Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Crater Lake and the Rogue River

October 16 - Our last full sightseeing day of this trip and our last National Park was to Crater Lake.  We drove the short distance from Diamond Lake to the North entry, passed the unmanned gate and south to the Rim Road.  We had one construction delay and several inches of roadside snow before arriving  at about 7,000 feet elevation.  At the junction with the Rim Road we saw that the Eastern turn on the Rim Road was closed for the season - snow has come early this year.  

We drove around to the Rim Village which is toward the southern side of the crater.  We parked near the Lodge and went in to check out having lunch or and early dinner.  Nope, the lodge was shutting down at 11:00 am.  They had served breakfast but that is it for the year.  The back deck overlooking the lake was closed as a precaution against "falling icicles."  We walk around the snow -covered Rim Trail to the Visitor Center snapping photos.  The weather was very clear, cool but warming and the lake was glassy-smooth, full of reflections.  A picture postcard kind of day.




Since there was no lunch in the Lodge and we could not walk very far and decided we had spent enough time at the rim, we decided to drive down off the rim to the lower Visitor Center for a brief stop and then to Union Creek.  This "wide spot in the road" is on the Rogue River and has a lodge and two small eateries.  We stopped at the Rogue Gorge Overlook - where the river goes through a ten-foot wide, steep walled canyon for a quarter mile.  It was created from an old lava tube.  


Partial lava tube above and a plugged one below

We then drove a mile or so further to another overlook featuring a natural bridge.  This also was formed by a lava tube.  Most or all of the flow of the river (depending on the runoff amounts and season) goes through the tube.  At both places there are many picturesque cascades and potholes (circular indentations caused by swirling water that uses small rocks to grind out the shape).


The inlet to the lava tube

We then stopped at Beckies, in Union Creek, for root beer floats.  We had easy drive back to Diamond Lake without any construction delays.



Monday, October 16, 2017

Mt. St. Helens

October 14 - After an all night power outage at the Lucky Mud Inn, not their fault and not disruptive, and a delightful breakfast, we drove to Mt. St. Helens.  

But first, breakfast was french toast, locally sourced bacon and plenty of coffee.  The proprietor who greeted us last night was on duty by himself; his wife was traveling in California.  We had a long chat about playing disc golf.  He and his wife are professional players, had a variety of resources like a guide to courses worldwide and monthly magazines that listed upcoming tournaments, and had laid out two courses that inn guests could play.  They get both competitive players and total newbies trying out the courses.

We drove approximately 100 east miles to Mt. St. Helens National Monument, going directly to the Johnson Ridge Visitors Center, literally at the 'end of the road' at about 5,000 feet elevation and directly facing the blasted side of the mountain.  It is a nice  visitor center, built in 1997, with a variety of exhibits, a theatre, and lots of ranger presentations.  The last time we were here (more than 20 years ago), there was a Coldwater Lake Center, set down in a basin, but this building  has totally disappeared.  



The weather was fine with a good view of the mountain, the dome, and the surrounding land.  Trees are growing taller and the blasted  ground was a nice shade of green.



We drove home to Portland, getting back in time for laundry, repacking for the last leg of our tour, dropping off the rental van and attending a symphony (for Betsy and me).  

October 15 - We were up and on the road again, this time south on I-5 to Eugene, then southeast over Willamette Pass to Diamond Lake Lodge.

After arriving and checking into a semi-rustic motel unit, we completed a 3-mile stroll along the bike path that encircles Daimond Lake (it is a little over 11 miles around) and then had dinner in the lodge's Bailey Room, while watching a baseball game on TV.  

We had a nice views of Mt Thielsen and Mt.Bailey, and we think spotted a few Paciific loons and buffleheads on the lake.

Mt. Thielsen 


Mt Bailey


Friday, October 13, 2017

Over the river and through the woods

October 13 - After a lot of driving and some interesting sights, we arrived at the end of the road and in the middle of nowhere.  We are staying at the Lucky Mud Inn and Disc Golf Resort.  It is approximately 6 miles inland from the town of Skamokawa, WA.  It's four rooms are spacious, well heated and attractive.  Since only 2 guest rooms were available this evening, Elaine is bunking with Betsy and me.  She gets the twin bed and we the queen.  We had a warm welcome from the host even though we arrived in the dark.  We may learn more about the disc golf set up tomorrow morning.

