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September 13, 2014 Carson City/Virginia City, Nevada

We certainly enjoyed our time in Carson City. Even though it is the capital city of Nevada, the city itself was quiet, friendly and the traffic was unbelievably light. They had plenty of restaurants, stores, an occasional casino, and we were able to do our Walmart grocery run before we left, but what amazed us was the lack of traffic, even during what would be normal rush hour times. Both the capital building, completed in 1871, and the State Legislature building have beautiful silver colored domes visible throughout the city. The Kit Carson Trail runs throughout the city.

Before arriving in Carson City we spent one day and night in Reno for the purpose of getting some repairs done on the RV. Reno was the closest place in our travels to have an approved repair facility. Bill and I are not gamblers and the lure of the casinos and all that goes with it did not appeal to us, so one night and day was definitely enough in Reno.

On our last day in the area we decided to make the fifteen mile trip over to Virginia City. Just the mention of Carson City and Virginia City took our minds back to one of our favorite childhood TV shows, “Bonanza”. As we neared Virginia City we were surprised at the 15% grade climb to get up to the city. Along the way we saw mining operations since they are still mining for some gold and mostly silver in the area. The mining operations is bringing the mountain down around them.

Comstock Mining harvesting gold and silver

Chollar Mine shaft as seen from town

Virginia City itself was even more touristy than we expected with every gimmick imaginable to get money from the tourists. There were carriage rides, train rides, ghost tours, souvenir shops, fake gunfights and saloons galore. We walked the main street wooden promenade and tried to imagine what life was like in the days of our beloved Bonanza, but it was hard to all imagine with all the tourist attractions. The one attraction advertised that we really wanted to do was ride in a stagecoach with Bill riding shotgun. I had read great reviews of this attraction beforehand. When we arrived we were disappointed to learn it was one of the few attractions closed for the season. Bill had to be content with having a beer in one of the saloons and imagine that Miss Kitty would come along. OOPS! Wrong western!

We managed to grab a geocache before heading back to the car and back to Carson City. One thing we really liked was every few feet along both sides of Main Street they had banners with the names of men and women from the area who have served our country. In one storefront we saw a small memorial to Sept 11. The Comstock Lode definitely had a huge impact on the area. George Hearst, owner of the newspaper and father of William Randolph, became rich from the Comstock Lode. Many people came to this area in search of gold and silver, but we believe many more left disappointed than wealthy.

September 8, 2014 Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada

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Carson City, the capital of Nevada, was our home base during our visit to Lake Tahoe. We settled into a small no frills but very comfortable campground. The owner was very nice and accommodating and we knew right off we had made the right decision to stay in Carson City which is about a twenty minute drive from Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe is very pretty and South Tahoe is very much a resort area with casinos, hotels, restaurants, plenty of souvenir shops, and a lot of traffic. We looked hard for a campground that could accommodate the size of our RV and was away from traffic noise. Not being able to find anything that worked for us in Tahoe, we decided on Carson City.

A nice view on the pass from Carson City to South Lake Tahoe

We drove from Carson City to Lake Tahoe twice. The first day we purchased an audio tour to use as we drove the seventy-two mile loop around the lake. It gave us the history of the lake as well as some fascinating stories about some of its inhabitants over the years. Lake Tahoe is basically made up of five distinct sections; South Shore which is the most touristy area, West Shore with private homes, Truckee River & Squaw Valley with its famous ski resort, North Shore with Tahoe City, and East Shore. The traffic in South Tahoe was almost bumper to bumper and since this is off season, we could only imagine how bad it must be during the summer and busy ski season.

Lake Tahoe, named “Big Water” by the Washoe Indians, has enough water to cover the entire state of California with fourteen inches of water. The water in Lake Tahoe is said to be 97% pure, almost the same as distilled water. It is twenty-two miles long and twelve miles wide, with one third of the lake in Nevada and two thirds in California. It is the third deepest lake in North America with an average depth of 989 feet. It is fed by sixty-three streams and two hot springs.

Kayakers enjoying Lake Tahoe

Kayakers enjoying Emerald Bay

Lake Tahoe’s water is very clear

Lake Tahoe sits at an elevation of 6,229 feet in a valley between Sierra Nevada and the Carson Range. The mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe are usually snow capped, but we did not see any snow since we were arriving in late summer. The lakeshore gets an average of 125 inches of snow with the surrounding mountains getting an average of 300-500 inches. The lake is also surrounded by three national forests; the Eldorado, the Humboldt-Tolyabe, and Tahoe. Since 25 percent of the lake is privately owned the lake was never able to become a National Park.

