a few locations left in the world where they grow. They require a lot of moisture and a temperate climate and the earth used to have many areas where they thrived. They receive about 1/3 of their annual moisture from the coastal fog that occurs in this area as the dry hot air from the interior meets the cold air from the Pacific coming onshore. We experienced this every day we where here. Redwoods grow to over 300 feet tall and can be thousands of years old. To stand beside one of these giants reminds me of just how insignificant we, as humans, are in relation to what this planet offers. With that in mind I pray we don’t screw it up too badly but I also suspect nature can heal from our missteps better than we think.

The Redwoods NP stretches over about a 60 mile portion of the Northern California coast and we explored most of it. At a bluff overlooking the Klamath River where it meets the Pacific we were privileged to watch Gray whales feeding, what a special sight. We hiked some trials among more giant Redwoods and even drove through one.

The coastal road, route 101, is scenic and at times scary due to heights and twisty roads. Finding the sunshine here can be challenging due to the coastal fog but we managed to find some.

July 8

We say goodbye to the California coast and the Redwoods and headed inland for Lava Beds National Monument. The roads required to get there where scenic but steep and curvy and it took a long time but what else is new. I worried about getting a campsite at Lava Beds, it is off the beaten path and commercial options are limited, but we got one of our best sites yet. We were in a high desert area and up about 100 feet over the normal area facing east and it was outstanding and the campground was maybe 25% occupied. There are very few small towns around so there is almost no light pollution and on our first night the Milky Way was bright and evident. I was so tired I didn’t setup my camera to capture it and I wish I had since the next 2 nights were hazy due to smoke from a forest fire. 

July 9 and 10

This monument is relatively small but the geology is neat. It has one of the highest concentrations of developed lava tubes/caves in the world. We explored 6 of them and avoided those that required crawling on hands and knees. We are in an area that is very similar to where we were exploring volcanic areas in west central Oregon. We are about 150 miles due south of there and the volcanic history is very similar. On our second day we hiked up an old cinder cone to a fire lookout tower and met a very nice couple who man it from June to October. Thanks to Craig and Wendy for such a nice visit.

Then we headed for Medicine Lake in the Modoc National Forest about 17 miles south of Lava Beds and a few thousand feet higher. The lake sits in beautiful pine forests and we enjoyed a picnic lunch there. Nearby is Glass Mountain that is an old lava flow from the Medicine Lake volcano that contains a large amount of Obsidian glass.

July 11

We are headed for Lassen Volcanic NP about 140 miles south and east of Lava Beds. We attempted to visit Lassen 20 years ago with the kids and camped here but the roads in the park were still closed due to snow and it was mid-June. It’s a different story this time and we will get to see the Park. The night sky here is impressive, we are camping at around 6000 feet with clear air and zero light pollution. If I’m not too exhausted from running around I’ll try and get some night sky photos.  We scored another nice campsite despite not having reservations.

July 12

Despite daytime temps in the 80’s it got down to 41 last night and that’s good sleeping weather. We drove the road through the Park today from basically north to south and did a 3 mile hike to Bumpass Hell, an area of Fumaroles and Mudpots reminiscent of Yellowstone. The hike had some ups and downs and I got a bit warm but a handful of snow under my hat helped cool me down. Snow again and it’s July 12^th!! This park is nice and we plan some more hiking tomorrow above 7000 feet in an Alpine area.

In the next few days we will pass the 14000 mile mark and that is around my original estimates for the entire trip…LOL. I now expect I’ll reach 20000 miles by the time I get home. And every mile will be worth it even though I have to admit I get a bit tired at times but it’s just a matter of recharging my internal batteries and moving forward. There is still so much to see and enjoy within our borders.

July 13

Happy Friday the 13^th, the third one this year and according to ABC Nightly News that’s the most we can have in a year. We are high enough to get a few TV stations out of
Redding, CA. a rare occurrence. Via the recent photos you can see we’ve had very nice weather with clear skies recently even though it’s been warm in the afternoon and today was another gem. We did a hike of 3.5 miles to Echo Lake, an Alpine Lake at around 7000 feet that I had been hoping we’d get the chance to do. We sat there and enjoyed the solitude of being the only ones there. It had about 750 feet of elevation change and that is a workout at our age. I’m happy to report that my knee has responded nicely to the recent hikes, after almost 3 months to the day it appears to be almost back to normal. About halfway to Echo Lake we topped a ridge and were rewarded with our best view of Mt. Lassen yet. We leave here tomorrow and head for Nice, CA where my brother and his wife have a cottage on Clear Lake. He’ll meet us there and show us the area before we head south to Boulder Creek for 6 days where they live. That’s in the coastal mountains just north of Santa Cruz.

July 14 thru 20

We are camping in a commercial campground in Felton, CA a little north of Santa Cruz in the mountains with more Redwood trees. We’ll be here for our longest stay in one place on our trip, 6 days. The drive down from Nice took us through an area that had grapes growing everywhere you looked. We came down Rt 101 and that took us over the Golden Gate bridge. They charge a toll of $6 for a car but our 2 extra axles on the trailer made the bill $24, a ripoff. I then had the pleasure of towing a trailer through part of San Francisco, non freeway, in traffic 3 lanes wide, loads of fun! As we were nearing the campground we wondered if it was the same one we camped in 20 years ago and sure enough we recognized their steep driveway.

We spent the next 5 days visiting and sightseeing. Our main excursion was down to Monterey and a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium followed by a drive down 17 mile road that winds around the Monterey Peninsula. I got a special treat when we stopped at Pebble Beach and we walked down to the 18^th green. The end of the 17 mile drive was at the town of Carmel by the Sea and it is neat.

The time we spent with Ken and Lyn was real special and one of the highlights of the trip. It’s rare we get to see each other and we sure as hell aren’t getting any younger. We leave here  Sunday and head for Yosemite for 4 days of what we know will be crowds like we haven’t seen on the whole trip. I want to see the Valley again along with the High Country but if we can see it and get out of the zoo we’ll leave early and head toward LasVegas where Linda hops a plane a week from today.

Thanks for following our adventure and as usual look for the new photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637