Washington, Oregon, Northern California 2010

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October 24 – We arrived in Yuma and stayed at Araby Acres Campground for a couple of days while we picked all the weeds that grew over the summer, raked the bougainvillea leaves and trimmed the palms.  Araby Acres is well-known for its beautiful black swans that swim in the pond there.  Once all the tidying was finished, we were ready to move back to our house and let the winter festivities begin!

Just a few miles from our campground at Lee Vining, we found these unusual tufas in Mono Lake.  These towers form under the lake’s waters.  When freshwater springs rich in calcium bubble up through the carbonate-rich lake water, the calcium and carbonate react to form a calcium carbonate salt deposit called a tufa.  They continue to grow forming vertical towers. I don’t care how they’re made, they are just so weird-looking and amazing. It looks like a little village in the lake.  

Relaxing on a (hard) bench at the end of our day at Yosemite.  

Climbing the rock wall in the previous picture were two rock climbers. There is also a third, but only the very top of his/her hat can be seen at the bottom of the picture.  Good thing Ted has sharp eyes; it took me a long time to find them.  

A cliff across from the Yosemite Lodge.

A view of the valley from Tunnel View.  On the left is El Capitan, the largest single rock on earth, standing 4000 feet from base to summit.  It is one of the most popular destinations for rock climbers.  From left to right – El Capitan, Horsetail Fall, Clouds Rest, Hal Dome, Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rocks and below Cathedral Rocks is Bridalveil Fall.

Bridalveil Fall – The Yosemite Indians call this place “Pohono” or spirit of puffing wind.  The wind swirls, often lifting the Fall and blowing it sideways.

Half Dome, once considered “perfectly inaccessible” is now the destination of thousands of hikers every year. It stands 4733 feet high from the valley floor and is 87 million years old.

A large granite outcropping – one of many that you find along the side of the road.

The Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, a beautiful park filled with waterfalls, streams, granite cliffs and giant Sequoia trees.  It was designated a World Heritage Site in 1984.

October 22 - Enroute to Lee Vining, CA just outside of Yosemite National Park.

Ted watching the dinner cruise boat, the Tahoe Queen, sailing out of the harbour in Lake Tahoe without him.

The remains of one of the old silver mines just outside of Virginia City.

The Suicide Table located in the Delta saloon.  It started its life as a Faro Bank table in the early 1860s.  Unfortunately 3 previous owners are reported to have committed suicide because of heavy losses at this table.  Black Jake lost $70,000 and shot himself.  The second owner couldn’t pay off his losses and either killed himself or was killed.  It was stored until the late 1890s when it was converted to a 21 table.  One night a miner took $86,000, a team of horses and interest in a gold mine from the owner who then committed suicide.  I’d say that table was jinxed.  No wonder they keep it under plexiglass now. 

Our last stop of the day was Virginia City. During its boomtime, its mining proceeds amounted to millions of dollars.  It was home to 15,000 people and was considered the richest town in America. Now you can stroll down its authentic board sidewalks to saloons, shops, museums, restaurants, historic churches and 19^th century homes.  In this picture you can see the Stone Age Quarry and the Mercantile. It’s a really neat little town.  You almost feel like you’re back in time waiting for Ben, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe to ride into town from the Ponderosa.  

We stopped at Geiger Lookout where we had a great view of Reno.

Our next stop was Reno, NV – the biggest little city in the world.  Sarah Palin had been there the previous day and Joe Biden was expected the next day (it was the middle of 2010 mid-term elections) so we decided to avoid the chaos by not going either day.  Good choice -  the streets were dead.  You could have driven a tank down the street and not hit a car and the casinos were practically empty. 

   

This picture in the Museum portrays the hardships faced by the Donner Party.

Our next stop after having lunch in Truckee was the Emigrant Trail Museum on the shore of Donner Lake.  I’m sure many of you have heard the story of the Donner Party who became trapped near the summit of Donner Pass during the brutal winter of 1846. Eighty-seven pioneers set out by wagon train from Missouri bound for California.  Instead of taking a well-known route, they decided to take a new, faster route using the Hastings Cutoff that would take them across Utah’s Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert. It proved to be more a difficult and slower route than expected and they were.trapped at Donner Pass in early November by severe weather.  Some sheltered in three cabins at Donner Lake while others camped a few miles away.  A group of fifteen set out to get help but succumbed to starvation and cold.  Only seven of them survived by eating the flesh of those who died.  Rescue parties were slowed by the Mexican American War and the weather.  They were not rescued until February/March 1847 and only 48 survived.  They, too, had to resort to cannibalism. This is considered one of the greatest tragedies in the settlement of the west. This statue at the Museum honours their courage.

On the north side of the lake is Squaw Valley USA, a large ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics.  

