Living Our Dream

Portland, OR Part I: Columbia River Gorge

When we left our site at Winchester Bay RV Resort near Reedsport, OR, it was 51 degrees at the marina at about 9:30 AM. By the time we had driven just a mile or two into town, it was 68 degrees. That gives you an idea of how much lower the temperature was right at the coast.

We had a little another four-hour drive that was again lengthened a bit by construction. It seems Oregon is getting more than its share of stimulus money because there are road projects going on everywhere. We finally made it to Barton Park, which is a Clackamas County park about 20 miles southeast of Portland, OR.

Barton Park has about 90 RV sites as well as a day-use area for picnicking. About 30 of the sites are paved with grass between and the rest are all grass. The sites have 50 amp electric and water hookups. The site width isn't too bad, but it's a little less than you expect to see in a state or county park. There were only a few people there when we arrived earlier in the week. They were only about half filled for the Fourth of July weekend, and we're not sure why. It's a nice enough campground, the price is reasonable ($16 a night), it's close to a major city, and there's plenty to do (hiking as well as rafting and tubing in the nearby Clackamas River). It's the emptiest campground we've ever seen on a holiday weekend, anywhere...but we weren't complaining. The photo below shows our site at Barton Park.

The nearby city of Portland is located along the Columbia River about 100 miles upstream where the river meets the Pacific. The Columbia River flows from British Columbia, Canada, down through eastern Washington State, and forms much of the boundary between Oregon and Washington.

The Columbia River Gorge is about 80 miles long and lies to the east of Portland. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area follows Oregon side of the gorge. Camping, fishing, windsurfing, and sightseeing are popular activities along the gorge.

Long ago, the river began slowly eroding the gorge through the mountains as the Cascade Range was being uplifted; but the most drastic changes took place at the end of the last Ice Age as flood waters from the rapidly-melting glaciers finished cutting the gorge through layers of volcanic rock.

We had heard and read about the beautiful scenery and the waterfalls along the gorge, so we went for a drive to take a look. The Historic Columbia River Highway winds along most of the Columbia River Gorge. The highway was built between 1913 and 1922 and was the first planned, scenic highway. Parts of the scenic highway are steep, winding, and narrow.

We started the drive at the western end of the scenic highway in Troutdale, OR. About 11 miles east of Troutdale is Vista House. Vista House was built in 1916-1918 at a basalt promontory known as Crown Point as a place where visitors could stop to rest and to observe the Columbia River in both directions. Today, Vista House serves as a museum, a gift shop, a coffee shop, and a rest stop. The photo below shows Vista House.

The next photo is looking west from Vista House toward Portland...

...and the photo below is looking east.

As we continued driving east from Vista House, we came to Bridal Veil Falls. It was about a 2/3 mile round-trip walk along a somewhat steep path to the falls overlook. Bridal Veil Falls, which is shown in the photo below, is about 140 feet high.

There are a series of waterfalls along the scenic highway, but the tallest and most popular is Multnomah Falls. There is a 543 foot plunge for the upper falls, an 8 foot cascade between the falls, and a 69 foot drop for the lower falls. At a total height of 620 feet, Multnomah Falls claims to be the second-highest, year-round waterfall in the United States. Like Burney Falls we saw in California, the water for Multnomah Falls comes from underground springs. The photo below shows Multnomah falls.

 

The trail crosses Benson Footbridge right at the crest of the lower falls. The next photo shows the view looking back down toward the gorge from the bridge.

 

After the trail crosses the bridge, it climbs all the way to the top of the falls if you have the stamina to follow it. We settled for going just beyond the bridge so we could get the next photo from the base of the upper falls.

 

The next photo shows Benson Bridge from the trail on the upper side.

 

When we got back to the car, we drove a little farther to the east where we found a nice, shady pull-off to have our lunch. After that, we turned around and headed back to the motor home. We took I-84 on our return trip. While the Historic Columbia River Highway follows a more winding path higher up the side of the gorge, I-84 travels closer to the river. We stopped at a pull-off and got the photo below of the Columbia River looking east. It is a little different view of the same stretch of river we got earlier from Vista House. Vista House is at the top of the promontory to the right of the photo below.

There's lots more to see around the Portland area. We look forward to sharing what we found.

Crater Lake National Park

The main reason we stayed at Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area north of Medford, OR, was to visit Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is located a little over an hour to the northeast.

