The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

50 years gone, let’s celebrate at the coast

Currently in Rocky Point, Oregon mostly cloudy, breezy, and 57 degrees F, with a chance of thunderstorms with snow? predicted for tonight.

So very glad that this forecast wasn’t around last week when we were on the Oregon coast, enjoying gorgeous sunny skies and nary a bit of fog. When we planned this trip last spring, our comment to our California friends was all about how gorgeous, warm, and fog free the coast usually is in early fall. We had no clue that a huge storm would blow through just a few days before our arrival, or that the predictions for continued rain and wind would be all wrong.

Long time blog readers have heard me mention Maryruth often, my lifetime friend. This month we are celebrating 50 years of friendship. It isn’t often that friends can stay close, much less even in touch with each other after so many years. Especially since we didn’t grow up together, or go to school together. Maryruth and I met over the neighborhood fence in 1963, both of us young mothers with babies. Even though life circumstances took us thousands of miles apart many times, we never lost each other. The friendship cemented in those early days has stood the test of time.

Congratulations to US!

Maryruth and her husband Gerald don’t have an RV, and haven’t been tent camping in some time either, so a yurt at an Oregon State Park was the perfect solution. Especially the great yurt at space C2 in Harris Beach State Park. The site is huge and just a step back from the front ocean view sites, but also boasts a very long, paved RV pad with electricity, water, and cable TV. The yurt also has electric, with a nice heater that came in handy on the cool coastal evenings. Good thing we had reservations, since the fall is high season for yurt camping on the Oregon coast.

Our friends drove from California to spend the night with us in Rocky Point before we caravanned over to the coast on a cool, cloudy afternoon. Of course, we had to stop on the way in at the Chetco Seafood Company for the best fish and chips ever. (Just proves that you can’t always tell how good something might be by the reviews).

Since they were driving their car and we didn’t have ours, we thought it might be a good idea to stop for supper with the MoHo so that Abby could wait ‘patiently’ while we ate rather than leaving her in the park. The restaurant has a big parking lot adjacent to the harbor where she can bark away and won’t bother anyone. Not such a great idea in a campground.

By the time we settled into our comfy site the clouds were lifting and the skies promised good weather for the next few days instead of the gloomy forecast on weatherunderground. Of course, as anyone knows, forecasting the weather on the Oregon coast is not an easy thing to do.

On our second day at the park, we decided to just lay low and enjoy the beach walks, the trails, and sitting in the campsite reading and visiting. We had a campfire every single night thanks to Mo packing up firewood in big bins that just barely fit inside the MoHo, but it was enough. Tuesday evening we finally made it to O’Holleran’s Steak House, an old Brookings institution. We had heard good things about their food and thought as many times as we have been to Brookings, we should at least say we had tried it out.

Dinner was ‘nice’, with the $31. price of the New York Steak special quite high for the ambience of the place. One of the nicest amenities was a note on the menu that said if you want to share a meal, there would be an extra $3.50 charge, which would include an extra plate, an extra potato, and bread, and vegetable. There was still only one salad for this price, but Mo and I shared our dinner and had more than enough salad, and since we can never eat a full restaurant meal, the sharing option was really nice. Maryruth and Gerald shared their New York Steak with Blue Cheese special as well. What a great idea.

The food was decent, the steak was good, but the restaurant itself doesn’t have the atmosphere that I associate with that kind of price. Although I must say that the service was impeccable. Glad we did it, won’t have to do it again.

That morning, as we walked around the park, I passed a great big 40 footer parked up on the front row. Something looked very familiar to me, and I told Mo that I was sure I must know whoever was in that rig. I kept looking and then thought…hmmmm….it is an Endeavor, now who do I know with an Endeavor?! But wait….I thought Nina and Paul were off to the east side of the Sierras on 395 already? Nope…I checked their website and lo and behold they were in Brookings.

After a few years adjusting to this blogging thing, I have learned that it isn’t exactly cool to just bop up to someone’s rig and bang on the door, so I sent Nina a note inviting her over to our fire. Within minutes she showed up with sweet Polly and we chatted up a storm. Of course, Nina and I couldn’t stay off blogging and traveling subjects and Maryruth and Gerald thought the conversation wasn’t all that exciting! Ha! Guess it is like the old days when I would have soil scientist friends to dinner and the spouses would roll their eyes at all the work talk.

