Canada Trip - 7-18

It was a full days drive to reach Crater Lake (my route was Hwy. 58 east from Eugene to Hwy. 97 south and then into the park on Hwy. 138).  It might seem like the long way around but it these were roads that I had not traveled.  Got to the park about 7:00 PM and secured a camping space.  No reception of either cell phone of 3G device for computer access. 
In the morning I headed up to make the drive around the "rim" road.  The day started out to be nice but a storm was visible coming from the southwest.  With the "rim" drive being above 7,000` elevation I could see cloudy weather a long ways off in the distance.
How about some pictures of this large collapsed volcano and the water that filled it in?  Below is Wizard Island which is a secondary volcanic eruption in the middle of Crater Lake.

This is one of the widest views available of most of the lake.  Wizard Island is in the distance just to the right of center.

There was still some snow but off to the sides of the road.  The next shot is a different look at Wizard Island with a little more sun.  The rain clouds had by now passed to the south and were gone.

Next is a view of the island from a point about 400` above the rim drive road.  It was a hike up to a fire lookout tower that had a commanding panaroma of the lake.

Just to give you some prospective of the size of the island, that white streak at the lower left is one of the lake tour boats.  I think it holds about 20-25 people and gives tours around the lake and even lets people get off and hike on the island.  Unfortunatly it was booked up for the next several weeks. 

This gives you a look at the fire lookout tower on top of this hill - it is the square form at the top of the right most peak.  It was about a 30 minute hike up and well worth the time.

Here is the plaque about the hike up to the tower.  The next three pictures are view panning from right to left around the lake from the top of this highest vantage point.

You can see my truck and other vehicles at the left, giving you an idea of the spectacular view from this peak.

One last look (from the top) panning a little farther to the left showing some of the patches of snow.  I recomend a trip to visit Crater Lake and see it for yourself. 
When I woke up  the next morning at Crater Lake and decided that I was "done traveling".  So, after breakfast, about 9:30 AM, I started driving towards home.  After a stop at the factory where my camper was manufactured near Sacramento for about an hour, I got home at 11:30 PM that same day.  About 15 hours of driving and I was home - sleeping in my OWN bed. 
It was a good trip and I covered almost 6,000 miles in about 6+ weeks.  Got to see a lot of beautiful country and made many new friends.
I hope you had as much fun following my rambelings as I did recording them.  Below is the camper cleaned / waxed / vacumed out and covered up until the next trip.  That`s the best "sad" face I could come up with!!!!

And now for "winter" in Santa Barbara!
Carpe Diem

Canada Trip - 7-17

After spending time around the central Oregon area, it was time to hit the road again.  I was killing some time waiting for the weather to clear at Crater Lake.  I know, I was there about a month ago (for those of you that actually follow the blog) but the snow was to deep and not cleared around the lake.  I decided to stop by and get to make the "rim" drive around the lake - hopefully. 
I set out to drive over to the west coast of Oregon and see the Pacific Ocean.  Of course when I am home, I could ride downtown and see the ocean anytime.  It was a beautiful road lined with tall trees and a large river that was quite full.

Great roads but I would not like to ride my bicycle on them since there are a lot of logging trucks.  They drive like they would happily run over a cyclist just for sport.  That is probably a little extreme but ........

Above you can see the work of logging operations in years past on the hill above the road where the trees have been harvested.
So much for that drive, I then headed east to Crater Lake via Hwy, 58 which is an excellent road.  I got to the park about 7:00 PM and got a camping spot.  No more pictures this day.
Catch you tomorrow.

Canada Trip - 7-16

Today I decided to get my bicycle out and ride the great bike path that connects many of the Covered Bridges.  It also goes for about 14 miles up around Dorena Lake which is east of town.  I was not content with that so I found a road that went up into a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) forest for another 15 miles.  That was enough, especially by the time I got back (working against a head wind) but it was worth the push.

The bicycle path was away from the road and was a perfect surface to ride.  The day was a little overcast and 20% chance of rain but the temp. was just right.  This next shot is looking out over the lake (facing west).

The only "wild life" I saw was this 1.5 foot long snake, sunning it`s self on the path.  I stopped to get this picture and decided to leave when it started to hiss at me.  There were no "rattles" on the tail so I was reasonably sure it was not a danger to me.

On my ride I found this wooded creek at the turn-around point on my ride.  A beautiful area.

One more look at the bicycle path on the way back to my truck.

This neat old barn was just off  the bicycle path.

