Portland to Teton National Park

---

This is the first chance I have had to update the blog. As it is horribly slow I am going to do just a single entry. Oddly I have cell service at our campground. I am sitting next to Jackson Lake in the Lizard Creek Campground within Grand Teton National Park. I am connected using my cell phone as a modem. Photos are being troublesome. I have tons to upload and I as I get them, they will be here: http://picasaweb.google.com/theo.macris/2008_PortlandNY?authkey=LHJ1f2zaPfs

Friday 7/11
We finished running errands and packing the van and hit the road about 11am. We intend to enter Yellowston/Tetons via the southern route. Being oregon lovers it only makes sense to spend a few days more in Oregon seeing some places we haven't spent much time in before. We took I-84 to Hood River and then followed the beautiful Hwy 35 Southward past the rolling foothills of Mt. Hood and along the fruit orchards. We made a quick stop at the Fruit stand there to grab a jar of the delicious Marrionberry jam and the continued on eventually joining up with Hwy 26 East. That passes throuth the East side of the Mt. Hood National Forest then through the Warm Springs Indian reservation, Madras ( a depressing looking little town ) and Prineville. Our second stop was at Prineville City Park, a real gem of a local park, despite the desert heat the park is full of shade trees, picnic tables, a walking trail, an incredible play structure for kids, and even a small skate park for the locals. The lushness of Mt. Hood Forest thins quite suddenly in the warm springs reservation to high desert with lots of sage brush and short pines. We spotted a small flock of Turkey vultures along side the road. Right before entering the Ochocos the road passes along the very large Prineville resevoir. The lake looks amazing and I am sorry I never got a chance to get over here and do some boating and fishing.

About 15 miles outside of Prineville we entered the Ochoco National Forest. Somehow here the high desert again turns to forest, but a much different kind. This area was first designated National forest land in 1903 and there are Pine trees here that look well older than that. They stand straight up like lodgepole pine I am guessing the larger trees go 200 ft or more. We don't have an accurate name on the trees yet but we are guessing at Red Pine as they have this amazing bark that seems to peel off in swatches leaving inner layers exposed, all seperated by deep crevices where the bark has cracked from growth separation. The over all affect is that they have this mottled orange/reddish/browninish coloring that is a joy to look at.

We camped the first night in the Ochocos. We investigated a campsite at Walden lake, which was full, and then just took a forest service road up to a really nice spot in the trees . The only problem is that about 1/4mile below us is some huge group with lots of kids and ATVs whooping it up. We are guessing a church group or something just based on the size. But thats ok, the screaming kids weren't really annoying as they were obviously haveing a great time. We made some chili quesidas and a bottle of wine for dinner after a 1.5 hour hike along and off the forest road. The woods here have a meadow like undergrowth that you can just pick your way through without need for a trail. I love this! Mt. Hood, where I have spent most of my time, is so thick with undergrowth that is impassable without a trail. We spotted red wing blackbirds, wild columbine in small red flowers, wild lupine in blue, yarrow (which Sarah had me chew up and glob onto a festering broken blister I have) and all around the beautiful red pines poking their way straight up over the rugged hills. The temperature dropped quickly in the evening, I am not sure what elevation we are at, but it makes me think the evenings will be even cooler when we get to Wyoming. We had a small fire and then climbed into the van around 10:30. I was concerned I would be chilly but quickly realized that our nest was just fine and I slumbered well and long.

Saturday 7/12
Morning was relaxing. Coffee and toast with Jam. While I sat down to write, Sarah prepared the reflective enclosures for the van windows. She did an awesome job and I can already tell how cool the are going to keep the van while it is parked, also giving us some privacy and the ability to sleep in the mornings. There are some rocky protrusions that we intend to investigate today and then if the lake isn't icy cold, have a swim. Sarah had her first tick encounter today. I spotted the little devil on her neck. Nothing will give you the heeby jeebies like a small parasite sucking your blood.

Thursday 7/17
I will try to recount what has happened over the last few days. It has been a mix of milage and scenery, often times happening simultaneously. To continue on, Saturday we did not investigate the rock formations as we had earlier planned, rather we took a small drive to Walton lake, nearby in the Ochocos and did the loop hike. We admired the Ponderosa and lodgepole pines and had lunch at a shady picnic table. I took a swim in the perfect water and I'll tell you what, I was never happier to have purchased my crocs! They float like bobbers. Normally I cannot float so well because I am lean and my feet go down taking me with them, kind of like a human Titanic. With the crocs on, I spread my arms and lay on the water like an aquatic human cross. It was blissful.

After the lake we headed out for the Wallowa Whitman National forest to the East and North. We traveled along 26 through Malhuer National forest, merged onto the beautiful Hwy 7 and entered Wallowa National forest around 8:30pm. Getting late we took the first forest road along Burnt River. This road did not look promising at all and Sarah began to show signs of anxiety so we just pulled over on the gravel road and set up camp at what we now refer to as the miner camp. This area in SW Wallowa is full of placer gold mines. We could hear the motor running pumping its slurry into the traps until about midnight when it shut down. Fortunately the area was also very private and beautiful in its own way. It had been timbered heavily leaving a somewhat scraggy hillside. However, that allowed the wildflowers to proliferate. We finished off the evening building a small fire and chatting until bed time. The van was level (of which I cannot stress the importance enough) and super cozy. Sarah slept great and did not toss and turn as I am used to. Perhaps it is the twenty pillows she brought along.