Nina wanted to know about all the exciting things to do in Brookings since we come here so often. I looked at Mo, and couldn’t think of a thing. Geez. We love it here, but most of the time that is because we can do nothing. I wasn’t much good at local recommendations. When Nina asked what to do I said, “Go to Bandon?” Harris Beach is fabulous for just hanging in the campsite, relaxing, walking the beach and the trails and enjoying down time until the sunset shows up.

I followed my own advice and on Wednesday Maryruth and Gerald and I took their car up to Bandon to explore all the wonders of that sweet little town that, unlike Brookings, actually DOES have a cute downtown old town area. Mo thought it was nice to stay home with Abby since she has been to Bandon many times.

It was a perfect day for coastal driving, with gorgeous sunny skies and warm temperatures. Mo suggested that we stop in Port Orford and check out the boat lift, thinking Gerald might get a kick out of it. As many times as we have driven that part of the coast, I had never stopped at the lovely Visitor Center or been down to the docks to see the famous lift, one of only six in the world and only two in the US.

As luck would have it, there was a fishing boat coming into the dock while we were there, and we got to see the famous lift in action. We watched in fascination as the fishing boat was lifted up by a hook and just four ropes and dropped down easily on a big old wooden trailer.

There is much more to do in tiny Port Orford than I realized and I added the Lifeboat Station Museum to the list of future todo’s, in addition to going to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, but on this day Bandon was waiting.

Our first stop in Bandon was Tony’s Crab Shack where I had fresh grilled halibut with cilantro lime, Maryruth had fresh steamed clams, and Gerald had a rock cod sandwich. So fresh, so good! YUM.

Back another block from the waterfront we found the Coastal Mist chocolate shop. As we walked through the door the rich, warm aroma of really good chocolate welcomed us into this beautiful little store full of the most amazing chocolate ever. Trained in Belgium, the owners are chocolate makers par excellence! I had never tasted “sipping chocolate”, and believe you me, it is nothing whatsoever like your everyday cup of hot chocolate. It was beyond incredible, and so rich and so decadent. Of course I came away with a little bag of solid gold/er chocolate truffles and a big chunk of pure Belgian chocolate.

After browsing a gorgeous gallery that almost tempted Maryruth to spend a half year’s salary on a clock, we ambled off to the new Face Rock Creamery, built to replace the old Bandon Creamery that had such a great Bandon history. Sold to the Tillamook Cheese company, the owners lost their rights to the Bandon Cheese name. Bandon Cheese is now made under contract by Tillamook Cheese somewhere in Wisconsin. Check out this website. Sheesh. We still like Bandon Cheese that we can buy at Fred Meyer, but it isn’t really Bandon Cheese.

Face Rock Cheese is wonderful, and the owner is the original Bandon cheesemaker’s son. I asked if there was any cheese that tasted like the old Bandon cheddar and the cashier laughed and said, “No, not yet, We haven’t been open long enough! Just leave it in the fridge for a few months and you’ll have it”.

Hoping for an ice cream dessert so touted by so many visitors, we decided instead that the money was better spent on cheese goodies. The ice cream is great, but it isn’t made by Face Rock, and we can get Umpqua ice cream any time.

Home after a great day, we cooked up a good supper of spaghetti and salad, eating one more time at the big picnic table with another roaring campfire. I think it was a perfect way to celebrate our “anniversary”.

On Thursday we had a leisurely departure from the park, driving through the brilliant light and dark shadows along the Smith River, past Jedediah Smith State Park, and home to the cottage in Grants Pass. The celebration wasn’t yet over. Maryruth and Gerald decided to stay in town for a couple of days to check out the area, see the cottage, visit with Deb (who is almost like a niece to Maryruth) and share some more great meals with us before they went back to California.