On our second visit to Lake Tahoe we took a narrated boat tour of the lake aboard the MS Dixie II paddlewheel boat.

Having a party on Lake Tahoe

It was a leisurely trip out to Emerald Bay which is one of the most photographed places in the world. Once we reached Emerald Bay

The famous Emerald Bay and Fannette Island

the boat entered the bay and circled around Fannette Island, the only island on Lake Tahoe.

Fannette Island

Fannette Island with Mrs. Knight’s Tea House at the top

Fannette Island

We were also able to get a great view of a castle named Vikingsholm. It was built in 1929 as a summer home, and the owner and her guests would often be rowed over to the Tea House on the island for Sunday tea. The castle is said to be one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. Today it is maintained by the California State Parks Foundation.

Vikingsholm is now a California State Park

Vikingsholm is located at the head of Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, California

We loved seeing the beautiful Ponderosa pines along the lakeshore. Back in the late 1800’s miners were lured to the area with the promise of gold and the discovery of the Comstock Lode (the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States). As a result almost all the pines around the lake were cut down to support the mining industry needs in nearby Virginia City. Most of the Ponderosa pines we see today are second generation plantings.

Castle Rock with highway tunnels

Kayakers enjoying Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is beautiful but it doesn’t begin to compare to the majestic, breathtaking beauty of Crater Lake.

Some Lake Tahoe tidbits:

Lake Tahoe was originally called “Dao w a ga” by the Washoe tribe. First pioneers mispronounced it as “Da ow” and the name was eventually changed to Tahoe because it was deemed easier to say.
Mark Twain loved Lake Tahoe calling it “the fairest picture the whole earth affords”.
The 1960 Winter Olympic games were held in Squaw Valley. It was the first games to be televised and the first time the U.S. won a gold medal in ice hockey.
The Ponderosa house, used in the TV show, “Bonanza”, was moved when the show ended to the area and until recently was open for tours until it was sold.
If Lake Tahoe was drained, it would take 700 years for it to refill naturally.
The evaporated water from Lake Tahoe each day, could supply the daily water needs of the city of Los Angeles for five years.
Tahoe Tessie is a prehistoric fish which legend says lives in the lake.
Jacques Cousteau made a deep water dive in the mid 1970’s and when he came up he refused to share any of his underwater photos. He said, “The world isn’t ready for what was down there”, and never spoke of it again. Some speculate he came across someone in “cement shoes” since the Mafia loved Lake Tahoe, while others guess he saw Tahoe Tessie.
Speaking of the Mafia, the movie “Godfather II” was filmed at Lake Tahoe, as well as “The Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Also filmed in Tahoe was “City of Angels” with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan.

September 2, 2014 Lassen Volcanic National Park, California Part 1

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While we were in Weed we stopped off at their Visitors Center and the lady there suggested we stop by McCloud River Falls on our way to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I was a little apprehensive about finding a parking place long enough for the RV and our tow vehicle at the falls, but Bill was confident we wouldn’t have a problem and he was right. Since it was a weekday and after Labor Day, the parking lot was almost empty. We walked down to the observation decks at both the upper and middle falls. It was a lovely falls as the water tumbled over lava cliffs, and we could imagine it being even more spectacular after the spring thaw.

McCloud River upper falls

McCloud river middle falls

Sadly as we traveled down toward the park we entered an area devastated by fire with burned hillsides and forest. We passed a couple trucks burned to the shell as well as some destroyed buildings, but we also saw where many houses had miraculously escaped fire.

We arrived at Manzanita Lake Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park for a three night dry camping stay. Lassen is known for mountain scenery reminiscent of Yosemite and geothermal features similar to Yellowstone, but the best thing is this park has only a fraction of the visitors of Yosemite or Yellowstone. As expected after Labor Day, the campground was sparsely inhabited which was just fine with us. There were loads of firewood to gather and unlike most state parks who want to sell you firewood, here they did not mind us gathering wood for a campfire. We enjoyed nice campfires under the stars on two nights, but we were mindful of the extremely dry conditions in the area and were super careful.

Lassen Volcanic National Park was designated a national park in 1916. All four types of volcanoes are found in the park (shield, plug dome, cinder cone, and composite) as well as three different types of geothermal features (steam vents, mudpots and hot springs). Lassen Peak, one of the world’s largest plug dome volcanoes, erupted in 1914 and continued volcanic outbursts for three years.

