Silver Falls State Park I spent today in Silver Falls State Park, the oldest and largest in Oregon. It exists mainly due to the effort of photographer June Drake in the 1920s, who thought the area was beautiful and needed preservation. At the time it had been thoroughly logged. His photographs of area waterfalls went a long way to persuading people to agree with him. The first thing visitors see is a beautiful lodge made of local stone and timber, Historic South Falls Lodge It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1940 Inside contains a long central dining room with wooden furniture (some of whi... read more

Today, I soaked up Portland culture. Portland feels like an environmentally conscious college town on a grand scale. This has both good and bad points. Portland is a great place to just hang out, drink good coffee or better beer, and relax. Portland also seems to attract people for whom doing anything else seems too difficult to handle. My hotel is the perfect introduction. Most hotel lobbies are empty. The Ace lobby was filled with people, drinking coffee and working on laptops. Since I had a conference to prep... read more

Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge Today was a day for scenery, on a grand scale. First up was Mount Hood. Hood River the town sits on the actual Hood River, which leads to (yep) Mount Hood. The drive up starts in summer and ends in winter. The early part passes through open fields with a special view of the mountain when the clouds cooperate. The white pyramid peak dominates the horizon. The road passes into a pine covered gorge, and then into high mountainside. Snow appears at this point. The sky also started to rain, producing the look of late winter. The south side of Mount Hood has been a haven for skiers for over a century. Thanks to the mountain’s glaciers, it’s possible to ski here year round. In 1937, the Works Progr... read more

White Salmon Rafting Today I rafted one of the Columbia Gorge’s more notable tributaries, the White Salmon River. It provides one of the most scenic raft trips in existence. The river flows through an old lava tube for half the trip, so the scenery is a narrow gorge filled with basalt (see ). Trees grow where they can and shade the canyon, creating an unbelievably good looking river. The river is fed by snowmelt from surrounding peaks, so it is also unbelievably clear and cold. I did the trip with Zoller’s Outdoor Odysseys. They are a third generation family run rafting company, and the first on this river. I chose them for their exemplary safety record, and the fact they started their url=http://www.zooraft.com/d08/ri... read more

Today, I pushed out of Wyoming and into Idaho. The first obstacle is Teton Pass. A high mountain pass across the southern end of the Teton Range, it is the only way to cross the mountains by road. It drove like a miniature version of the Big Horn Mountains, a steep climb with lots of views followed by an equally steep drop. The other side held a wide farming valley, noted mostly for its view of the backside of the Teton Range. The peaks are much less dramatic on this end, although Grand Teton is clearly visible. From here, the road weaved through river valleys, more hills, and farms filled with yellow alfalfa plants rippling in the breeze. Eventually, it reached an overlook of a wide valley with mountains shimmering in the heat miles away. I ... read more