Grants Pass has a great downtown area, with historic buildings, some nice art installations, and several annual festivals. Saturday and Sunday was the annual “Art Along the Rogue” festival, a celebration of street art. I guess that street artists are a genre of their own, and I only saw them some time ago when visiting downtown Pasadena. I loved having such a cosmopolitan event right there in our second adopted home town. Both main streets were shut down to traffic so the artists could create these amazing images with chalk on asphalt. Ephemeral, beautiful, like a sand castle, they are created, we enjoy them, and they then disappear. I actually do wonder just how long they last after the traffic opens again.

Maryruth and Gerald left for home, and Deb, Mo and I wandered the town, discovering the fabulous Saturday market where I bought more goodies than I really wanted to carry. We then met up with our neighbors, Wes and Gayle who were also at the market, and wanted to come and see the cottage before they leave for their winter home in Arizona this week. We then ran into a bunch of folks from Rocky Point who were visiting the festival as well. So much social stuff! Geez, for someone who isn’t very social, this was a LOT of interaction. 10-05-2013 Art on the Rogue

When we got back to Rocky Point on Sunday afternoon, I was so very very glad to be home where I didn’t have to talk any more. Except for one little surprise. My sister Sal, who was a medical transcriptionist, lost her job to changing technology, and instead of sitting around moaning, decided to go to truck driving school and become a truck driver. I hadn’t seen her since Easter, and she was in Klamath Falls for just a quick turn around before getting back out on the road.

My baby sister, at 63 years young, is now a big rig driver! Sheesh! the girl has guts, always has. She is trying to get her tractor fixed up a bit with some girly stuff, and asked me to make a quilt for her that had LOTS OF COLOR!. So I did. I was glad to have the top finished at least to show her when I drove into town for our quickie visit.

So now, finally, it is Tuesday, and I really don’t have to talk any more. Once I hit the PUBLISH button for this blog, I don’t even have to write any more. I don’t have to do a dang thing! At least not today. Tomorrow it might be time to pull out the Halloween decorations, trim back the summer foliage for winter, wander around taking photos of the fall colors, and maybe catch up on the Homeland DVD’s that showed up in the mail yesterday.

Home again, Gone again, Home again

Rocky Point, Oregon partly cloudy and 51 degrees F

I think anyone who travels knows about the “getting ready to leave” feeling. Energy is high, plans are coming together, dates filling in with routes, new roads are calling, or old roads are waiting. Since we don’t full-time travel, there is also the energy of “coming home”. Like a horse to the barn, I am, and that going home thing sometimes gets in the way of seeing all I might see on the route.

But not this time. On our way home from Magical Joseph, we took a long meandering route through parts of Oregon not yet traveled. Once back in Rocky Point, I caught up on the blog (almost), whipped up a quilt top for my sister, had a great visit with a fellow retired soil scientist, was treated to a fabulous dinner at Wes and Gayle’s next door, and then in only 10 days we were on the road again. And this time I didn’t even take a computer with me! Oh dear…thank goodness for the photos.

I guess it really IS a good thing that I am no longer employed, since I would have been off work anyway with the government shutdown, and who has time to work anyway.

But back to the beginning, the route home from Joseph. I am sitting here at my desk looking out on the dusky evening light, trying very hard to slip back in time so I can actually feel what I am writing about, because as often happens, on that last run home, I didn’t have a moment to even keep a note. I keep thinking of Erin, who is posting little teasers from her Greenland and Iceland adventures, and I just hope that she has time to write while traveling. How in the world can anyone keep track of such adventures?!

Then of course there is Sherry, who posts such beautifully illustrated stories of their hikes and kayak adventures, and like me, is usually posting about what happened a week or so in the past. And Nina, fabulous Nina of Wheeling It, who writes so eloquently about their travels, does superb campground reviews, and posts well researched blogs about all sorts of pertinent subjects.

So…what was I saying? Oh yes….back to the photos….and the map.

Leaving Joseph in early afternoon, with only a little over 80 miles to our next destination, we weren’t in any big hurry. Back near the interstate at La Grande, we found a WalMart for some groceries and were amazed at how hot it was at 5PM. Sure wouldn’t want to be boondocking in THAT parking lot, although it is a place where overnight parking is allowed.