We stopped by the Visitors Center and watched an excellent movie about the park and the volcanic activity which shaped the landscape. We purchased an auto tour book so we could learn more about the area as we made the thirty mile drive from south to north through the park. There were sixteen pullouts where we could view and learn about that area of the park.

Hot Rock, was swept from the summit of Lassen Peak in 1915 by an avalanche and mudflow after an enormous steam explosion on the summit. It weighs about thirty tons, the weight of a fully loaded semi truck.

30-ton rock placed here during the eruption, five miles from the peak

Near Lassen Peak, the road reached 8,511 feet, making it the highest road in the Cascade Mountain range.

Lassen Peak

Lake Helen

Do you see a face?

Juniper Lake

Near the south entrance of the park we came to Sulphur Works, the most accessible hydrothermal area in the park. The steam fumaroles and mudpots are evidence of the continued volcanic activity in the area. Spring snowmelt and rain soaks into the ground and then percolates downward through cracks and fractures. Eventually it comes in contact with hot rock and trapped gases. The water is superheated and rises to the surface as steam. The hydrogen sulfide gives the area a very strong smell of rotten eggs and the temperatures in the pools have been measured at 196 degrees.

Sulphur Works

We also managed to find four geocaches in the park also!

August 29, 2014 Weed, California

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We spent a relaxing four days at Collier Memorial State Park near Chiloquin, Oregon. We had been without internet or good cell phone service for over a week so we spent lots of time working on blog posts, doing paperwork and planning our fall and winter itinerary. It takes time to research places to stay and make reservations. Now that summer is over the parks will not be as crowded, but there is always the holidays to plan for, and the earlier the better. There are many snowbirds that come down from Canada and snap up spots in the nicer RV resorts.

Our second day at Collier we began to notice smoke in the air from four surrounding Oregon wildfires. Even though the fires were not that close, we could definitely smell the smoke. The smoke continued to worsen during our stay and when we left on August 29th for Weed, California, there was hazy smoke in the air.

We had a wonderful time in Washington and Oregon and the time passed by so quickly. Today we entered California again. We passed through farmland with cattle grazing and the beginning of irrigation and crops growing in the fields. We made a stop in Klamath Falls, Oregon at a Walmart to stock up on supplies and food. We wanted to take advantage of this last Walmart in Oregon since Oregon has no sales tax.

As we crossed the border into California we had to stop at an agricultural checkpoint where we were asked where we were coming from and if we had any fruits or plants. Bill told them we had just bought a bag of apples at Walmart in Oregon and they told us we could go. We thought as we traveled further south the smoke would begin to dissipate, but if anything it got worse. For most of our two hour trip the visibility was only about two miles.

We checked into a small, no frills campground in Weed, California (population 2,900), for a four night stay during the Labor Day holiday. Weed is a little spot in the road but we wanted to stay away from the craziness of crowded state and national parks during the final summer holiday.

We ventured out to Main Street to visit the post office. We did a little geocaching and it is always amazing to find some unexpected sites in these small towns! We came across this Alaskan totem pole where a geocache was located. Turns out this totem pole is at the beginning of Highway 97 which is the beginning of the Alaskan-Canadian Highway. If you stayed on Highway 97 you would eventually pass through Canada into Alaska. There is another totem pole at the end of the highway in Alaska.

Another wonderful find while geocaching was the “Living Memorial Sculpture Garden” located about fifteen miles from our campground on Highway 97. This garden, located with a view of Mt Shasta in the distance, was founded in 1988 by a group of Siskiyou County veterans to celebrate veterans of conflicts from the Revolutionary to the present. Dennis Smith, a Vietnam veteran, is a metal sculptor whose works are displayed in the garden. There is also a Memorial Wall and every Memorial Day and Veterans Day, new names are etched on the wall and read aloud. At the entrance to the area is “The Peaceful Warrior”, a lone figure with one arm raised, representing those who love peace and will fight aggression to preserve that peace. This sculpture honors those willing to step forward when asked to do so. There are nine other sculptures in the park where we walked through a labyrinth to see them. We took pictures of some of our favorites to share in the blog. “Those Left Behind” is a female figure accepting the American flag.

Those left behind

“Who can repay those who have lost loved ones in combat? What on earth can compensate them for the loss of life?” “The Greatest Generation” sculpture depicts the second raising of the flag on Mt Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945. “The Nurses” sculpture honors nurses, Navy corpsmen, Army medics, doctors and pharmacists who bring healing. “The POW-MIA” sculpture was the most moving, showing a soldier in a cage. Outside the cage is a metal arch where over the years people have left POW and MIA bracelets, wreaths, flags, flowers and personal notes.