October 19 – We started our day at the Tallac Historic Site (several estates from the early 1900s) and then moved along the rugged western shore of the Lake to Emerald Bay where we had a great view of Fannette Island, the only island on Lake Tahoe.  The stone building on top that looks like a little castle is the “Tea Castle” built from 1928-29.  In 1928, Mrs. Lora Knight bought a piece of land at the head of Emerald Bay and built a beautiful Scandinavian home called Vikingsholm.  Mrs. Knight would ride to the island in a motorboat and then she and her guests would have tea at the tea house.  Unfortunately it has been vandalized and today only the stone shell remains. You can tour Vikingsholm by taking a steep, 1 mile trail down to the shore.  

The sun setting on Lake Tahoe.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe.  Lake Tahoe is the second-deepest lake in the U.S. with an average depth of 1000 feet.  

October 18 – From the redwoods of California we headed to the beauty of Lake Tahoe.  We needed to make a WalMart/Costco/Target run so we headed to Carson City, Nevada for the day.  We stopped to take a picture of the State Legislature and there I met a couple of ladies from California.  We started chatting and I mentioned that I was from Alberta, Canada. One of the ladies said something that I thought was really insightful.  I don’t know if she was repeating something she had heard or if she made it up herself, but here’s what she said “Americans are benignly ignorant of what is happening in Canada; Canadians are viciously well-informed about what is happening in the U.S.”  Pretty much sums it up, I’d say.  

We stared at this tree for a long time.  Can you see a face in profile – long ear lobes, high forehead, large nose, big chin, deep-set eyes, crooked smile?

If you think the trees are big, just look at the roots!

We drove through Jedediah Smith State Park, but the fog rolled in so visibility was limited.  Our next stop was Stout Grove but to get there we had to drive through a very narrow, winding road where I doubt if the sun ever shone through the tall trees.  

This is one of the giant redwoods and it really is a giant!  It is 287 feet high, 23.7 feet in diameter, has a circumference of 68 feet and is 1500 years old.  I love standing beside anything that makes me look small!

The birds weren’t shy.  This one really liked the top of our truck.  

October 15 – From South Beach, we headed to the Redwood National Park in northern California. Before we entered the park, we stopped at Klamath, CA at the drive-thru tree.  Hard to believe we are gullible enough to pay money to drive through a tree, but we did.  Ted did a great job of navigating the truck through the narrow hole in the tree. Good thing we pulled in the side mirrors first!  The only vehicle I’d attempt to drive through would be a Smart car.  I know my limitations.

With the tide coming in, we also knew we would have a better display of water whipping and tossing its way up the Devil’s Churn, a long crack in the coastal rock that fills with each wave, sometimes exploding as incoming waves collide with outgoing waves.

We went as far south as Umpqua Lighthouse State Park and then headed back to South Beach.  We stopped again at Cape Perpetua as the tide was coming in and we knew that the Spouting Horn at Cook's Chasm, a salt water fountain driven by the power of the tide, would be higher than usual.

The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area runs for fifty miles between Florence and Coos Bay, forming the largest stretch of coastal dunes in the U.S. Bailey and Rusty loved the feel of sand between their paws!

Further south we pulled over to have a look at the Sea Lion Cave, but before we went in and paid the money to take an elevator down to the Cave, we stopped and looked over the edge of the viewpoint to the shore below.  There we saw Steller’s sea lions on the beach, in the water and out on the rocks so we decided we’d save our money and watch them in the wild.  We’re not cheap; we’re frugal (at least that’s what Ted keeps telling me).

We hiked one of the many trails in the area and had a beautiful view of the coastline.

October 13 – The following day we headed south from South Beach.  Our first stop was Cape Perpetua where we watched the waves crashing against the shoreline made up of volcanic rock.

Sunset at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

The Devil’s Punchbowl where water surges in and out of the hole that erosion has created in the rock.

The view from Otter Crest scenic viewpoint.

Depoe Bay considers itself the “Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast” and it is a well-deserved title as far as we were concerned.  

The Spouting Horn created quite a splash.

A beautiful beach near Cape Kwanda.  

We climbed up a small hill in the Park and there we found a very unique looking tree known as the octopus tree.  It is not known if it was a natural event or Native Americans that give this Sitka spruce its shape.  Its circumference is more than 46 feet and has no central trunk.  Limbs extend as much as 16 feet before reaching upward.  It is 105 feet tall and believed to be 250 to 300 years old.

Looking toward the south, we had great views of Three Arch Rock.  Stellar sea lions can often be found on the rocks.

October 12, 2010 – After celebrating our own Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and all the trimmings, we moved on to South Beach, OR where the weather was much sunnier and drier.  Much more to our liking!!  Our first day there we headed north to Tillamook (known for its wonderful cheese) for lunch and then to Cape Meara Lighthouse Park where we had a great view of the rocky cliffs and beautiful ocean.  

Our next stop was Fort Stevens State Park where we could see evidence of the Wreck of the Peter Iredale.  Bound for Portland, OR from Mexico, the English sailing ship ran aground on October 25, 1906 when a huge gust of wind slammed the ship into a mass of waves causing sections of the mast to snap off onto the deck.  Fortunately the entire crew survived.  I’m thinking it probably happened on a day much like this one!