Instead we traveled a few miles northwest on I-84 to Hilgard Junction State Park. We knew there would be no hookups, but the tall cottonwoods were shady and the evening was cooling off, so with the windows open and the fan going, everything was just perfect.

Covered wagons on the Oregon Trail were hoisted down the nearby hill, and there is a nice little kiosk at the park with stories of the pioneer travelers. It was a restful stop, with the Grande Ronde River flowing adjacent to the campground. The water wasn’t deep enough for Abby to even get over her knees, but she still enjoyed splashing around a bit. There are 18 primitive sites at the campground, right off the freeway, but the noise didn’t bother us much since the freeway is elevated and the sound didn’t come down much. It wouldn’t be a destination campsite for sure, but it was a great overnight for just 9 bucks.

We took our time the next morning, and continued west along highway 244, a very winding but lovely road with no traffic at all. Even after we intersected with Highway 395 the traffic was light, with truck length limits keeping the truck traffic level low. Not a problem for the MoHo at all, all the way to John Day and Clyde Holiday State Park where we thought we might spend the night. Just off 395 is a narrow side road to Ritter and the site of Ritter Hot Springs, but it was a bummer to find the springs closed for the “season” and a gate across the old road. We were just glad we had managed to find a place to turn the MoHo around at least.

When we reached Clyde Holiday, it was too early in the day to really want to stop, and with plenty of water and charged batteries we thought it would be better to boondock somewhere. Turning south from John Day, we visited the little town of Canyon City, another gold story of course, and then meandered up the hill to the west of Strawberry Mountain to the Starr National Forest Campground. (good thing the government wasn’t closed back then!)

Starr was interesting, with several sites and no one at all in the campground. You know how that is when there are too many choices, we drove around a bunch trying to decide which one before settling in to the most level spot. The campground is near the road, but road noise was again not a problem. I guess 395 isn’t too busy this time of year, at least on this section.

I have heard of the Strawberry Mountains for years, and looking at the map, we found a road that circled the wilderness. It was just long enough for a good drive in the baby car with views of the mountains, and the headwaters of the John Day River. We even found a beautiful campground that would be a nice place to stay to hike the wilderness and bike some very nice mountain biking trails nearby. So many places, so many hikes. I would love to go back someday and hike into the beautiful lakes in these mountains.

The next day we continued south along the 395 corridor, and discovered more little towns and one amazing huge ranch. The highway bisects the ranch, and once I had internet I had to look it up. What a story! The Silvies Valley was beautiful and reading about the history of the ranch, how it started with an old Oregon family more than 100 years ago, was lost to California developers and went bankrupt twice, and is now back in the loving care of an Oregon family made my heart sing. Check out the Silvies Valley Ranch website! circling the Strawberry Wilderness

Once we passed Burns and turned south toward Lakeview, the landscape was oh so familiar. This is the part of 395 we both have traveled many times, separately and together, and still the desert views are incredibly gorgeous. Even with the overhanging clouds, briny Lake Abert was beautiful.

Then in Lakeview we did something almost unheard of. Just 2.5 hours from home, we decided to camp overnight. A bit north of town is the Hunter Hot Spring Resort, once home to the only active geyser in Oregon. Right next to the resort is the Hunters RV Park. Do NOT make the mistake of thinking the two places are related! If you call the resort they won’t even give the phone number of the RV park, saying instead, “I have a room I could rent for you”

I wasn’t interested in a room, but I did want to try out the springs. We settled in with the evening rain at the RV park with full hookups and cable tv while I walked across the field to the hot spring resort. For $8. you can relax in the pool, but as the RV park owner said to me, check it out first. Sometimes it is clean, other times not so much. It was clean enough for me, though, and while not a natural spring pool, at least there aren’t any chemicals in the water and it is refreshed often by the spring.

Nicest experience for me at the spring was enjoying the company of a young geologist working in the area and staying at the resort. We talked for a long time while soaking, and I learned of the problems with all the hot springs and pools in Lakeview, and about the threat to the springs from the proposed geothermal plants in the area. I know geothermal energy is supposed to be a good thing, but I have no idea how to resolve the environmental issues that come with the big geothermal plants.