Our main reason for stopping in Weed was to see Mount Shasta, the largest composite volcano in the Cascades and the second highest peak in the Cascades, with only Mt Rainier being higher. When we arrived in Weed, Mount Shasta was nowhere in site due to the smoke and haze from the wildfires. We hoped the visibility would improve during the four days we were there and on the day before we left the smoke cleared enough for us to get some fairly good pictures.

North face of MT Shasta and MT Shastina

South face of MT Shastina and MT Shasta

We drove the fourteen mile Mount Shasta Scenic Mountain Drive which took us halfway up the mountain to an altitude of 7,900 feet. Many mountains are considered to be sacred places, especially to Native Americans, but we found Mount Shasta to be considered one of the most sacred mountains in the world. There are small sacred communities near the mountain offering spiritual energy and peaceful experiences as well as spiritual guidebooks of the area. At one viewpoint we found many sacred circles made of rocks. We took a hike on the Panther Meadow Trail which would have been prettier in the spring when the wildflowers were in bloom.

Trailhead for MT Shasta starting at 7,900 FT

Bill spent the rest of Labor Day laboring with jobs around the RV like washing the tow car, checking the water in the RV batteries and cleaning the tanks.

August 11, 2014 The Cove Palisades State Park, Culver, Oregon

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One forgotten Mt Hood picture!

Close-up view of one of Mt Hood’s glaciers, very cold but melting

We reluctantly left Moro and may have stayed for another day if it hadn’t been for the dreadful heat. We were headed south and sought out a campground with some shady campsites. We found The Cove Palisades State Park and after finding out they had several spots available we drove to the campground and chose the shadiest spot we could find. We didn’t worry about trees blocking the satellite TV; with temperatures approaching 101 degrees, we just wanted some shade!

This was just a one night stay and we wanted to see some of the park, so after setting up we hopped in the car. This park actually has two campgrounds. We atayed in the one at the top of the canyon which was cooler, had more grass and shade and was closer to the entrance. We wanted to see the other campground which was a five mile drive down into the canyon. Once we saw the road we were really glad we didn’t stay there because the road was very steep and our car thermometer went up five degrees in the canyon. We loved the views of the canyons walls which surrounded a lake and we crossed a bridge as the road wound through the canyon and passed an impressive waterfall. We came to one area in the canyon where we found a geocache at a site where there was a petroglyph.

The next day we headed to Redmond, Oregon where we will be attending an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally. They are expecting well over 3,000 RVs to attend this rally with seminars, vendors and entertainment to keep us very busy. As we pulled out of our campground we had a hazy view of Mt Jefferson.

Mt Jefferson from our campsite

A zoomed view of Mt Jefferson from our campground

August 7, 2014 Columbia River Gorge Part 2

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Wow it was hot! As much as we loved our site at the county park in Moro,

The little town of Moro, Oregon amid the trees and wheat fields as seen from our campground

Mural on the side of a little cafe where we had breakfast in Moro, Oregon

there was no shade and we cooked in the sun! On our last day in the area we decided to drive up to Mt Hood and then come back through to the Gorge area, cross back over into Washington state, and see the gorge from that side.

Mt Hood, Oregon’s tallest peak at 11,245 feet, is a dormant volcano believed to

Mt Hood

Zoomed in view of Mt Hood from the north side

have been formed 11 to 14 million years ago. Mt Hood has had at least four major eruptions during the past 15,000 years, with the most recent eruption occurring shortly before the arrival of Lewis and Clark in 1805. Mt Hood has twelve glaciers and is the source of five main rivers which flow into the Columbia. It is the second most climbed glaciated mountain in the world with the first being Mt Fuji in Japan. We could see Mt Hood and Mt Adams from our campsite, though with the haze from the heat, it was not a clear view. With the grandeur of Mt Hood and the magnificence of the Columbia Gorge, this area is quite a jewel! We could only imagine what Lewis and Clark must have thought!

As we left the campground we continued to see the dry wheat fields and then canyons, but the farther we drove we began to see glacier carved valleys with trees and vineyards. We reached Timberline Lodge which at an elevation of 6,000 feet was the closest point we would get to Mt Hood. This area has the longest ski season in North America and has the most night ski acreage in the United States. We saw many people dressed for snowboarding and it seemed strange to see people in winter clothing on this very hot day. Timberline Lodge, built in the 1930’s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and dedicated in 1937 by President Franklin Roosevelt, is a historical landmark and was featured in the movie “The Shining”.

