Tag: Oregon

Day 2 Memorial Day weekend

Day 2 May 23, 2009

We slept really well last night, and in spite of all the large groups of people filling in this rustic area, it was really quiet. There is one really big security light in the campground, but thank goodness it wasn’t too close to us, although when I woke in the middle of the night, I could see it shining through the front window. With all the trees, and the distance between sites, we still didn’t have to put our big window covers on. That’s always nice.

I’m knitting away, on what I call my “turkey sweater” because I almost finished it while we were traveling through Turkey. It is all sewn together, and I just have to finish the hood. Perfect for a quiet afternoon.

This morning we decided on an indoor breakfast since the fire doesn’t have a particularly good cooking grate, and it was about 35 degrees outside when we got up. Nice to have a cozy home to hang out in on cold mornings. I love bacon when we are camping. Yumm. Indoors or out.

About 9:30 we took off to find the bike trail. We kept Abby on her leash for the initial search through the resort parking lot, but after that the trail was very nearly empty and we let her run with us. She is getting pretty good at going along with the bikes, and seems to keep up well. Stopping a bit let her swim, and enjoyed the views and the water. The trail goes all the way around the lake, and was one of the reasons we thought coming here would be nice. We biked as far as the Theilsen View campground, which was still closed. About a half mile from the camp, we discovered why, the snow was deep across the trail and the road in many places. We walked our bikes across most of it, and Mo rode hers, so of course I thought I could as well. Oops. This time it was my turn to dump, with my front tire catching in a deep snow drift and flipping me right over the handlebars. I found myself in a tangle with wheels and bike on top of me in the hard snow. Glad it was snow, since my bike was fine and I just had some minor cuts and bruises on my legs. After that spill, however, I did walk my bike through the snow banks.

When we got back to the closed campground, we were surprised to find some tent campers who had boated in, comfortably sited among the old hard snow drifts. Not a bad idea if you have a boat and want to tent camp. The ride back home was lovely, and Abby enjoyed herself swimming again. She even figured out how to go ahead of me on the leash without tripping up the bike. Mo rode on one side to “herd” her away from traffic and we were able to ride all the way back to the campground on the road portion without a problem. I even discovered that Abby could help pull me up the hills a bit!

After a bit of an afternoon rest, we went back down to the south end of the lake to see if they had opened up any of the other campgrounds yet. No change, even on this Memorial Day weekend, the Umpqua NF information center was still closed up tight, with no one in sight. Around 2, just as we planned, we unloaded our boats at the north shore, just a short walk from the car to the water, and we managed to portage both boats at once. The breeze was just starting up as we got on the water, and big puffy clouds were obscuring the sun. Funny how as the sun goes behind a cloud the wind on the water picks up. Mo decided to take Abby with us this time and put on her doggie life jacket. Abby isn’t yet quite completely comfortable in the kayak, and keeps trying to turn around to Mo for reassurance. Not a good thing in a small kayak, so Mo spends a bit of time telling her, “no, Abby, quit, stop, no.” Still, we managed some good time on the water, even though it was windy and choppy, and went south along the west shore as far as the campground. Paddling back against the wind wasn’t as hard as it should have been, and we think that maybe there was a current going toward the outlet on the north shore. Abby did fine, and Mo got all the way back without an upset. The water is still very cold, and hypothermia would be a serious problem if you fell in, I am sure. On the way back we at first stayed toward the shore in case of an upset with the dog, but then decided to take the fastest route across the water to the put in spot. I guess afternoon isn’t as good a time for mountain lake kayaking with the afternoon winds that always come up. Funny, we saw a really gorgeous, very large sailboat out there, and remembered from our sailing days how erratic these mountain lake winds can be. The sailboat wasn’t sailing, either, just motoring along. Their American flag was at half mast, blowing strong in the wind, for some fallen soldier, or for Memorial Day, I would imagine.