Save Hunter Hot Springs

It was a great idea to stop for the night and relax rather than rushing home. When we arrived late morning the next day we were rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the unloading and laundry chores that always seem to be a big part of coming home.

Next up: We go camping with friends AND I get to meet Nina at Harris Beach State Park!

September 15 Magical Joseph

Currently in Rocky Point, cloudy breezy and 57 degrees F

For thousands of years, this land has been home to the Nez Perce, “Nimiipuu”. It is a magical place, tucked away in the remote northwest corner of Oregon, off the beaten track. For the past several days, I have been writing about the things to see and do, but in the midst of all the natural beauty, the scenic drive, the magnificent mountains, there is more to this place.

The Nez Perce National Historic Trail begins in this spot, home to Old Chief Joseph, father of the famous Chief Joseph who led his people on a sad but epic journey that ended just 24 miles from the Canadian border, where his band of hungry men, women and children would have found refuge. Old Joseph refused to sell his native lands, fought and signed a treaty that gave the Nez Perce 8 million acres “forever”. Later, when gold was found here, the US Government decided that he should sign a new treaty, giving up his ancestral homeland and 7 million of the original 8 million acres. He refused, and thus began the story that ended with Young Joseph’s famous words, “I will fight no more forever”.

I have traveled through Nez Perce lands ever since I decided back in 1972 that Idaho would be my soul home. Then again in the 80’s I learned much about the people and their land as I worked the Weippe Prairie, the terraces along the Clearwater River, the Camas Prairie, once ancestral grounds covered with gorgeous blue camas that provided rich nutrition for the people.

There is a special site just south of town called Iwetemlaykin, and no, I can’t pronounce it either. Just a small parcel of rolling grassland, near the grave of Old Chief Joseph, 62 acres honoring the ‘place by the lake’ where you can walk the trails in silence and contemplate the land that was taken from the tribe. This land is familiar to me, the Nez Perce story is important to me. I sat for quite some time in Nez Perce photo exhibit on Main Street in Joseph, looking at historic and present day photos of the people. I have danced and sweated with Nez Perce teachers dear to my heart. My old Nez Perce hand drum still sits in a place of honor on my shelf. Maybe that is why it feels so good to be in this part of the world.

Or maybe I am just a sucker for fresh air, clean water, gorgeous mountains, and really cute little shops and restaurants. Yeah, I know, I am a romantic, and Joseph is the perfect place for someone like me.

In addition to the Nez Perce story, however, there is another story from Wallowa County that captured our interest. We read about the Maxville Heritage Center on our way to Joseph, and spent quite a bit of time looking for it. Once located in the town of Wallowa, it is now at a new location in Joseph, next to the Art Center on the north side of town.

Big surprise, the Logger’s Daughter was right there, and met us at the door to share her story and the PBS film that featured her search for the people and history of Maxville. When the Bowman-Hicks Lumber Company from Missouri founded the logging town, it brought African-American families with logging experience from the south to work and live in Maxville.

At that time, Oregon was almost entirely white, and segregation laws were strict. In spite of that, the people worked side by side until the town died and disappeared. Gwen was a delight, and her work and the story of Maxville are a great Oregon treasure.

So many things about Joseph are a surprise. The beautification projects that began more than a decade ago have created a lovely place to walk and enjoy really nice little shops. Almost every restaurant has outdoor seating and is dog friendly. The galleries are gorgeous, and I especially loved the restored bank building that houses the Stewart Jones Designs gallery. There is a chocolate shop with fine artisan chocolate makers, and I tasted a salted caramel right from the melter and had to buy a bunch, at a whopping buck and a quarter each. Worth every penny.

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I had a great birthday breakfast in the Old Town Cafe, enjoying every tasty morsel and the view of the mountains was gorgeous, even under cloudy skies. We visited the gallery housing more of the magnificent bronze sculptures that decorate every corner, with prices ranging from a mere $3,000 to more that $50,000. Who buys this stuff anyway?! The owner said that people come from all over the world to buy bronze in Joseph. In fact, the bronze medallions that decorate the World War II monument in Washington DC came from Valley Bronze in Joseph, Oregon.