Mt Hood from the south side skiing lodge

The Hood Valley is a one of the finest fruit producing regions in the world due to the fertile volcanic soil and the area’s temperate climate. Over 50% of America’s winter pears, as well as a large number of Bartlett pears come from this area. It is also known for its magnificent Pippin apples. We passed many orchards of apple and pear trees, as well as bushes full of blackberries.

As we continued our drive back from Mt Hood we noticed a geocache with an unusual name. This geocache was in honor of a pioneer woman’s grave. She continues to be a reminder of those pioneers who traveled west in search of a better life. Today people still leave items in her honor at the gravesite. This was just another one of those fascinating finds we would have never known about had it not been for geocaching!

We crossed from Oregon back into Washington

Washington State uses a profile of Washington’s head for their state road signs

to see the Gorge from the other side. The views were

This Falls was completely submerged by the Dalles Dam

magnificent. We came to Stonehenge Memorial, built by a local entrepreneur to honor the soldiers of that area who had lost their lives in WW1. It is a full scale replica of England’s Stonehenge and was completed between 1918 and 1929. There are also memorials there to local soldiers who lost their lives in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. We noticed that all the columns had plaques with the names of soldiers who died serving their country. This Stonehenge sat high on a bluff with magnificent views of the Columbia River Gorge.

We crossed the bridge back into Oregon and headed home for our final evening in Moro, marveling at what a beautiful area this turned out to be, knowing how glad we were to have made a stop here.

August 6, 2014 Columbia River Gorge

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As I mentioned in the last post, the reason we came to this area of Oregon was to see the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River which stretches 80 miles and is up to 4,000 feet deep. The Gorge is the only navigable route from the Cascades and the water from the Columbia River flows to the Pacific Ocean. It is also the boundary between Washington and Oregon. The Gorge is a federally protected scenic area and makes up the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. This area is the largest scenic area in the United States. The way the Gorge was made is really quite amazing. Thousands of years ago glaciers dammed up the waters of the Missoula River. Over time the water built up until finally it was released from Montana with such force that it carved a canyon through the mountains as it roared toward the Pacific Ocean.

On our first day in the area we drove the Oregon Scenic Byway to see Multnomah Falls about a 90 minute drive from our campground. On the Washington side of the Gorge we could see Mt Adams and on the Oregon side was majestic Mt Hood.

Zoomed view of Mt Adams in Washington

Mt Hood

Zoomed view of Mt. Hood

This Scenic Byway was built from 1913-1922 and was considered an engineering marvel at that time. It was built in such a way as to showcase the waterfalls and beautiful spots through the Gorge and in the words of its engineer “not mar what God had put there”. As we drove we could see smoke from the wildfires still burning, though they were closer to being contained. The camp host had warned us this was a very popular attraction so we should avoid the weekend and get an early start. We followed her advice but when we reached the parking lot for the falls it was full with lines of cars searching for a parking spot. We ended up playing car tag where one of us would circle the parking lot while the other one would get out and walk up to the falls to take a look and then come back to the car and circle the lot while the other one took a turn. What a pain! Regardless, the falls was beautiful. The upper falls drops 542 feet and the lower falls 69 feet, making it the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon. A sign at the waterfall says it is the second tallest year round waterfall in the United States, though some would argue with that distinction.

Multnomah Falls

A little farther down the road we came to Horsetail Falls which is supposedly in the shape of a horse’s tail. It has a drop of 192 feet and was also beautiful. There was not a long line of cars so it was easier to view the waterfall and less hectic getting pictures. Near the falls we had a nice picnic lunch in the shade.

Can you find Bill at Horsetail Falls?

Bill determined there was a geocache nearby and we not only found the geocache but blackberries on both sides of the road as far as the eye could see. We sure wished we had a bucket or a large container in the car but instead filled up a baggie left over from lunch. I made a delicious blackberry cobbler when we returned home!

