Road Trip Daily

While waiting for the repairman to test my phone, I visited Harris Beach. My digital camera was working again, although the timer and digital zoom and menus were not functioning.  The rocky crag beach views were sublime. I've found myself afraid of water now...so I climbed a rock to take this picture. Then I got the bad news: my phone was fried and data gone.  My attempt to charge the phone had likely fried the motherboard.   As my friend Bobby said when I told him of the dead phone: "Such is the lot of the adventuring phone."  I  didn't want to plop down $750 for another iPhone, so I called my Dad and had him mail my old iPhone 5 to my sister's house (thanks Dad!).  I bought a $20 Android phone to use over the next few days and continued my west coast journey. I drove to the Redwood Park, but the campgrounds were full, so I drove through the northeast section of the park and found a campsite along a winding National Forest road.  I stopped at...

The drive down the southern Oregon coast from Cape Blanco to Cape Sebatian to Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor is one the most beautiful stretches of coastal road in the world. Samuel Boardman State Scenic Corridor is its crowning jewel-- a 12 mile park with countless viewpoints and cove beaches.  This was me at the Arch Rock park. Thunder Cove: If you look closely to the left of the triangle rock, you can see the small channel I tried to cross unsuccessfully, soaking my phone and camera:(  I was pissed off and camera-less, so I quickly drove through the rest of the park to the town of Brookings. In Brookings, I found an AT&T store but I couldn't replace the phone as I had just purchased it and Apple doesn't replace phones with water damage.  The lady at AT&T mentioned an iPhone repair specialist in town, but he was closed today.   I decided to stay in town and wait for the repairman to open tomorrow.  I went to a movie then camped in...

One week ago, my phone went swimming in the Pacific Ocean.  I had stupidly left my phone (my only computer on this trip) and my digital camera in my pocket while I crossed a shallow channel at the beautiful Secret Cove beach in southern Oregon.  When the sand behind a rock suddenly disappeared, I sunk down to my waist and soaked both devices.  I was able to recover my digital camera but the phone died when I tried to charge it.  With my old phone back in use, this blog is now back in action. A historic lighthouse on the beautiful Oregon Coast near Bandon was my first stop.  The stone pier stretched deep into the Pacific and made me feel like a sailor in a storm.  Horses walking between the craggy rocks gave the nearby Face Rock Scenic Viewpoint a surreal feel. My first hike of the day was at Floras Lake State Park, down a three mile stretch of beach with 100 foot cliffs towering beside.  With nowhere to escape if a rogue wave came up, I felt...

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 mil...

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 dr...

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 ...