2008 – Week 18

Tuesday, August 26, 2008:
We were at the door of the Onan shop at 7:30am, and they took us in as promised. Wouldn’t you know it, the generator started right up! They put it on a load bank, and it stopped after 30 minutes. They changed a part, and it did the same thing. They believed it is the magneto but had none in stock so it was ordered to be delivered Wednesday morning. New plan needed. It was very foggy and my secret plan of going back to the McKenzie Pass to see it in the sunshine was put on hold. It seems that when we are on the western slope on the mountains, it is foggy in the morning, whereas on the eastern (dry) side it is clear. We decided to take a day trip and headed east to the West Cascades Scenic Byway and travel it from OR126 south to OR58. The Byway section was 54 miles of winding, tree lined road along the South Fork of the McKenzie River climbing to the ridge at Box Canyon Station and then down to North Fork of the Willamette River. They join just north of Eugene OR and become the Willamette River. On the South Fork of the McKenzie, the Corp of Engineers built the Cougar Dam for flood control and power purposes creating Cougar Lake with numerous waterfront campgrounds. All the slopes are tree covered and there was no sign of logging in the area. As we continued south, we passed Constitution Grove, a grove of 200 year old trees that had wood plaques with the names of the writers of the US Constitution: George Washington VA, Daniel Carroll MD, Gov Morris NJ, William Jackson Secretary, and so on. The grove was created on the 200th Anniversary of the approval of the Constitution. There are 20 wood covered bridges in Lane County OR, and we saw three of them. The bridge at Lowell was built in 1945 when there was plenty of wood but no steel (the same reason the Spruce Goose was constructed of wood). The Lowell Bridge was raised 6 feet and put on concrete piers to save it from the waters of the Willamette River when the Corp of Engineers constructed the Wexler Dam, raising the water level and creating the Dexter Reservoir in 1963. The State/County are very proud of these bridges and generally keep them in good repair.
There is the Chambers Bridge south of Eugene in Cottage Grove that is the only covered railroad bridge used to carry logs to the sawmill. Unfortunately the sawmill burned and the bridge was abandoned and has fallen into disrepair. It is much taller than the usual automotive bridges and very eye-catching as we looked at the brochure. We have not seen that bridge. We were going to stop in West Fir at a RV Park for the night. It had showers, but they wanted $39/night plus tax. We told the Owner that it was too much and pushed on. He looked crushed. As we drove away we heard a train whistle so it wouldn’t have been a good sleep. We continued on and ended up at the Lane County Richardson Park near Junction City. On the way there, we saw a fenced in storage yard with a number of sailboats in it and wondered what was happening as we had never seen anything like this before. Richardson Park is on a lake created once again by the Corp of Engineers, and as we approached, there were a number of small cruising type sailboats trying to have a race in no wind. We pulled in and found a very quiet spot with no lights to disturb us. We had a good hot shower and probably plugged the drains with all the dirt we washed off.