That`s all that is worth including for now.  I am off to Crater Lake (again) to hopefully drive around the entire roadway (I assume that the snow is now cleared).
Adios Amigos

Canada Trip - 15

A little farther south on Hwy. 5, my objective was an area I read about in a travel magazine that a volunteer gave me in Silver Falls Park.  It is the town of Cottage Grove, Or. which is just south of Eugene, Or.  The "hook" was that they have the highest concentrations of Covered Bridges west of the Mississippi River.  This community also has a bicycle trail that connects most of them in "Lane" county.  That was enough for me.  Of course the day I arrived there was Sunday and the visitor`s office was closed (it was actually being used for church services).  Not having a clue where to find anything, I started to drive down a residential street.  I was hoping to find someone to ask for directions.  Seeing this "older" couple working on their front yard, I stopped.  They pulled out all kinds of maps and brochettes about the area and proceded to give them to me.  After talking to them for a while, it turns out they lived in Ventura, Ca. for about 30 years (for those of you who do not know southern California) which is about 30 miles south of Santa Barbara, Ca. - go figure!
I know enough with to writing and more with the pictures.......

This first one is a reconstructed Covered Bridge right in the downtown area.  It is for walker & bicycles only and is very acturately re-built.

I toured most of the other bridges in the area by truck since it was to late to get in a bicycle ride.  I will just show you several of them, mose are closed to vehicles but two are open to traffic.

The framing of these structures was impressive to have stood the test of time.  Balow some of the jointery on this bridge.

The rods are an important part of the loading from one set of beams to another.

The above bridge was in use for vehicles but not over 8 tons.  As you can see in the next shot it handled bicycles quite well.  While I was there a cyclist happened to be riding across followed by a car.

As you can see this one is blocked off and has unfortunatly suffered some graffitti over the years.  It is also the only one I saw that is painted "two toned".

I was able to drive through this bridge to a small parking lot on the other side.  Of course I had to get a picture of my "rig" in the covered bridge!

There is some heavy duty bracing on this bridge and has a large steel plate (under and in front) that carries the load of the cross braces.  The two nuts are different, showing that repairs have been made to it over the years.

I like the windows in this one, they give it a more New England feel but don`t tell that to anyone out here.

I guess this sign should have been at the beganing but I did not see it until later.  Looks like they are quite proud of their Covered Bridges.
I was poking around in the main downtown area and saw this sign.  I will end this blog with it.

Carry on as best you can, more later......

Canada Trip - 14

My friend Mary called as I was headed into Oregon and told me about a great State Park that I should not miss.  The timing was perfect, since I was about 100 miles north of Salem, Oregon.  Silver Falls State Park is just east of Hwy. 5 at Salem on Hwy 214 about 25 miles (for those of you that might care to ever find it).  It is part of the largest park in Oregon and has some great hiking opportunities.  I know, to much dribble not enough pictures.  OK.

This is just one of the ten falls on a 2.5 hour hike through the river valley.  The falls are so big that on several of  them the trail goes in behind / underneath the falling water.  This is Middle North Falls which drops 106` and if you look closely people are visible just to the right of the falls.  This gives you some prospective of the size and this is one of the smaller ones.

This called North Falls and the trail can be seen to the left, back up under the cliff.  The next is the same falls but a look more to the left (but from the other side) and you can see large wooden benches by the trail.

These falls are amazing and being able to walk behind them is very cool.

It is basically a tropical forest and this next view of the trees is typical of the area.  Lots of moss!

Several falls are lower but still very picturesque.  This one is right on the river and nicely framed by the forest.

Along side the trail is a bounty of ferns and moss growing on everything.

Looking out through the falling water is an interesting view like the next picture.

How about another one of the falls?

South Falls which drops 177` is next and the last one on the hike (going the direction I went).  The people (the small things up under the dark rock) really give it the impact of it`s size.

This is the view looking down of the water entering the pool below.  Kind a "artsy" sort of shot. 

One last look at South Falls but from the other side - it definitely drew the crows since it is the closest to the main area in the park. 
I hiked down what is called the "River Trail" and hiked back on the "Rim Trail" which took about 3.5 hours hiking time round trip.  It is not to stressful since I saw everyone from young children to people older than me (I know, is that possible ?) hiking and enjoying the views. 

This is a look at the Rim Trail and still lots of ferns.  A great return hike to my truck and a very easy trail.

I am so glad the Mary suggested it to me and now I am suggesting it to you.

Get out there and enjoy!!!!!