In the morning (Sunday 7/13) we had a breakfast of fried eggs. We were on mixed use land that was also used for grazing. On the mornings hike there were many cowpies, but also a great variety of wild flowers. I have really enjoyed learning about some of the flowers and I can now name quite a few. This was my first spotting of the Mariposa Lily. I have been documenting the wild flowers with pictures which you can also enjoy as soon as I get them properly labeled. After the hike we packed it up and headed out, intending to find another spot in Wallowa forest. We took 7 to 245, a small winding road that leads to a disconnected area of the Wallowas. After passing the summit (Dooley Summit, about 5500 ft) we stopped for a picnic and shower and hike along a small creek. We were planning on spending the night there, but we got the urge to move on. This is about the time Sarah said "We should go check out the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho". It may have been a day earlier I cannot really remember. Nevertheless, we reloaded the van and decided to make it a milage day. 245 becomes (or is) the Snake River Mormon Basin Backcountry Byway. This is spectacular driving. Most of the small traffic we saw was motorcycles out on tour. Just past the ghosttown of Bridgeport we opted for the Burnt River Canyon Secin Byway. This is about 35 miles of gravel road which was mostly in very good condition...but still gravel. We made a great decision with this because it was some of the best canyon scenery we had seen. It moved from the treed high country of the Wallowas into a deep canyon with great rock formations, mining encampments, bare hillsides with rocky buttes, the burnt river meandering its way alongside. It is another little known gem that Oregon has to offer. I would bet that we don't know anyone that has been on this road. Eventually we left the dusty road and connected with I-84 near the town of Durkee. We gassed up here and I got a coffee and they let us use the hose to wash down the van which by then was completely covered in road dust.

We kicked I-84 all the way to Boise Idaho. We got some more gas and then asked instructions to Hwy 21 which would lead us to the Sawtooth Mountains in Boise National forest. We made it into the forest and to a small campground well after nightfall. Not much to report here, in the morning we just packed up and continued on.

Monday 7/14
Hwy 21 is a beautiful drive and meaders onwards through the Boise forest towards the Sawtooth Mountains.

The Sawtooths are unmistakeable and undeniably the most spactacular scenery we had seen to this point. Behind high rolling mountains they poke up, craggy, sharp, glaciered, and spactacular. In Stanley, the Sawtooths Nouthern "city" we stopped at the visitor station and the ranger station for some info; a forest servie map, a trail guide, and a little chat. The woman we spoke with did not really seem that knowlegeable. But we did find out where we could camp for free. Down Hwy 75 about 15 miles we made camp along forest service road, Forth of July Creek Road. We drove up this gravel road about 5 miles and found a beautiful little spot with a fire ring and a nice level spot for the van. we set up shop here and had a little walk around. we were right next to the creek and also a small bog. This marks the beginning of our experience with the rocky mountain Mosquitto. They were thick and caused us to break out the Deet bug spray which we luckily had brought along.

We had spent the day driving and so we just settled in, cooked, ate, and as the sun began to wane, we opened a bottle of wine. We were sitting around the fire next to each other enjoying the very last daylight when Sarah caught a reflection in her glasses, she jerked around and in one fluid motion got up running and said in a controlled but tense voice..."BEAR!" By the time I had turned to look she was already halfway to the van. Sure enough, about 12 feet behind us was a large black bear poking its way between two trees. It was about waist high, maybe 18" thick, with a fluffy black coat. I would guess 200 lbs or better. It was just light enough to see it in the shadows, but not so light to make out facial features. Heedless of what I had read to move slowly away and talk quietly to the bear, I sprinted for the drivers side of the van and got in shortly after Sarah made the side entry. But the bear was still coming and our food was all sitting out since we had just ate. We looked at each other and then opened the windows and started shouting as loud as we could. The bear seemed undeterred by the horn. After a few more steps the bear stopped, turned and casually walked off in the same direction it had come. After a few moments we ran out and grabbed all our food and hucked it into the van. Both of us were kind of freaked out and were not into sitting out with a bear nearby so we called it a night shortly after. My first bear encounter was far too close. I am still amazed at how quiet it was to get so close to us. Granted there was a creek nearby gurgling, we had had some wine, and had a fire...but still, 12 feet away?? Yikes! We have now placed new bear spotting tactics into play.

Wild flowers spotted:
Crimson Sage
Sage Brush Mariposa Lily
Meadow Chickweed
Beach Stwberry
Red Columbine
Pink/Yellow Columbine
Desert Anemone
Wart Berry Fairy Bell
White Heather
Englemann Aster (white)
Bog Rein Orchid
Mullein
Pearly Everlasting
Western Peppergrass
Peak Rushrose
Heart Leafed Arnica
Yarrow

---