Wednesday, August 27, 2008:
Foggy again this morning. Daisy and I took a walk down to the Lake and looked at the Marina. Most of the boats were 20 to 25 feet long and a bit non-descript, but there was a small Beneteau. Continuing our walk, we saw what looked like another private club with a number of sailing dingies on the beach. I didn’t get close enough to see what they were, but there must be a sailing program of some sort. We went back to the RV where Susie was working hard drawing her blog. We had a shower, ate breakfast and finally left the campground at noon. We were in no hurry since the magneto wouldn’t be delivered until 11:00am, and there were a few hours of work before it could be assembled and reinstalled in the RV. We went food shopping, bought small propane bottles for the outside cook stove and found a place to cut Susie’s hair. We arrived back at Onan at 2:30pm and worked on the computers until the RV was ready at 4:30pm. We started driving southeast on OR58, the same road as yesterday, towards the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway. We climbed through the Willamette Pass at elevation 5,128 feet, managing to pass a few trucks and camping trailers on the way up. We stopped at a scenic viewpoint and had a wonderful view of Odell Lake, a bit of water 5 miles long and 1.25 miles wide. I bet it was very cold as it is fed by melting snow. We turned north on the Cascade Lake Scenic Byway, not without have missed it and having to turn around. It is a well-paved road, but Gabby Garmin had a hard time identifying it, as did we because of a lack of signage. We drove through an area that had been devastated by forest fire around Davis Lake. There was a campground indicated, but we turned around before reaching it. We continued on to the next campground named Lava Flow Campground. As we drove down the gravel road we came upon a lava flow that had the same characteristics as Mt McKenzie’s but it was much smaller. We saw some Ponderosa Pine Trees growing in the middle of all the broken lava rock. We don’t know how they got started, much less survive in such desolate conditions. The Lava Flow Campground was full of tenters and they looked a bit shocked that a RV would be using their special place. We moved on, passing other lava flows and eventually turned down a gravel road that took us the west shore of the Wickiup Reservoir and USFS Reservoir Campground. The reservoir stores water for Bend, and so it is down quite a bit. I imagine that it is very full and cold in the springtime. We were the only ones here and it is very dark and very quiet. I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but the Cascade Mountains have been the scene of much volcanic activity, often in recent geological time and so there are lava beds everywhere. We turned off all the lights in the RV last night and went outside to view the stars. It took a bit for our eyes to adjust, but the sky was very black with no clouds and with the exception of a faint glow to the northeast, which we believe to be bend OR, the horizon was dark. The longer we sat and viewed the stars the more became visible. The only distraction were 2 airplanes a long way to the east. It finally became a bit cold, and we went in. Tomorrow we will continue north, coming close to the Three Sisters Mountains, but this time on the southeast side. We may stay one more night in this area before moving on through Bend OR on to Newberry National Volcanic Monument and more lava fields.

Thursday, August 28, 2008:
4 Months on the road! The sun came up at 6:00am, but we put our heads under the covers after taking a peak out the window. It was cold enough for a low mist to form over the water. The sky was absolutely clear so during my walk with daisy a bit later, we were able to see mountains to the north.

One had some snow in the ravines near the top, and it may be South Sister. We saw a colony of white pelicans and Canadian geese. White pelicans are not common in the northwest, but there are several wandering colonies. Susie worked on her blog drawings and then gave me a haircut. We left the Campground at 1:15pm and drove north stopping at a few lakes to see the sights. The most impressive sights were the mountains: South Sister, Broken Top and Mount Bachelor. However all along the road were lava rock similar to those we saw a few days ago. We’ll be driving along and all of a sudden there are areas (square miles in size) of broken lava rock. The trees along the Scenic Byway were new growth and numerous areas of burned forest were visible. We passed Goose Lake, which has a green color, not the blue-green from glacial flour. We also passed Sparks Lake that was never more than 8 feet deep. Daisy and I walked across what was the bottom a while ago and all we found was a very cold stream. Daisy went into it, but only to her belly then came out. I put my hand in the water and found it to be very cold. We next went to Bachelor MT to take the ski lift to 7,700 feet to get a better overview of the area. We arrived at 3:15pm and the tram stopped operating at 4:00pm so we passed. Next on the list was to find a campsite. We stopped in a USFS site, and it was awful. Youngsters playing loud music, burned forest nearby, wasps, etc. We left and drove into Bend where we tried a RV community. We left when they wanted $66/night plus tax. We found another cheaper one, but it was still more than we have ever paid. Bend is a very upscale community, and it must be very expensive to live here. We did our laundry and are preparing to visit the High Desert Museum before moving south to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Friday, August 29, 2008:
During breakfast we wondered whether we should try to stay in this RV Park for the weekend. I went to the office, but it was closed and didn’t open until 10:00am. We retrieved the big Woodall’s book from under the seat and started looking. We found another RV Park adjacent to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and were able to find a spot for three nights. Off we went to the USFS Office in Bend to try to get campground information. I had a nice conversation with the desk lady about the Newberry Volcano. It turns out that this was, and maybe still is, a helluva big volcano and it lava flows extend for miles in all directions. We’ll know better after we visit the park, but all the lava rock fields we have seen the last few days have come from Newberry. We filled up with gas and headed to the High Desert Museum, a few miles south of Bend on US97. This museum is a ‘must see’ and takes at least 3 hours to see all the exhibits, indoor and outdoor. We toured from11:30am to 4:30pm. There were live mammals, birds of prey, a sawmill, a homestead farm, live animal (raven, snake, barn owl and badger) handling by the staff for the outside exhibits. The staff was very careful to explain how the Museum had come to have these animals. The two badgers were found as babies after their mother was killed, the golden eagle had a damaged wing and was unable to fly, the raven was almost blind and partially deaf and so on. There was a bobcat and Canadian Lynx in outside atriums but visible from the inside of the building. We had a terrific time and were almost thrown out as the place closed. The High Desert is a very large area and encompasses parts of WA, OR, ID, MT, NV and UT.