Tomorrow we plan to kayak earlier in the day, to hopefully miss the winds. Stopped at the Diamond lake resort store for Haagen Daz on the way back to camp, relaxed with a fun movie, Marley and Me, and then had a nice supper from the MoHo cupboard of box spaghetti, garlic bread, and the last of the salad. Mo built another really great campfire and we sat around and watched all the local campers and laughed about silly stuff until bedtime. We especially laughed at Abby, who was exhausted from her day’s adventures and kept trying to get us to go to bed. She would go to the door, look longingly at it and beg to go in. After Mo let her in, she landed in her bed, and didn’t even come out when we went back to the fire. That is a first, I think. Nice to wear out the dog before bedtime for sure.

Day 1 Memorial Day weekend

May 22, 2009
When Mo and I planned to go camping on the Memorial Day weekend, our priorities were simple. Not too far from home, and a campfire. Of course, water is always on the list, since camping usually for us includes kayak time. Well, maybe not in the desert. When I indicated that I could get away from work for a long weekend, Mo said, “I really want to go camping, and I want a campfire.” I said, “Didn’t the desert work for you?” “Yeah, but that was last month. I need my camping fix at least once a month.”

So we cast about for places close by that would fit the bill and decided that the perfect spot would be Diamond Lake. A little jewel of a place that isn’t too far from home, and where we scoped out some campsites a few years ago, intending to return. Of course, it is Memorial Day weekend and we do have enough common sense to realize that things may be full and we may have to leave early. I am still working, and so for me, early was driving 8 hours to Klamath on Thursday and pulling out of Mo’s driveway bright and early Friday morning. Not early enough, probably, but the best we could do. There are more than 485 camping sites in the three campgrounds around Diamond Lake, many of them rv sites. What wasn’t clear at all from the website for the Umpqua NF was that only one campground would be open, and only half of that one. Snow still is in big drifts along the roads leading to Theilsen View and Broken Arrow camps, but we still really don’t have a clue why half of the Diamond Lake Campground was still closed. With the lack of personnel around and the continued closure of the Diamond Lake information kiosk operated by the Forest Service, we surmised that it probably had to do with a lack of funding and people to clean the bathrooms and empty the garbage.

We arrived around 10 am, scoped the available sites which were all filled, some even still snowed in and waiting for a camper with a shovel. We drove up to the north side of the lake to the Diamond Lake Resort store to ask about possible locations. The crusty owner said, “hell you can camp up on the hill” and when I asked how much, he said, “nothing.” So we drove out and found the dirt driveway leading up to some primitive sites that were filled with debris, and dirty snowbanks. But the sites were big, long, and level, had some great firepits, and a view of the lake. Never mind that that view is accompanied by the constant sound of big diesel rigs hauling boats out of the water. It still was better than the parking lot at Half Moon Bay, where we camped for the last Labor Day weekend when we ambled off with no reservations. I guess it seems to be our style to just wander around and see what we can find.

After we pulled in, with the sites a bit ambiguous, a fellow camper came up to tell us that the resort was requiring everyone to leave tonight because the fancy rv park down the road had opened today and the resort wasn’t allowed to compete. Hmmm. Well, maybe we will just sit tight for a bit. We set up camp, put out the nifty solar panel and let the batteries charge up nicely, put out the slide, opened the awning, the table, the chairs and a couple of glasses of wine. Perfect. Later in the day, after we drove around a bit and checked out the packed RV park and the rest of the packed campgrounds, we returned to our little spot in the woods to find some more people trying to park. Seems as though the resort owners here gave up since the rv park was full and they were letting people park in this lot.

So, once more, instead of camping in a forest service campground as planned, we are boondocking. Free camping, a water faucet that actually works, and Mo has a great huge fire going. Then, after deciding to check out the electric outlet, we found that it worked as well. Couldn’t be better. We spent a lovely evening watching a great movie on DVD. Hmm, does it still qualify as boondocking just because it is free? For the entire weekend, we watched people come and go, with the mystery of who was paying for the electricity and monitoring the site unanswered. We didn’t find out until we pulled out on Monday morning that we were parked in the official employees quarters for the Diamond Lake resort, and that it was a one-time deal. Great luck for us! We also were thankful that by this time next year I will be retired and we won’t have to wait until the holiday weekends to find a place to camp.