Crater Lake is in the caldera of an ancient volcano called Mount Mazama. Mount Mazama was one in a chain of volcanoes that existed (and many still do exist) in the Cascade Mountain Range. The Cascades start in Canada and extend down to Mount Lassen in northern California.

Mount Mazama built up over a long period of time to a height of 11,000 or 12,000 feet. The base was broader than Mount Shasta, but it was not as tall and the sides were not as steep. Following the emptying of the magma chamber during a massive eruption long ago, the center of Mount Mazama collapsed creating a caldera six miles across.

After the caldera cooled, it filled with snow melt and rain water creating Crater Lake, which is shown in the photo below.

 

Crater Lake is known for its deep blue color. We knew that, and we were reminded again when we saw the informational movie at the visitor center. But when we drove up the hill from the visitor center to the first overlook, we were astounded at the intensity of the blue. It was breathtaking.

Crater Lake is 1,943 feet deep at the deepest point. There are no streams or rivers in or out of the lake. All the water is from snow melt, rain, or from springs. Consequently, the water is very pure with little pollution or sediment. It is the depth and purity of the water that give it its intense blue color.

Following the collapse of Mount Mazama, there were still eruptions going on inside the caldera from secondary vents. Wizard Island, which is shown in the first photo, is a cinder cone that is evidence of the activity after the collapse. Other cones exist below the surface of the water. The next photo shows Margery with Wizard Island in the background.

Wizard Island is named for the fact its conical shape is like a wizard's hat. The top of the cone is about 755 feet above the surface of the water and is topped by a 500 foot diameter, 100 foot deep crater. You can barely see the dark crater in the photo above. There are boat tours that depart from the northern side of the lake in summer and stop at Wizard Island.

The photo below is another view of the lake to the right of Wizard Island.

There is a 33-mile loop road around the entire perimeter of the crater. Unfortunately, the road wasn't fully open yet because of snow. In fact, we passed the snow plow on our way into the park. The road was only open from the visitor center about half way around the lake on the western side. The entire road usually doesn't open until sometime in July. One of the things we were astounded to find out about Lassen Volcano while we were there is it gets 40 feet of snow, but the average annual snowfall at Crater Lake is even higher at 44 feet.

Driving clockwise around the lake, we came to another pull-off called Watchman Overlook. It takes its name from nearby Watchman Peak, which is a high spot left around the rim of the caldera when Mazama collapsed. The photo below shows Watchman Peak. As you can see, there is quite a bit of snow at this altitude of about 8,000 feet.

 

From this vantage point, you can also see some other features that existed before the collapse of the volcano. One is Hillman Peak, which sits on the rim of the caldera. Hillman Peak was a secondary volcano that erupted from the flank of Mount Mazama. The jagged spires are the solidified lava conduits.

 

Another feature that you can get a good view of from Watchman Overlook is Llao Rock. Llao Rock is a large outpouring of lava that filled an explosion crater on the side of Mount Mazama. When Mazama collapsed, it left a portion of the lava flow perched on the rim. The next photo shows Llao Rock on the left.

 

Continuing around the lake, we came to Pumice Point. We had seen quite a few Clark's nutcrackers flitting about at some of the other stops. At Pumice Point, one finally landed on the wall where Paul could get a good photo. These birds have flashy patches on their wings and tails, so they look similar to mockingbirds when they fly.

 

The next photo is looking east from Pumice Point.

 

And the photo below is a view to the south showing the north side of Wizard Island.

 

From Pumice Point, it was only a short distance to where the road was closed, so we turned around and headed back toward the park entrance. On the way, we looked a little closer at the scenery surrounding the lake rather than the lake itself. The next photo shows Mount Thielsen, which is an extinct volcano that lies just outside the park to the north. The bare areas in the middle ground are pumice beds.

 

The photo below shows Red Cone, a basalt cinder cone.

 

The next photo is looking south. The dark peak to the right is the extinct volcano Union Peak. To the left of Union Peak right about in the center of the photo along the horizon is snow-covered Mount McLoughlin, which is a cinder cone that was later covered by lava. To the left of Mount McLoughlin is Mount Shasta. It was barely visible to the naked eye (it was 100 miles away), and it is very difficult to see in the photo. It's just a light-colored, fuzzy blur on the horizon on the far left.

At the same pull-off we saw a blacktail deer. It climbed the bank and watched us for a while before wandering off into the brush.

 

Then it was back to the motor home. From Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area, we continued on our northward journey. Look for our next post to see where we ended up.