The day before, on Saturday, we spent some time at the wonderful farmer’s market, small but still filled with fresh, organic food and local honey and jams. Perfect greens, heirloom tomatoes, fresh flowers, easter egg radishes, tiny little squashes, it was all there to tempt me into filling the small RV fridge to overflowing.

The town itself would be delightful even without the magical setting of the Wallowas and the Zumwalt Prairie to the northeast, the clear Wallowa Lake to the south. I kept looking around wondering why we couldn’t manage somehow to do for Klamath Falls and our lovely old downtown what progressive folks have managed to do for tiny Joseph. I spent a lot of time talking to the shopkeepers about this, asking what was their magical formula.

Sadly, some told me it was their ability to run a business that didn’t have to make a profit that made it work. Most of them had supplemental income and lived and ran a business in Joseph specifically because it was worth it to them to live in such a magical place. The most repeated phrase was, “Everyone here is here because Joseph called to them”. Not many of the shopkeepers were historically local, with the surrounding area populated with ranchers who didn’t actually shop much in town, according to one woman I spoke with.

Still, whatever they have done, we get to reap the benefits of a sweet little place to rest, relax, eat great food, see beautiful art and sculpture, drink in the skies and the views and the history, and leave refreshed and restored in so many ways.

Then again, there is always the story of OR7, or Journey, as he was named by the schoolkids of Oregon.

OR7 was part of the famous Imnaha wolf pack and was for a time the only wolf in the state of California as he journeyed far from home trying to find a mate. OR7 spent some time in the Wood River Valley, in the Cascades near our home, and one dark night, out in the hot tub, Mo and I heard him howl. Last I read, Journey is somewhere nearby in Western Klamath County or Jackson County. Like me, he left his homeland, wandered thousands of miles, and ended up back in Oregon. Gotta love that wolf.

September 14 The Wallowa Lake Tramway

Currently in Rocky Point, it is all the way up to 48 degrees F and there is snow at Crater Lake

Built in 1968, the Wallowa Lake Tramway is the steepest 4 person gondola tramway in North America. Beginning at the south end of Wallowa Lake, at 4,200 feet elevation, it rises 3,700 vertical feet to the top of Howard Mountain at 8,260 feet.

From the top, the views are among the most magnificent in the state of Oregon. There is a small restaurant at the summit and a few nice trails that meander around the peak for about 2.5 miles. Most access into the breathtaking Eagle Cap Wilderness require a lot of miles of hiking and some very steep ascents to reach the high glaciated lakes. Not so if you take the tram and access the wilderness from the top of Mt Howard.

We didn’t see any backpackers on this day, but a friend of mine used to talk about how long it took to get UP in the Eagle Cap and how great the tram was to allow high mountain hiking from the very beginning of a backpack trip. Looked great to me, I’ll tell you!

Of course, we didn’t come to backpack, just to see the views and enjoy the walk and maybe even enjoy a beer and a wild mountain berry cobbler in the restaurant. The regular fee is $27. but for seniors it is a mere $24. Yeah. A bit steep, but worth every penny. It actually costs a bit more than the huge Palm Springs Aerial Tramway that we visited when we were in Desert Hot Springs a couple of years ago. I think that tram was a lot more vertical, but the cages were a lot bigger than these tiny little 4 person gondolas. A different experience entirely.

It was in the low 60’s F, about 12 degrees F colder than the valley below, when we arrived at the summit, just enough that we were still ok in shorts and shirts with no jacket. Still, it is something to be aware of if you want to spend any time at the top and have been warm and toasty down in the campground before your ascent.

The views really are breathtaking, and the trails to each overlook are easy enough that little kids can do it, maybe on the back of a parent some of the time, but there were plenty of families walking the trails. I would have loved to have been prepared, and had the time and the permit to just wander off on the trail that led south into the wilderness. Even for a day if not an overnight. It looked so incredibly inviting.

