Continuations And Deviations

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Weaving Through Oregon

Crossing the border into Oregon, there are 3 things that I immediately noticed...


• The coast line becomes even more rugged (if that is even possible)....
• The speed limit lowers... and
• The roadside signs are suddenly both more prolific and blatant.


In California all the roadside signs seemed to almost want to have a conversation with you...

Watch Out For Deer Crossing

or

Caution - Heavy Congestion Ahead

Once you hit Oregon they prefer to just beat you over the head with their messages like...

ELK

Sometimes words are even just too much hassle so you just see a picture and hope you never actually encounter the monsters that your imagination conjours out of them.

Continuing up the 101 slowly winds you along the coast past dense forests and around jagged headlands that put Australia's 12 Apostles to shame. The sheer amount of beautiful opportunities for photos as well as the ever present hiking trails once again reminded me of my need to return in more clement weather.

For only the 2nd time (the first being when I had to detour to pick up the hire car), I deviated from the coastline. Leaving the coast and Coos Bay behind, I got my first sighting of wild deer on the side of the road... majestic creatures... with very small brains... that always seem to want to cross the road at the precise time that a car is passing... very much like kangaroos. Luckily, these two must have had some semblance of sanity and remained just off the side while I wound my way along a river on one side with waterfalls and cascades running down the cliff on the other.

The reason for the deviation was simple... I love volcanoes!! As luck has it, the Cascade Ranges are full of them with one of their most famous being Crater Lake. Surrounded by national parkland, the volcano itself stands proudly above it's neighbours. What I didn't realise was how far up it actually was. Still over 25 miles away and I saw the first signs of snow in the shaded areas of the forest beside the highway. With 15 miles to go the landscape turned white as I rose above 4000 feet. The boughs of the trees laden with snow would occasionally shrug off it's adornment with a thud and as I passed 7000 feet the snow drifts on the side of the road from the recent plowing Reached well above car height giving the illusion of driving through a white tunnel (as well as tweaking the claustrophobia). It was the first time I had to deal with driving on snow and ice... An well as dealing with temperatures in the 30's... worth it? Definitely!!

The crater itself sits at nearly 8000 feet and is a winter wonderland for skiers and snow-shoeing around the rim. The volcano hasn't erupted since the time of the early Egyptians, but when it did it was said to throw enough ash into the air to dwarf all recent eruptions in the world. To put it into perspective, Mt Versuvius that covered Pompeii was a stone in the pond of what Crater Lake did... somewhere in the vicinity of 300 times more. Now officially classed as dormant, it still is monitored by geologists and seismologists after more recent activity in the range.

Back out to the coast and rejoining Highway 101 at Florence, I finished off the "All American Drive" up the coast through coastal towns and cities such as Lincoln City, Tillamook (great cheese industry), Cannon Beach (amazing beach with a huge monolith that's accessible at low tide) and ending in Astoria (picturesque town at the mouth of the Columbia River).

Timing can mean everything or nothing when you travel... nothing because you often forget what day (or sometimes month) it is... and everything because sometimes the stars just align. This is what happened in this instance.

I hadn't planned on spending too long in Portland thinking it just another city... that was until I noticed another couchsurfing catch up happening in 2 days. So now with 2 days to kill in the area, I had to find something to occupy myself... and in another stroke of luck, Portland is a hub for boutique and micro breweries. Springing up all over the city, they have become a classy lunch affair or a cheeky back alley table with street art and instillations. Bridgeport (one of the former) and Hair Of The Dog (one of the latter) seemed the pick of the bunch, and when followed by a visit to a coffee roaster a block away, was a great way to meet some locals and spend an afternoon.

To the east of Portland lies the Columbia River Gorge Historic Drive and a great opportunity to get back out into nature again. Without even realising, I headed out to what is quite possibly one of the most enchanting areas I've seen on my travels. Waterfalls are the draw card here and those that have read a few of my blogs understand the unique draw that these have on me. From tucked away, hidden gems that surprise you as you turn a corner in the trail, to the second highest free fall waterfall in the country... they all captivate and amaze me every time I see one.

With the networking done that night over a few frothies, the morning brought the open road again... and the next state... Washington!!

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Comments

[taracloud]

Waterfalls, volcanoes and the Columbia River Gorge!
Great photos of some of my favorite countryside! Happy trails!

[cubic zirconia bead]

http://www.zhongchenggem.cn/
It is a informative post , thanks for sharing

[D MJ Binkley]

Driving in snow
You picked a great place to have your first drive in the snow. Glad you continue to enjoy the beauty of America. Enjoy Portland, one of our fabulous cities.