We drove south to the RV Park, passing the lava field exhibit at the north end of Newberry, but we’ll go back there before we leave. The RV Park has about 120 spaces in a large filed. There is no shade, but we have electricity and water. The temperatures are forecast to fall for the next few days, good for hiking around the lava beds and the volcanic caldera. I went outside around 10:00pm to view the stars. The good was that the viewing area was much larger due to the flatness of the land and lack of trees. The bad was that it was not a dark area with vehicles on the road and RV’s in the Park, however, the good did outweigh the bad.

Saturday, August 30, 2008:
It was 45 degrees this morning with a low-lying fog. We had breakfast, discussed what our moves are for the next 10 days and then left for the USFS Visitor Center for the Lava Fields and Lava River Cave. We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for a discussion of the volcanic activity in the area and then a tour of the fields and adjacent cinder volcano Lava Butte that is close to the Visitors Center. The volunteer giving the talk explain why Broken Top looked so different from the Sisters Mountains. This area not only had volcanoes, but glaciers also. All the mountains were affected by the glacial activity, but the Sisters had volcanic activity after the glaciers, but Broken Top did not. All of that took about 2 hours including a drive to the top of Lava Butte, a height of 500 feet. We did see some people walking up and others who, having walked up, decided to walk/slide down the steep cinder slope. We walked around the rim of the butte and viewed the bottom of the volcano.

This particular volcano last erupted about 6,200 years ago. From the top of Lava Butte we had a 360-degree view and saw as far north as Mt. Hood. Next we went to the Lava River Cave, a tunnel in the lava that is 5,466 feet long with a temperature of 40 degrees. There were no lights inside so we brought our own flashlights. These tunnels were formed when the top portion of the molten lava cooled sufficiently to form a crust while the remaining 2,000-degree lava continued to flow. It was interesting to look at the walls in the tunnels since it was possible to see the levels of the lava flowing through the tunnels by the ridges on the walls, similar to the rings on a bathtub after a child who was playing in the mud was given a bath and no one cleaned the tub. We traveled about 3/4 the way before turning back. The lights we took were not really adequate, but better than some and worse than others. There was one section where there was one tunnel on top of the other with an extra high chamber at either end. We returned to the RV Park where the Owner admonished Susie for driving too fast. I don’t think she was, but she turned the tables on him by having him give us a better picnic table. The original was warped and had peeling paint. Susie went on to the roof of the RV to retape the TV antenna, and I defrosted the refrigerator and freezer. It started to blow and the temperature dropped even before the sun set. Something is still rattling around on the roof so she’ll have to go back up. Susie thought that it wasn’t on the roof but someplace on the side. I went out and closed an access door for the elctric cord, and the noise disappeared. It will be cold tonight. I bought more milk so that we can have a hot breakfast tomorrow. The traffic on US97 has been heavy all day, and there have been several ambulances and firetrucks on the move with sirens on.