We took a little afternoon break and then explored the closed road to Theilsen View Campground, 4x4ing through the snow banks as far as we could before we took off walking the bike trail. The views of Mt. Theilsen were gorgeous, the water was clear, and we found a great spot for a kayak launch the next day. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the fire. Perfect. There was even a huge pile of debris all around us for burning, so we won’t run out of firewood. The sun was shining with no rain in the forecast, the temperatures just cool enough for a sweater, and not a soul within 100 yards of our camp!

East Lake in the Newberry Caldera

I was really excited about finally getting to Waldo Lake this year but it wasn’t to be. Mo and I were there in 2004 and the lake has called to me since then. Oregon was catching up with California this weekend and lightning strikes caused fires in the Cascades that closed almost every highway crossing the mountains last weekend, including our route to Waldo Lake.

When Mo and I left Rocky Point on Thursday morning, we already knew that HWY 58 was closed so we decided to go up to the Newberry Caldera just east of LaPine.
The area is a fascinating view into recent geologic events on the east side of the Cascades with two lovely lakes and some nice campgrounds. Here is the link to the Cascades Volcano Observatory USGS website for the Newberry Caldera.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Newberry/Locale/framework.html

This change in plans worked just fine for Mo’s brother Roger and his wife Nancy, who planned to visit us for some kayaking and campfire time, since they live on the east side of the mountains anyway. Didn’t work so well for my daughter Deb from Portland who had planned to meet us Saturday night at Waldo. Ah well, maybe next time.

When we first left Rocky Point, the smoke was visible over the mountains, covering what we knew to be the Crater Lake caldera rim and billowing high and white like big cumulus clouds very much too close to home for comfort. By the time we reached East Lake, however, the skies were clear and lovely. The campground is first come first serve, and there are about 7 sites right on the water. Lucky for us, number 14 at the end of the front row had been recently vacated so we managed to get on the water even though the other sites were full. Site 14 is what they call a “premium” site and with our Golden Age Pass was only $7 per night, (half the regular 14. fee).

This particular site was actually used as a full hookup site for the camp host during the season, and we still had fresh water piped right to the site, although the power connections were locked up. We also actually had a solid asphalt pad. Not bad for a forest service campground in the mountains! Once camp was ready, I took off for a twilight glide across the lake. The water was reflective, glassy, and totally still except for the jumping trout. I have never experienced this kind of jumping fish all around me. I actually thought that I would eventually get some fish in my boat, and had more than a few jump into the air within arm’s distance. Amazing. Later we learned that the fishermen were having good luck that night with 16 inch trout jumping onto hooks using super bait. The next day wasn’t quite so good for the fishermen, but we still watched nice sized eating trout being caught both from boats and from chairs along the shore.

Friday morning I went for another paddle while Mo waited for her brother to show up and when they arrived, we sent them off with the kayaks while we watched the dogs. It was Nancy’s first time in a kayak, and like most people, she discovered that it wasn’t the least bit intimidating. Our boats are really stable and have a nice wide cockpit, which still doesn’t let anyone look particularly graceful trying to get in and out, but once you are in, it’s a piece of cake!

The weather cooperated, and after a nice ride, we all settled in for some hiking along the beach collecting pumice cobbles, and then a campfire and a planked salmon supper cooked on the grill. yum! It was nice spending some camping time with family, and nice that they only had less than an hour to get back home. It was also encouraging to hear that they had driven through thick smoke almost the entire trip up the hill and we were just out of it. I had an entire weekend with no smoke and no heat. A good thing!!

Saturday was cool, foggy and rainy most of the day, so after a good bacon and potato breakfast we spent most of the day relaxing and reading in the MoHo. I say “bacon and potato” because neither of us remembered to bring the eggs! I also created some entertainment for the two of us by trying to wind a large skein of ribbon yarn that kept us occupied for more than an hour at least. Good thing Mo is more patient than I am at that kind of thing. Finally, later in the afternoon, the weather cooperated a bit and we had time to hike the trail to the hot springs. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know the springs were there, and kept wondering where the strange poopy smell was coming from! When we did finally find them, they were a bit of a anti-climax, since the actual spring was only a few feet across and less than a foot deep of somewhat murky, barely lukewarm water. I was cold from the windy hike, and had been having visions of dropping my feet into a hot pool. Not this one. We even skipped our fancy supper, opting instead for some warm chicken soup and a half tuna sandwich by the damp fire. I had planned to relax on this trip, but maybe not quite this much.