If you saw the 1985 movie, “The Goonies”, starring Sean Astin and Corey Feldman, you will recognize this as the house used in the movie. It is located in the seaside town of Astoria, OR.

October 9, 2010 – The next day was cloudy and rainy as we started out on the Columbia Gorge drive to the mouth of the Columbia River. We took scenic Highway 30 on the Oregon side of the river, but I’m afraid the rain and fog made it difficult to see the scenery.

The sun was setting on Yale Lake as we drove back to our campground for a much-needed rest.

Here’s where you come out of the tunnel 50 feet away.  The lava forest has now been replaced by a forest of fern, moss, trees and shrubs. 

We completed our day with a hike to Two Forests.  In an eruption that took place 2000 years ago slow-moving molten lava cooled, surrounding trees and hardening.  The trees burned to the ground leaving hollow trunk-shaped holes in the now hardened lava.  You can actually crawl down this hole and follow a tunnel underground.  

On our way back to Ridgefield, we stopped at the Ape Cave Lava Tube where we walked through the lower tunnel.  It eventually became too narrow to follow so we had to return the way we came. This lava tube was created by an eruption of Mount St. Helens 1900 years ago.  The surface of a lava flow cooled and hardened, but the molten lava below the surface continued to flow creating a lava tube.

This tree trunk really caught our imaginations.  It could be a giant insect crawling down the mountain side or perhaps it’s an octopus. What do you think?

We stayed at the top of Windy Ridge viewpoint for a long time waiting and hoping that the last of the clouds would disappears so we could get a clear view of the summit, but they never did.  If you look really closely at the left side of the picture just below the blue sky, you might see what we think is a little peek of the peak of Mount St. Helens (or maybe it’s just wishful thinking). Then it was back down the +400 steps.  We sure got our cardio workout there.  

Now we had a great view of Spirit Lake.  When the eruption occurred, Spirit Lake was pushed more than 800 feet up the side of a mountain by debris and then came back down to rest several hundred feet higher than before. 

. . . so we trekked up the 400+ staircase to the top again,

When we got back down to the bottom, the fog began to lift. Our view of Spirit Lake was improving . . .

Unfortunately it wasn’t. In fact, I think it was worse. This was all we could see of Spirit Lake and we couldn’t see the mountain at all so we climbed down the 400+ steps.

When we reached Windy Ridge, the fog rolled in, but we decided to climb the 400+ steps to the top to see if the view was better from there.

October 8,2010 – We took a drive up to Windy Ridge on the northwestern side of Mount St. Helens hoping for a better view of the crater since it is the closest viewpoint accessible to the public.  Here you can see the damage to the trees.

A tree trunk embedded in the mud and ash by the landslide. Remember – this is 30 years later.  

Because we were there on such a cloudy day, I took a picture of a picture that gives you a better idea of what Mount St. Helens looks like on a sunny day.  It’s cheating, I know!! I’m sorry!

Despite the overcast skies you could still see the lava dome, crater rim and remains of the lava flow in North Fork Toutle River Valley created by the eruption.

October 7, 2010 – Our next stop was a campground near Ridgefield, Washington.  We drove up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory where we could get a first hand look at Mount St. Helens 30 years after it erupted spewing ash over 11 states and into western Canada.  I can still remember the gray, ash-filled skies over Calgary that lasted for several days after the eruption.  On May 18, 1980 a 5.1 earthquake occurred that caused an already active volcano to erupt.  An eruption column caused by built-up pressure and steam rose 80,000 feet into the air resulting in 1300 feet of the mountain’s summit and north face to blow outward and crumble down the hillside. At the same time, snow, ice and entire glaciers formed a series of volcanic mudslides that reached as far as the Columbia River eighty kilometres away.  Wind and heat toppled trees.  Fifty-seven people died and hundreds of square miles were reduced to wasteland.  Thirty years later you can still see the devastation caused by the eruption although the ash has finally been replaced by green vegetation.  For four years Weyerhaeuser employees planted over 18 million trees by hand in an effort to rebuild the forest.  

October 6, 2010 – You never know what you’ll see on the Columbia River.

October 5, 2010 – After checking into a campground at Hood River, Oregon, we went for a drive that circled the base of Mount Hood.  At 11,240’, it is the highest peak in Oregon, home to 12 glaciers and considered to be the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt (which is supposedly highly unlikely).  There are 10,000 attempts to climb Mount Hood each year. 

While in Ellensburg, we stayed with our friends, Don and Lynn.  They live behind us in Yuma and have become good friends.  While there we also visited friends, Junior and Janet, who live nearby and went for a scenic drive with Don to Yakima.  We had a great time and hope they visit us in Lethbridge some day soon so we can reciprocate their great hospitality.

  

October 4, 2010 – A beautiful, lush valley near Ellensburg, Washington on the way to Yakima.

October 2, 2010 – After spending our first night on the road at a WalMart parking lot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we headed west until we reached the Columbia River near Vantage, Washington.