Road Trip Daily

Smith Rock is a small but scenic climbing-meca of a Oregon State Park, near Bend, Oregon. I left John Day Fossil Beds at 83am and took one final "painted cove" shot before driving three hours southwest.  I arrived at Smith Rock Park by midday. Before setting out to hike, I drove seven miles around the rock butte to a Corps of Engineers campground. I rested a few hours so that the temperature could drop for this desert environment, then I went back to Smith Rock.  I hiked down to the river, then across a bridge, then up a steep trail called "misery ridge" to the rock summit. On the way I passed many climbers.  The views from the summit were sublime in every direction, but especially westward, toward the Cascade Range, including six clearly visible major volcanos: The Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington and Mt. Hood.  I stood gazing at these westerly vistas for nearly half an hour.   The trail continued down the west side and along the river for a few miles b

Whew!! I finally made it to the famous Crater Lake, nearly 130 days into this grand voyage. A jewel of our park system, Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes in the world, set in a collapsed- volcano crater, and having stunningly blue, pristine water. Here she is: That pano was actually taken on the last stop of the day, but it was too good to wait. Wizard Island is a new volcano crater that pokes 350 feet above the water's surface. Here was me after first seeing the lake in person.  A 33 mile road circles the lake and takes you to various breath-taking views.  Evidence of volcanic eruptions were visible throughout. These nearby pinnacles were formed during the Mount Mazama eruption that formed Crater Lake 7,700 years ago.  But the most fun was had hiking down 800 vertical feet along the Cleetwood Trail to Cleetwood Cove, then promptly passing by the onlooking crowds to join the handful of brave souls cliff jumping into the icy blue waters of Crater Lake.  After drying off, I com

In central Oregon, in the middle of nowhere, a wildly colored desert landscape hides one of the densest fossil records on earth, the John Day Fossil Beds.  My entry to this secluded park was along winding valley roads through gorgeous badlands-style canyons. The paleontology center and park HQ were located across from this area.  I drove north a bit to the Blue Basin, canyons distinct in their blue-green color. I hiked first deep into the green, alien-like canyon.  Then up 800 feet and around three miles while enjoying the valley views. It felt nice to be back in the desert as happy memories of my first month of travel streamed back to my mind.  I then drove an hour east to the Painted Hills unit of the park. I found a perfect free BLM campsite at the end of the park and waited for sunset. I chatted with a very nice couple from Salem, Oregon who share this campsite, and then drove to the hills for sunset. Lovely. 

Waterfalls!  The Columbia River Gorge has the highest concentration of waterfalls in United States and I was able to see a dozen waterfalls in one day.   Oneonta Falls was my favorite as it required a mile long trek through a narrow gorge to reach the falls. I had to wade through waist deep water in order to get there so I figured I would just jump it. Another favorite was the picturesque cascading Fairy Falls.  I hiked a 5 mile loop from Wahkeena Falls up to Fairy Falls to the top of a high ridge past five more waterfalls before getting to the top of the famous Multnomah Falls.  My favorite photo of this famous falls ended up being a picture of people taking a picture. The most impressive falls was the Latourell Falls because of its single 300 foot, unimpeded stream of water.  I climbed onto the rock at the foot of the falls to experience this wonderful falls up close.   I drove along the scenic highway and took in various beautiful views of the Columbia River Gorge before heading int

My first stop in the Columbia River Gorge area near Portland, Oregon was to a local museum where I received a history of the land, a major thoroughfare and trading region across the Cascade mountains, and also received a map with important sights to see. My first scenic sight was the Beacon rock, a 800 foot tall rock with a pathway to the top.  I made it to the top quickly and enjoyed an expansive view of the gorge and the Columbia River.  I drove south on the Washington side of the river to a lookout on Cape Horn. I tried to get a photo of the actual horn but all the trails either descended steeply or were covered with trees, ruining any view. I settled for the vista shot.  I drove by the Bonneville dam, one the many dams that have tamed this grand river, on my way to tonight's hike up the Coyote Wall. I hiked along a scenic abandoned road then up a winding path to the top of the wall.  And also took a portrait looking across the river toward Mount Hood. It was a beautiful, windy