Our day began in Kalaloch, followed by a short drive to Lake Quinault Lodge for breakfast.  We ate and then walked around the Lodge.  Betsy and I had stayed here many years ago and continue to find it a very pleasant place.

Lake Quinault Lodge

Interior of the Lodge

The backside of the Lodge

The Lodge's rain gauge 

View from Lodge

We then drove south, stopping at South Bend on the Wllapa River for a rest and short 'leg stretch.'  South Bend is famous for its oysters and the processing plants were in full swing.

We then drove all the way to Skamokawa and walked two miles in part of the Julia Hansen Butler White-Tailed Deer Nature Preserve.  Elaine spotted the only deer to appear.  There was a Port of Portland dredge working in the river channel, piping the spoils to an island downstream. We also watched a Northern Harrier hovering about over a slough full of Canada geese.  And Betsy spotted a praying mantis that walked out of the roadside grasses.  We think it was looking for sun.

Northern Harrier


Since it was still early afternoon, we let Elaine, Barbara and Paul choose the next destination.  They chose Astoria, OR and we drove there.  We went across the Astoria-Megler Bridge, parked in town by the Astoria Film Museum and the Captain James Favel House.  We did a short walk to see some additional Victorian homes and the Garden of Surging Waves (a memorial to Chinese immigrants) before stopping at the Wet Dog Brewpub, affiliated with Astoria Brewing.  Since the B&B for the night has no restaurant, we decided to have an early dinner and then drive to the Lucky Mud Inn.  Before leaving Astoria we walked along the docks past the resident horde of bellowing sea lions.  Some were swirling and wrestling in the water but most were camped on the rocks.


A Day at the Beach

October 12 - Today was restful, at least as much as we can stand.  The car did not move.  After early morning rain,  the day was mostly dry and pleasant.

After breakfast, we walked 2.5 miles north on the beach and back.  The first section was along Route 101 to the adjacent campground, passing over Kalaloch Creek/Lagoon, which was black with tannins.  We passed through the campground, and down the bluff onto the wide beach.  Low tide was an hour later.  The beach was flat, very sandy, and littered with small razor clam shells and occasionally whole and partial sand dollars.  We each found  a few whole ones.  I might try to make coasters with mine.

Tree of Life or Tree Cave, a local tourist attraction

We walked to the end of the beach to a small outcropping of rocks with a few small tide pools.  The tide was coming in by now and the anemones, both pink and green, were just beginning to open up again.  There were barnacles (regular type and what we think are called 'goosenecks"), mussels, gulls, and a few cormorants sunning themselves on the outer rocks.

Sea Anemones


We returned to the Lodge for tea and snacks in our room.

The rest of the afternoon was 'free time.'  Betsy and I did a short beach stroll, going south from the Lodge, seeing not much new except for a soaring and then perching Bald Eagle.  We reached our room just before a short rain squall.

Bald Eagle

Dinner was again at the Lodge restaurant.  Phil enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder followe by 2 small crab cakes, while Betsy had a spinach salad with marionberries and smoked salmon.

Kalaloch Lodge

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Rain Forests

October 11 - Moving on again today, to Kalaloch on the Washington Coast, yet still in the Olympic National Park.  We drove first from Lake Crescent Lodge westward then south, passing the town of Forks.  After a few more miles south we turned 'left' (or east) up the Hoh River Road to the Visitor Center of the same name.  This visitor center is the start of the approach hike for mountaineers wishing to climb Mt.Olympus.  It is 17 miles to the base of the Blue Glacier, on the north side of the mountain.  


We parked  and walked two short nature trails - the Spruce Trail and Hall of Mosses Trail.  We were in rain forests but only got a smattering of rain.  The Spruce Trail wound through a lowland forest of giant Hemlock, Firs, and most notably Stika Spruce.  There were lots of ferns, Club Moss, young trees growing on nurse logs, and majestic Spruce towering more than 200 feet above us.  The trail went by the Hoh River, another wide river rock expanse with a small meandering water channel.  Fall Coho salmon use the river, though we saw no evidence of them.