At the north side, the Valley Overlook has views of Wallowa Lake, Joseph, and Enterprise in the valley below, and the Zumwalt Prairie to the northeast and toward Washington to the northwest. In the somewhat smoky and cloudy skies, I could even make out the dim outline of Moscow Mountain near Moscow, Idaho. I used to sit on that mountain and look toward the Wallowas. I could also see where the Lewiston Hill begins it’s winding descent toward Lewiston, another place where I would look south to the magical outline of the Wallowas and the Blue Mountains. It was nice to be here again looking north. The last time I was in the Wallowas was in 1979, in another life completely.

Also at the north view was a jump-off spot for hang gliding launches. I used to think I wanted to do that, but lately that particular item has drifted to the very bottom of my bucket list. After looking at that drop, I sort of dumped it out of the bucket altogether. There were lots of people taking photos, and of course, you know how it goes. Someone walks up to a couple and says, “Do you want me to take your photo together?” The same person taking this photo of this happy couple said it to us, but we declined. Just how many photos of the two of us with a gorgeous view in the background can we keep anyway. I think these shots are kind of like the shots I get of the front of my kayak on the water that my daughter always laughs at. Water, Sky, Mountains, and oh…the pink triangle of the front of my boat.

everyone wants a photo from this spot Just a little aside here: you know how some people have lives that are linked together through the years? Mine doesn’t seem to do that very well, and it seems I have lived a lot of different, unrelated lives in this one. With no real extended family, the only links that connect all these different phases of my life are with my friend Maryruth and my children, which I had when I was almost a child myself. Maryruth and I will celebrate 50 years of friendship next month. Maryruth and her husband Gerald, and Mo and I are all going to spend a few days together at Harris Beach. UhOh, more Harris Beach photos will be coming up I am sure! Wallowa Lake Tram-025

While the tram ride is just a short 15 minutes, it is easy to spend a few hours wandering around, drinking in the views, and sipping a beer to celebrate once you are up there. I am not sure I would have to do it every time I decided to visit Joseph and Wallowa Lake, but I would definitely not want to miss doing it at least once.

More photos from our day at the top of the mountain are linked here.

September 13 Hells Canyon

Currently in Rocky Point, Oregon Partly Cloudy and 45 degrees F

Funny, as crowded as the state park campground was, at night it was quiet and dark and I slept great. We decided that there was no need to go to Imnaha on this trip. Mo had been there before, and after reading Laurie and Odel’s very funny account about their trip there, we figured fried gizzards weren’t a big enough draw to get us to take the back way north to Imnaha. Another time.

Instead, we followed the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway on the northern loop from Joseph, east and then south to Hells Canyon Overlook. The scenic byway is worth the drive if only to stand high above the layers and layers of ridges and imagine the Snake River far below. Of course, you can’t see the river from the Overlook, you have to go to Inmaha to actually see the river from above. You could do as the women we found out there who had traveled from Portland to camp on the Imnaha River and then bike to the overlook. Not me! It was a lot of very steep uphill, and we saw one of the women walking her bike about 3 miles short of the top.

You could decide as we did to take the byway all the way to the mighty and magical Snake River and then turn north and drive the 20 plus winding miles to Hells Canyon Dam. In addition to the magnificent drive and the river that flows north through the deepest canyon in North America, we had a destination, a river trip. Seven Devils

We had a great time at the overlook, me trying to discern which ridge I camped on back in the 80’s when we were mapping the canyons. Then of course we had to try out the delay shutter feature on my camera, but it was too far down for me to get in the picture quickly enough. Made for some good laughs until the women on their bikes offered to take a photo of us together.

Hells Canyon Adventures does several different versions of a jet boat ride on the river, and we chose to just get a little taste with the 2 hour tour. We had called a few days in advance to be sure they were still running, and as luck would have it, we got a reservation for the 2PM run. River trip06

I have rafted a few rivers, and even did the Colorado River in a paddle boat a few years back. Six days from Moab to Hite Crossing, and a lifetime of memories. That is me in the purple hat, back in 1993, getting ready to paddle through “Five”, the one that dumped us. But that is another story. Being on the river in a jet boat isn’t quite the same, of course, but it was still a river, and still an amazing canyon.