We then decided to stop at the Bonneville Lock and Dam on the way home. Bonneville Lock and Dam was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and spans the Columbia River, linking Washington and Oregon. It was the first federal lock and dam on the

8 dams on the Columbia-Snake River drop the water 730 feet

Columbia and Snake rivers. Construction began in 1933 and was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. It cost $88.4 million. In 1986 it was placed on the National

Bonneville Dam First Powerhouse

View of the Bonneville Dam spillway

Register of Historic Places. As we drove in we went through a security checkpoint where a guard asked if we had any explosives or weapons. Everyone who passes through is asked to open their car trunk for inspection. They had a very nice visitors center where we watched

Bonneville Dam Visitors Center

Generator turbine

several interesting movies and looked at displays. We learned that the dam supplies enough energy to meet the power needs of 900,000 homes. They had nice observation decks to view the dam as well as the fish ladder. We were fascinated with the fish ladder which was planned

Bonneville Dam fish ladder

by the Corps engineers to allow migratory fish to continue their migration from the sea, upstream to the tributaries of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. There are actually workers whose job it is to spend all day counting fish! This information is used by biologists and engineers to track increases and decreases in fish runs. Between 700,000 and 1.5 million adult salmon and steelhead fish swimming upstream, and between 24 and 43 million salmon and other fish migrating downstream, pass through the Bonneville Dam in an average year! At one point we went downstairs in the Visitors Center where we were then underwater and watched fish swim in the ladder by looking through underwater viewing windows. Cool!

the fish ladder as seen from the underwater viewing window

At the bottom are lampreys, really ugly fish

Diane thinks this fish is really ugly and creepy!

On our second day in Oregon the temperature really started to rise and it was around 100 degrees by the end of the day. Seems the temperatures in Montana, Idaho and Washington were catching up with us. The main objective for today was to visit the Dalles (pronounced Dowles) Dam which is completely located in Washington state. We made a reservation for a

Exterior view of the Dalles Dam Powerhouse

tour and headed over to the Visitors Center. There were twelve of us scheduled for the free tour and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee gave the hour and a half tour. We were driven by trolley over to the dam where we could actually go inside the facility and see the

Generator room in the Dalles Dam

generators supplying power. The generating capacity is 1.8 million kilowatts, enough to light up two cities the size of Portland. Here they had more fish ladders and we could walk on catwalks and see the fish going over or through the ladders. Yes, they have fish counters here too! They also had an underwater viewing window and while we were fish watching, a duck swam by!! The guide did an excellent job of describing what goes on at this dam, which was built over a 5 year period with completion in 1957. The Dam has a unique design in the shape of a backward “L” which takes advantage of the natural rock formation in the river.

Exterior view of the Dalles Dam fish ladder

Dalles Dam fish ladder as seen from the catwalk

On the way home we drove into the town of Dalles because the town had several murals along Main Street. Dalles marks the end of the Oregon Trail, a trail known as the source of the greatest peacetime migration in history. We chose three we particularly liked for the blog. There is a strong Lewis and Clark influence in the state as we drove on roads marked “The Lewis and Clark Trail” and “The Oregon Trail” and we tried to picture what it must have looked like to Lewis and Clark as they paddled through the Columbia Gorge. It is in this area they bartered with the Indians for horses, and it seems the Indians “saw them coming” so to speak and came out ahead on the deal as they forced Lewis and Clark to barter for three horses, two of which were not good horses in order to get one good horse. I bet when Lewis and Clark traveled down the Columbia Gorge they must have been wondering where the elusive Pacific Ocean could be!

As we traveled home later in the day we were behind several fire vehicles who had spent the day fighting the nearby wildfires.

July 29, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 3

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The heat continued, not a stifling humid heat, but a dry heat that still made for some discomfort. We decided to drive back up to Logan’s Pass, and we knew we needed to get a really early start to get a parking spot in the Visitor’s Center lot. We drove once again on the Going-To-The-Sun Road and continued to marvel at the views and wonders of nature. Even though we had driven this route just a couple days ago, we never tired of the views and it was like seeing the jaw dropping beauty for the first time. The drive was faster since we didn’t feel the need to stop at every overlook to take pictures. We arrived at Logan’s Pass by

Heavens Peak

Clements Mountain

Reynolds Mountain

Columbian Ground Squirrel

10:00 AM and even though the sign said the parking lot was full, there was no Ranger to stop us from entering. It took quite a few times circling the lot before we finally spotted someone leaving. We spent time taking pictures and enjoying the scenery and by the time we left the Rangers had once again closed the lot and were directing traffic further east for the elusive parking spots. We returned home by heading west so we could see the views from the opposite direction, stopping for a picnic lunch at one of the scenic overlooks. We arrived home early enough in the afternoon to escape being out in the worst heat of the day. Unfortunately as I was fixing dinner the power went out throughout the campground. At 91+ degrees outside, the inside of the RV quickly became uncomfortable, driving us and our neighbors outside. After an hour and a half the power was restored.