The Hall of Mosses Trail was a bit higher in elevation than the Spruce Trail and thus passed through a more stable "old growth" forest.  The trail was named for the variety of mosses that covered the ground and hung down from tree branches along with other epiphytes (air plants).  Interestingly, the Big Leaf Maple trees had the most hanging moss.  There were also an interesting array of fungi as mushrooms, "shelf fungi," and ground cover mosses.  There were lots of mature coniferous trees in straight lines and often with visible roots, which were the survivors that sprouted from nursery logs that rotted out long ago.




On the drive out, we came upon a group of stopped cars - an obvious sign of some interesting sighting.  Sure enough, we saw 5 to 6 female Roosevelt Elk and one male with an impressive rack by the road side.  We lingered, dodging other cars, to take photos and just plain watch.  The elk, all very healthy looking, were eating their way through the forest undergrowth.




We drove out to Route 101 and went south-west to the coastline, stopping at Ruby Beach.  The guides say this is the best beach for sightseeing but not the reason why.  We scrambled down to find a log-filled beach adjacent to a stream also filled with drift logs, like giant pick-up sticks, The beach was sandy up to the high tide line and was covered with round, polished basalt stones above the tide line.  There were a number of rugged sea stacks just off shore, the source of the round rocks.  We strolled the length of the beach looking at interesting rocks, seaweed, and other surf detritus.  The sun was shining, the sky very blue, and the air calm, which we thought remarkable and fortuitous.  We later learned that Ruby Beach was named after tiny garnets that can be found in the sand, and it was a gem of a beach. 




We drove a few  miles past Beaches 4 and 3 (apparently only significant beaches get a name - the rest here just get numbers) and into to Kalaloch Lodge.  The lodge is built on a bluff overlooking the beach and Kalaloch Creek, with a distant lighthouse (on Destruction Island). There are 44 individual cabins,10 rooms in the lodge, and a 10-unit motel section (in which we are staying. -  in a nicely fitted and spacious room).  We had a nice dinner in the lodge restaurant.  The menu showed imagination.  Phil had "Chicken and Egg" - half a roasted chicken with a spicy cream sauce accompanied by creamy polenta topped with a poached egg.  Paul had a vegan lasagna - layers of fresh vegetables with tofu; and I had Manila clams in a spicy curry sauce.  Elaine and Barbara both had Elk burgers which came with onion jam and jalapeño aoili sauce.


There are no phones, cell coverage, WiFi nor TVs here, so it will be a couple of days before you see this.     

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Sol Duc Valley

October 10 - Today was our second day at Lake Crescent Lodge on the north side of the Olympic National Park.  Our excursion was into the Sol Duc Valley to a hot springs resort, ranger station, campground and trailheads at the end of the road, approximately 15 miles from Route 101.

To get to the Sol Duc turn off, we had to pass another road construction project, which at mid-morning did not require a 30-minute delay.

On the road, south side of Lake Crescent
 
We arrived at the resort and had a quick look around.  There were lots of folks soaking in the hot spring pools out back.

We drove to the end of the road and began our hikes for the day.  All 5 of us walked the one mile through the rain forest up to Sol Duc Falls, a triple falls on the Sol Duc River.

Note the alternate spelling 



Cute Douglas squirrel

It was mostly a level path along the river in an old growth forest of large hemlock and Douglas fir trees, and lots of moss, ferns, and 'dampness.'

Sol Duc Falls

Betsy and I continued on up 1,700 feet and 3 miles to Deer Lake.  There was a 50% chance of showers today, which seemed to me to convert to "50% of the time it rained.  "The hike was a typical NW "forest walk" with little to no views, lots of rocks and roots on or in the trail, and lots of moisture  We even had wet snow flurries just as we arrived at the lake.

Deer Lake at 3,700 ft.

A solo, very small duck on Deer Lake

Elaine, Barbara and Paul walked the Lover's Lane Trail from the falls back to the Hot Springs Resort, a distance of 3 miles on undulating terrain.  They reported seeing lots of trees and some very large ferns.

Betsy and I were a little late on our estimate of when we would get back and retrieve the others.  So I hustled down the trail for the last 2 miles, got the car and picked Elaine, Barbara and Paul up and returned to trailhead just as Betsy emerged.  She and I covered nearly 8 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain.  The others completed 4 miles.

We arrived back to the lodge in time for showers, to get warm and dry.  And, then enjoyed another  nice dinner in the lodge restaurant.

Lake Crescent Lodge

Lodge Parlor