Approaching the dam from the south, the road follows the eastern shoreline of Oxbow Reservoir, with several launch sites and a couple of small campgrounds. The campground at Oxbow was full, but farther up the lake there was plenty of space at another camp about midway to the dam, again with hookups and nice access to the water. The Original Hells Canyon Adventure Tour, South Entrance, leaves from the river just below the dam and downhill from the Hells Canyon Dam visitor center at the end of the road.

It was pretty hot, and shorts were the perfect choice for the day. I also brought along the Pelican Case to carry the camera, just in case something happened and we went down. Jet boat accidents are extremely rare, but I still didn’t want to lose my camera to that river. I needn’t have worried. There was only one Class 4 rapid to get through and our captain was an expert at negotiating the big rocks and holes trying to suck us up.

Hells Canyon is almost a mile and a half deep from highest wall to the river, deeper than the Grand Canyon, although the canyon walls are actually stepped and farther apart, so it doesn’t seem as deep when you are down in it. Still, no matter how I tried, it was impossible to get photos that depicted the immensity of the towering walls above us.

Our guide explained the rapid level rating system, talked about the building of the dam, and the fact that salmon don’t get past this dam. Built in the mid sixties, the dam has no fish ladders, and the salmon are stopped here. This entire issue of salmon and steelhead on the Snake River is controversial and if you are interested in reading about the complexities of the 3 Hells Canyon dams on the Snake River, this link is fascinating. The permits for these dams will expire shortly, and Oregon is still not on board for re-licensing because of the lack of fish passage. 9-12-2013 Hells Canyon Scenic Adventure

The run through the rapid was fun, but not at all scary in the high powered jet boat. Three big Cummins diesel engines are underneath the deck, and when one of the engines had an electrical problem, we still had two working well enough to get us back home.

We heard stories about settlers trying to make a life on the high benches along the canyon and above the river, and saw evidence of some abandoned homesteads. At the farthest point on the tour, we disembarked and hiked along the river to some pictographs that were supposedly created by the Nez Perce. Again, the pre-history of these images is a bit controversial, and there are several different stories about the people who made them and the time frame when they were done. I only heard what the guide said, “The Nez Perce did them more than 1,000 years ago”. Were the Nez Perce even a tribe 1,000 years ago?

The Nez Perce say their ancestors have been here for 15,000 years. Unlike some of the larger pictographs on the Columbia River near The Dalles, I couldn’t find much information on these images. Still, it was delightful to walk along the river and find them. Of course, once again I had on the Oofos instead of decent hiking sandals. Sheesh! I was planning a river trip and didn’t know it included a hike!

We didn’t see any bighorn sheep or mountain goats on this shorter tour, but we did see two different bear sows, one with a single cub and one with twins. Watching the young cubs frolic and jump around on the rocks was fascinating. As usual, there was one bigger cub who was more adventurous, and a smaller one who lagged behind.

Because of the time we spent watching the bears, and the bit of engine trouble, our trip lasted half an hour longer than the two hours allotted. That was fine by me, except we knew that we had that long climb back up the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway to our waiting motorhome.

Forgot to mention what we did with Abby on this tour day! Another reason for giving ourselves an extra day in Joseph before we went on the boat trip was that we needed to find a dog sitter. A bit of searching and a call to the vet in Enterprise yielded good recommendations for the Lin Lee Kennels in Joseph. They are only open in the morning and evening, but when we picked Abby up the next day she seemed completely happy. The owner said Abby just followed her around the entire time she was there. IF you are in the area and want to do something that isn’t dog friendly, this is the perfect solution.

Since it was getting late, we decided to stop at the one open establishment that was between the canyon and Joseph on our route. Hells Canyon Inn is anything but fancy, but we landed on the Thursday taco night so dinner was OK and the price was bearable. When we pulled into Joseph in the dark at nearly 9PM we were glad we didn’t have to try to find dinner in Joseph or cook something up at home.

More photos of our Hells Canyon Adventure are on google linked here

Tomorrow: the Wallowa Lake Tram