Friday we spent the day exploring the east side of the park, even though we knew it would mean a lot of time in the car driving. We decided to drive west on the Going-To-The-Sun Road and then come home on the southern route outside the park. The heat was not quite as bad today, but the number of cars and people seemed to be growing and the traffic

Jackson Glacier

through the park was heavy even though it was early in the day. Our main destination today was “Many Glacier”in the northeastern corner of the park, considered to be the heart of the park and one of the less visited areas. The views here were gorgeous and we hoped to see a bear or two since we were told it was more likely to see one here. There were trails throughout the park which had been closed to hikers because of bear activity on the trails. Even though we kept a sharp eye out, we failed to see bears or big horn sheep or even mountain goats on this day.

Lower Two Medicine Lake

Lake Sherburne

Lake Sherburne and Grinnell Glacier

We wanted to find a geocache located seven miles from the Canadian border on the Chief Mountain Highway which connects the U.S Glacier Park with the Canadian Glacier park. The geocache was located at a scenic spot with a view of Chief Mountain. Legend has it that an Indian Chief was killed in battle and his wife, crazy with grief, leaped from the mountain

Chief Mountain

with her baby. Supposedly you can see the shape of a woman and child in the face of the mountain but we couldn’t pick it out. Bill had to roll under a barbed wire fence to retrieve the cache, somehow managing to dodge cow patties in his path. We encountered quite a few cattle on the road, including one standing in the middle of the road. We also saw many horses along the side of the road with no fence between them and the road.

We headed home on the long drive around the southern tip through the Blackfeet Indian reservation, a little disappointed with our lack of bear sightings. We were traveling down the highway when we saw two cars stopped in the middle of the road. In this area, that could only mean one thing, someone had spotted something. Sure enough we stopped and on the side of the road and up a small incline was a large brown bear. I have since learned they

Second Bear

are all called black bears even though they can be black, brown or blonde in color. Bill was able to snap some quick pictures before he lumbered farther into the brush and out of sight.

We really enjoyed our time in Glacier National Park. We had hoped to do more hiking but the heat made it somewhat difficult to do any long hikes. Truthfully, while the park is beautiful, we both felt that the Northern Cascades were prettier with many more glaciers and much more snow. A Ranger told us in the North Cascades that there is more water in one glacier in the Cascades than all the glaciers in Glacier National Park and we could see that is true. In 1850 there were an estimated 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park and by 1968 there were around 50. Today there are 25 glaciers and it is estimated that they will be gone by 2030 due to climate changes.

July 24, 2014 Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho

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We awoke to the morning sound of rain and thunder. We prepared to leave our campsite in Fall City and head toward Moses Lake where we would stay for one night. We had to cross Snoqualamie Pass, elevation 3,200 in the rain and fog. Once we reached the other side of the mountain it was like a different world. The first thing we saw was a huge lake called Lake Kachess at the summit of the pass. The lake is both a lake and a reservoir and is part of the Columbia River basin. Due to the bad weather we did not get good pictures of the beautiful lake. The water from the reservoir is used for irrigation.

At the base of the summit we began to see open farmland for as far as the eye could see with huge stacks of hay waiting to be loaded onto trucks. The grass along the side of the road and in some of the fields appeared to be brown and burnt, so unlike the lush green of western Washington. So much of the moisture is trapped to the west by the mountains, leaving the east hot and dry. We saw many windmills and some signs of irrigation, and the irrigated fields were green with crops. The sky continued to be ominous with heavy threatening clouds for most of our trip. We passed through Grant County, Washington which had a sign along the roadway stating it was the largest potato growing county in the nation. We thought those honors would have gone to a county in Idaho! Also along the roadway we saw signs on fenceposts telling us what crops were growing in the fields. What a great idea as this kept us fascinated as we passed sweet corn, potatoes, peas, alfalfa, onions, wheat and Timothy which we learned is a major source of hay. We also watched as a couple crop dusting planes were flying over the fields.

We pulled into Cascade Campground, a beautiful campground owned by the city of Moses Lake and located right on their large lake. We barely had time to pull into our campsite before a huge wind storm hit the area blowing over tents and trash cans and scattering items everywhere. After about twenty scary minutes it quieted down but stayed windy for the rest of of the evening. We would have liked to stay longer here since it is a beautiful location, but we needed to continue to move east.