Sunday morning opened to a cold foggy morning, but we decided to go out on the lake anyway since it looked so still and lovely, and the previous day the winds had come up before noon. It was a good plan, since by Saturday afternoon the rains started. We circled the entire lake, checking out the springs from the water side, and enjoying the views during the few moments when the clouds cleared a bit and we could see Paulina Peak above the caldera. I made potato salad and Mo grilled burgers for us for a great evening supper watching the rain come on the lake and being very grateful for our warm MoHo.

Sunday night was cold, with the temperature dropping to just a hair above the freezing level. We were also grateful for propane and a furnace that night, and slept all warm and cozy. Our optimism regarding the dawning of a sunny day wasn’t rewarded, though, and after a quick breakfast, and a look at the very low propane levels, we though we might as well head home. Four days without hookups is easy, except the propane hadn’t been completely filled for a few trips, and with the temperatures in the high 30’s we really didn’t want to hang around. Geez, you couldn’t even warm a cup of tea if the propane ran out!

By the time we got back down the hill to LaPine, the clouds were clearing and by the time we reached the HWY 138 intersection with HWY 97 the skies were completely clear and off came the heavy sweatshirts. Heavy smoke from the Lonesome Complex fire filled the upper ends of the Wood River Valley, and was especially thick along HWY 97 north of Chiloquin. Even though the fire is very close to the Wood River Valley on the crest of the Cascades, the smoke stayed north and wasn’t too bad right around Rocky Point, even though you could see it all across the valley down to Klamath. A very smoky summer indeed, first California and then Oregon. As I drove back home, through more leftover smoke from the months long fires in the Klamath Forest of northern California, I sighed and wished for winter rains to come here as well. By the time I got back to Jamestown, the car temperature reading was in the low 90’s. Still. But I had a break, a cool, damp, fresh, clear break from it all and am ready now to “dig in” (yeah, it’s soils stuff) for another couple of weeks before the next camping trip into some clear cold mountains on the east side of the Sierras.
Here is a link to the rest of the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/CampingAtEastLake#

John Day Country and home

The picasaweb link posted here is to an individual album that are part of this day’s story if you want to see additional photos. If you like, you can click on the link and see the entire album on Picasa. http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/TravelingOregonToHome

Last night we traveled till we felt like stopping which put us at another Oregon State Park, Unity Lake SP. This place is truly a treasure, off the main track, maybe 3 miles from Unity on HWY 26. The park is small and quiet with large spaces along the lake, big pull through sites in the middle, shade from the typical desert locust trees, and no people. Admittedly, it was midweek, but still, midweek in August, and there was the camp host, another trailer next to him, a car camping family from England traveling the west, and a couple of small truck trailer combos down the way. There are probably more than 40 sites here, so the emptiness was a surprise. The cost was great as well, with water and 30 amp electric for only $17. I know it’s the desert, but it’s lovely, with sage and grasslands, and great views. The night was blessedly dark, not a single light or sound to mar the stillness, and the temperature dropped to 42 blessed degrees. I slept great!


We left this morning by 8, an easy start since we didn’t even have to unhook last night. Continuing west along HWY 26 we were surprised by the steep climbs and drops as we crossed the Blue Mountains toward John Day. I got my favorite thing while traveling, not another car in sight for miles at a time. Not far west of the sage country at Unity SP, we found 3 really nice campgrounds on the east side of Blue Mountain Pass, FS camps with no hookups, but open and lovely, shaded with a small creek. We thought it would be great to boondock for 3.50 a night with our pass in the FS camps, then drop down to Unity for a couple of nights of hookups to get ready for some more cheap boondocking. Someday.