Sunday, August 31, 2008:
Holy icecubes! The temperature fell to 23 or 24 degrees last night, depending on who was talking. We had the heat on in the RV so it never went below 50 degrees inside. The people who did not detach the water hoses to their RV scrambled to thaw the hoses and any filters they may have. It may have been an expensive night for some. We left the RV Park at 10:30am and headed east into the south end of Newberry National Volcanic Monument and specifically the Newberry caldera. This caldera is approximately the same size as the Yellowstone NP caldera and is approximately 500 square miles. Inside the caldera are 2 lakes, Paulina Lake (250 feet deep) and East Lake (185 feet deep). Also inside the caldera is the Big Obsidian Flow.

The last eruption of the Newberry Volcano occurred about 1,300 years ago and 170 million cubic yards of obsidian (glass) and pumice were contained within the caldera. After this material had cooled, it covered 1.1 square miles (640 football fields) to an average depth of 150 feet (14 stories tall). We were able to walk through a portion of this field and found it to be rougher than the other lava fields we have been in and was made more interesting by the big chunks of obsidian (10%) intermixed with the pumice (90%). We talked to numerous folks on the walk; all of them seemed to have moved into Oregon from other areas. One family was from Belgium and were living in Portland OR. We saw more bikes and kayaks on the tops of cars than any other part of the country. These people know how to play in the treasures given to them. One couple had lived in Seattle for 10 years, moved to Tucson for another 12 years and then moved to Bend. They hike, camp and kayak in the summer and ski in the winter. Obsidian was a great resource to the Native Americans in this area as they were able to chip and work it into knives, spear points and other tools. Obsidian when chipped properly makes a very sharp instrument, and to prove this, there were pictures of a medical scalpel and obsidian knife blade magnified 5000 times. The scalpel edge was rough, but the obsidian edge was perfect. There was a story about a geologist who had an operation, and he supplied the surgeon with an obsidian knife, which the surgeon used for part of the surgery. The cuts made by the obsidian healed more quickly and with less scar tissue than the cuts made with the scalpel. We climbed a 540 foot hill named ‘The Little Crater’ and walked the rim.
We had great views and took what I hope will turn out to be great pictures of the surrounding area, but especially the Big Obsidian Flow. We returned to the RV Park feeling that we had accomplish much today. I met a 90-year old gentleman who was traveling with his wife. He had lived in Oregon all his life and was here playing drummer in a jazz band in a 2-day festival in LaPine OR, a few miles south of the RV Park. They were to leave tomorrow morning and return to their retirement village. We filled the RV with water and prepared for the trip to Crater Lake tomorrow. No frozen waterlines for us. We’ll have a bit more heat on tonight.

Monday, September 1, 2008:
Cold again this morning with 23 degrees and a low mist. When Daisy and I took our walk, it seemed that there was more snow on the mountains to the west than yesterday but I’ll need to check the pictures. We left the RV Park at 11:00am and headed south on US97 towards Crater Lake NP. We entered from the north side and passed through an area known as the Pumice Desert. This entire area must have been completely covered with pumice, and I don’t understand why this relatively small area is still a desert. We had decided to take the 2:00pm boat trip around Crater Lake, but when we tried to buy tickets, the 2:00pm was full, but the 4:00pm was open (just) so we took that. In order to get to the boat we walked along a 1.1-mile trail that dropped 700 feet to elevation 6,173 feet, the water level in the lake. Our first glimpse of the water was a real ‘WOW’. It was a very deep blue that is impossible for me to describe. We toured the perimeter for 2 hours and learned that this lake, with a depth of 1,943 feet, is the deepest lake in the US, and was formed by a giant eruption of Mount Mazama 7,700 years ago. Being able to travel around the inside of the crater, viewing the different layers of rock and what actions had caused them was fun and enlightening.



Then we had to climb back up the 1.1-mile trail with its 700 foot elevation gain. Tomorrow we will drive around the rim of the crater, and see it from the top, a different perspective. Oh, by the way, Crater Lake NP had its first snow last night, a light dusting, but still visible as we drove around. We were told that last winter, the area received 560 inches of snow, about 35 inches more than normal. All this snow and 66 inches of rain is what keeps Crater Lake full. We were able to get the last campsite with electricity, but it was really small and we had to squeeze the RV between trees on both sides. It is not supposed to be so cold tonight, but we’ll see.