Mount Saint Helens is sinister and wonderful. I spent the morning at Rainier watching the end of the British Open on my phone, then drove south to Saint Helens.  I arrived at the park's northeast entrance by early afternoon.  A massive bulge of rock built up on the northeast side of the mountain before the 1980 eruption and then caused a tremendous landslide when the eruption started. I drove to the Windy Ridge at the end of the road, listened to a ranger describe before and after photos of the mountain, then hiked up to a high viewpoint.  You can see the circular ridge with a notch missing where the landslide occurred, the desert-like exposed right-side where the landslide blew away life and covered 15 miles of terrain with 150 feet of dirt and rock, the greenery that was on the lucky side of the eruption, and Spirit Lake which was covered by dirt and slime and fallen trees for years. The mountain was over a thousand feet higher before it erupted.  After taking in this wonderful v

Sunrise and Summerland were the destinations for day 2 at Rainier. Sunrise is a high valley on the northeast side of the mountain. Before heading up the sunrise road I made a detour to Chinook Pass, famous for being a pass on the Pacific Crest Trail and for its nearby lake views of Rainier.  I drove along the road in hopes of finding elusive cell phone coverage and magically found coverage on most of the sunrise road. I drove up the long, winding road to its top and hiked out to an overlook of the Emmons Glacier, the largest glacier in the lower 48 states.  I then returned down the road to the Summerland trailhead and made some phone calls to friends and my father to talk logistics of two separate future trips next month. I set out for Summerland at 545pm. The first three miles were boring, heading up through the woods; I contemplated turning back. Then I reached an opening and saw what the fuss was all about-- why this hike was so popular.  The mystic view of Rainier and the craggy Li

My morning began at 7am with a music festival parking lot wake up followed by a long drive south through incredibly beatiful scenary to Mount Rainier. I stopped by popular Lake Chelan, but it was too touristy and crowded for my liking. The lake just outside of Chelan was just as pretty and this viewpoint serene.  After six hours of driving I arrived at Mount Rainier. The viewpoint from White Pass was awe-inspiring. Rainier glowed proudly in the perfectly clear sky.  Tired after a bit restless and short sleeping night, I found a quiet, shaded camping spot just outside the park, and napped until 530pm. Then I drove towards Paradise, the valley below the southern face of Rainier, known for its wildflowers. The road up to Paradise.  I hiked a few short trails, enjoying the dusk light views of Rainier and her many glaciers, meadows and streams.  The valley and Paradise Inn below. The famous wildflowers were almost all gone by this mid-July time due to the mountain receiving half of average

The Maple Pass Loop, a high alpine ridgewalk loop hike would be my last stop in the North Cascades. On my way there I passed another scenic lake, Ross Lake and toured its massive honeycomb patterned dam.  The Maple Pass Loop started at Rainy Pass and went up to two other named passes. Here was the view out to a glacial lake at the first pass.  This portrait captures the loop, starting from the left beyond Lake Ann, then circling the ridge, to a high crest to the right of my location, then heading down the far right slope to Rainy Lake, then home.  Here I am starting my descent down: hill conquered! Once down, I drove east to Washington Pass, a gorgeous pass with the Liberty Bell mountain shining proudly.  Continuing on past full campgrounds:( I drove through lovely colored valleys filled with farms and life. Then I saw a sign for a Blues Featival, the Winthrop Rhythem and Blues Festival to be exact. I had wanted to go to a festival!  $10 for the first night included parking (aka campin

I drove to the center of North Cascades Park to learn that it's most famous pass, Cascade Pass was accessed from a 23 mile dirt road behind me. I drove past the visitor center to the well-named Diablo Lake, a Emerald lake that had a certain devilish quality.  I eventually decided to back track and drive to Cascade Pass, but it was too late in the day to start this ambitious 4,000 foot elevation gain hike, so I instead settled into a lovely, remote campground near the Pass. I did laundry, ate dinner and read until midnight.  The next morning I was cursing myself: I had "wasted" a perfect weather afternoon reading and now, this next morning, it was cloudy and foggy. I decided to hike up to the pass late morning in hopes that the weather would clear. The mountains at the trailhead loomed overhead.  I hiked in total fog, not seeing any views, all the way up the forested hillside 4 miles to the pass. Then I rounded the bend and wham! Views. Clear. I loved the symmetry of this