I got my first view of the Strawberry Wilderness and Strawberry Mountain, an area I have heard of but never seen. The Oregon Trail passed through here and the interpretive viewpoint with the big covered wagon was a delight. The landscape is open and empty of people, with big ranches, irrigated alfalfa fields, all surrounded by thickly forested mountains and peaks. Truly lovely, and a great drive if you don’t mind the ups and downs. The Tow-Haul got a good workout on this part of the drive for sure. We stopped in John Day to visit the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site, location of some truly fascinating history about the Chinese immigrants who were part of the building of the west. In California we have visited several places that have a great deal of history involving the Chinese men who came here, without wives and families, to work incredibly hard and try to reap some benefit from the better economy here in the US compared to China at the time. My home is Jamestown is surrounded by huge areas that were hydraulically mined, mostly by Chinese, and Mo and I visited Isleton in the Delta last Spring, also developed mostly by Chinese. The exhibit in John Day brought all these parts and pieces together for the first time in a way that helped it all fit. It is an amazing story.

Leaving John Day we continued west to the John Day Fossil Beds. So many people seem to pass through this fascinating land without actually seeing it, so this time we made it a point to visit the visitor center at the Sheep Rock Unit. The visitor center has an amazing array of fossils that have been recovered from the 3 different areas of the National Monument, and the explanation and interpretation of the natural history there is magnificent. They even have the work area where paleontologists clean and catalogue and work with the fossils that is visible to visitors, with huge glass walls that allow you to watch the work in progress. The Miocene period is a repeating story in my soils work, and in most places I have mapped, there are interesting formations that are the result of the activity that occurred during this time, from 12 to 50 million years ago, give or take a weekend. Here in John Day, it was all about volcanics, as in the Sierra Nevada, and in the Columbia Basin. It was great seeing really beautiful artistic interpretations of all that was going on here while Table Mountain was being built in Jamestown, and while the diatomite in the Klamath Basin was forming, while the Latah Formation in Spokane was building. Great to see everything in perspective all at once somehow. I am so glad that we took the time to actually visit the visitor center. Just a little aside, while we were there, 3 German tourists arrived, and were taking many careful photos of the American flag flying against the very blue sky.
Our trip for the day ended back in home territory, at brother Roger and Nancy’s home in LaPine, Oregon. Nice to visit them, since they were unable to attend the gathering in Spokane. After a nice dinner out, we slept again to clear skies and cool temperatures in the low 40’s before we headed out home the last 100 miles or so to Rocky Point.

We both felt that it was a successful trip, with all the moving parts of the MoHo working fine, and both of us were glad to pull up into the driveway under the huge firs around Mo’s house and settle in to a few days of respite before I have to return to work in California.

Traveling to Spokane

Picasa photo link for today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/TravelingToSpokane


Wednesday morning
Finally, finally, a MoHo trip. Reading about all those folks who are full-timing out there is so much fun, but for us for the time being, we have to take what we can when we can. I left Jamestown at 3am in order to get to Mo’s early enough in the day for us to have a nice evening on the Columbia River on our way to Spokane. Our route from Klamath took us north on HWY 97, through Bend and Redmond to Madras and on north to the Biggs Junction on Interstate 84. Even though we were in Madras just a little more than a year ago, it was incredible seeing the growth and development that is occurring along that corridor. Redmond is now boasting big houses and brand new huge shopping centers that may eventually rival all the growth in Bend. The traffic was bad as well, with everyone in a hurry and aggressive. I kept wondering if really was a Tuesday afternoon and not a busy weekend. I also wonder what kind of recession we are really in, because even at more than 4 bucks a gallon there are a lot of big rigs, big trucks, rv’s, boats and toys being hauled around on the highways. Someone still has the money to play, as we do I guess. I know some people are really feeling all this, and I wonder how long it will take to hit the rest of us out here traveling the highways. So far we have managed to keep on doing whatever it is that we would be doing if gas were cheaper. We still drive 60mph to try to keep our mileage better, still buy discount gas at safeway and Costco whenever we can, but we still go where we want to go.

We are back on I-84 following Dan to Spokane after a really nice stop at theriver for a relaxing overnight. We originally planned to stay at the Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the river at Biggs Junction, but the price was a bit steep at 38. We found the much less expensive LePage Park at the John Day Lock and Dam. Our national pass saved us half the hook up price which is a deal at $17. anyway, with electric 30 amp and water. The park itself is small and pleasant, with decent 2 bar telephone service. I let our air card go since I really didn’t want to keep paying 60 a month for that service when we aren’t traveling full time. I hope I don’t miss it too much. I suppose I can hang out at rest areas if I really need to get on the internet now and then. It all balances out eventually.

We are caravanning to Spokane from the park with Mo’s brother Dan. Being a bit independent, this is the first time that we have done this with someone and it’s a bit different, but should be fun. Dan and Chere, Mo’s brother and sister in law are in a nice Class A rig pulling a jeep. Her other brother Roger, who also has a Class A couldn’t make the trip this time, so we are the only two in the caravan. Does that qualify as a caravan?

We had a truly lovely relaxing morning today, after finally falling asleep during a very hot night. It was sunny and 104 degrees yesterday when we arrived at the park at 6pm. Hot, with a dry wind that made it feel like a real desert. We set up, and appreciated how easy this is getting for us now that we understand all the little details, but of course we still don’t have to do the satellite dish thing, and at this park we didn’t even have sewer, so it was all pretty quick. Steps worked, levelers worked, slide worked. I love it when things work. Funny side story however, this morning we ran out of water pressure as our fresh water tank emptied. Couldn’t figure out why, since we were supposed to be hooked up to shore water, and Mo finally found a little plug in the faucet that she had put there to keep bugs out while we were traveling. Oops, I didn’t take it out when I hooked up the water, and of course, we were just running off our water tank instead of shore water. Little things.

Dinner was about as good as you get, and fast as well. The little gas bbq that I got from Wal-Mart is still a hit, heats up fast and we had magnificent bbq’d pork chops in about 10 minutes, while I put some cole slaw together and microwaved a sweet potato. A glass of good red wine and things couldn’t be better. After dinner we took Abby swimming and discovered that the John Day River in this area is dammed up by the John Day dam enough that even though it’s deep, there isn’t enough current to worry about the dog getting carried away, so she had a great time swimming in the deep water, and then later when we took her over to the swimming beach where she kept trying to find water deep enough to swim in. The park itself is a really nice place, and we added it to the list of places where we might return and spend a few days hiking and definitely kayaking up the John Day River. Even though the park is in close proximity to the interstate, we couldn’t hear it at all down in the park, and even though the spaces are close together, they are all pointed toward the river in such a way that when you are sitting at your table, it’s still private enough that it isn’t too bad. We had a young couple with kids right next to us in a tent, and the only bad part was waking up at 530 am in a funny mood and worrying that our silly laughter might wake the neighbors.

We were waiting for Dan and Chere to arrive after 10 or so, so we had plenty of time to go for a nice hike up along a service road that paralleled the river along the middle slope of the basalt. High enough to see the rivers and trains and such, but not so high and steep that it was a difficult hike. We were entertained by flocks of chukkars running straight up the cliffs, lots of deer tracks and coyote tracks, and then Abby found a rattlesnake who obligingly gave us a great warning as we approached. Mo tried to get a photo, but I won’t know if it came out till I upload the photos.

Basalt on the Columbia Plateau and in this canyon is part of what is one of the largest continuous basalt plateaus in the world. I think the only large one is in India somewhere. The basalt has several different members with different characteristics, and different flows within individual members that have differential rates of cooling that makes them look like pillars and pillows, and little square chunks called entablature. http://www.cwnp.org/naturalist/basalt.html Then there are in between layers of pillow basalts that cooled under water, and conglomerates that were picked up from old river beds by the hot lava and all sorts of other interesting things. Of course, this area was also flooded 13,000 years ago by the catastrophic Missoula Floods, another fascinating story, so some of the very old rounded alluvial gravels that we found may have come from ancient Lake Missoula which covered a very large part of the state of Montana before the ice dam broke and created the floods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missoula_Floods

Regardless of the origins, the basalts are fascinating and lovely to look at while hiking along the canyons along the rivers.