The next day we headed further west, passing through Spokane. After six weeks in Washington state we were excited to be moving on to Idaho and Montana.

We arrived in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, population 45,000. We stayed here three nights to visit with Bill’s cousin Sue and her husband Steve. Coeur d’ Alene is the second largest metropolitan city in the state of Idaho and the largest city in the northern Idaho Panhandle. Coeur d’ Alene is named for a tribe of Native Americans who lived along the lakes and rivers when the area was discovered by French fur traders in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today it is a resort town which relies heavily on tourism. Barbara Walters called it a “little slice of heaven” and listed in as one of her most fascinating places to visit. Good Morning America broadcast the Christmas tree lighting ceremony there several years ago because it is one of the largest in the United States.

We had a wonderful visit with Sue and her husband Steve in their lovely home. Sue showed us her yard with gorgeous flowers, herb gardens, and we were able to pick raspberries, strawberries and blueberries fresh from her garden. In the fall they will have a harvest from their apple trees. Sue also makes wine and has won several ribbons at the Idaho State Fair. She gave us several bottles to take with us to enjoy in our travels. Steve is a fantastic cook and we enjoyed the meals he prepared for us during our visit.

Sue took us on a tour of Coeur d’ Alene and we toured the area around beautiful Lake Coeur d’ Alene. We also introduced Sue to geocaching by finding a cache downtown by the lake.

July 21, 2014 Fall City, Washington

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The night before we were to leave the North Cascades National Park we found out the road east through the mountain was now open. However we would need to stay one night in the disaster area, and since there was no electricity, telephone service or fuel in the area, we decided to stay with the new plan and take the longer route east.

The camp host came by to chat as we were preparing to leave. He had been raised by his grandparents, his grandfather being a full blood Comanche and his grandmother a Quaker. As he said, they made quite a pair! His grandfather taught him to hunt, ride, fish and act like a man. His grandmother disciplined him with a ruler in one hand and a Bible in the other. He had some amazing firsthand stories told to him from his grandfather, especially about how the Native Americans were treated by the U.S. Army as recently as the 1930’s. It was also interesting to hear about the large amounts of money the Native Americans are now making with all the casinos cropping up throughout the country. They are using the money to buy back large amounts of land which then become reservations and the land returned to wilderness. They are also using the money to buy gold, oil rights and other mineral rights around the country. If you look at state maps, especially in the west, you can see more and more reservation land. We have noticed a lot of casinos west of the Mississippi and have heard from fellow RVers that casinos are a great place to stay overnight. They allow RVs to park in their parking lots free of charge and they are a safer alternative to a Walmart parking lot. Also we have found that more and more city ordinances are disallowing parking in Walmart lots overnight. It was fascinating listening to him and we wished we could have spent more time talking with him.

Along the way, on Washington Route 530, we came to the scene of a tragic mudslide that occurred in March. The massive mudslide, covering one square mile, swallowed homes, killing 37 people. Since the mudslide occurred on a Saturday morning, many people were at home. The road was closed for two months and today they were still working on clearing the area and the devastation was unbelievable.

We arrived at a private campground for a two night stay and even though there was heavy tree cover, Bill was able to find a campsite where we could get TV satellite reception. The next day we drove a short distance to Snoqualmie Falls, a waterfall that cascades 268 feet over granite cliffs. To the Snoqualmie People (People of the Moon), who have lived for

centuries in the Snoqualmie Valley, the Falls is a traditional burial site where prayers are carried up to their Creator by great mists that rise from the powerful Falls. They believe the mists rising from the base of the waterfall connects Heaven and Earth. To them, supernatural powers permeates all life and most things possess spiritual power. They believe the whole universe should be revered and is worthy of respect. Today it is still a site of significant importance to the Snoqualmie people. The Falls served as an important natural fort for the Snoqualmies from raiding canoes and enemies since the Falls are surrounded by three very high vertical cliffs.

Most of the water in the Falls comes from mountain snow and feeds into the Falls from the Snoqualmie River. The valley area gets an average of 61 inches of rain a year and the mountains 105 inches, mostly between October and March.

Geologists also recently discovered that the Falls flow over a 20 million year old extinct volcano. The geologists based their conclusion on the presence of “volcano bombs” which is heavy material that cannot travel far from the volcano site as well as the fact that the entire Falls area is dominated by lava flows which don’t move far from the volcano.

Snoqualmie Falls was shown in the TV show “Twin Peaks”. The property, owned by Puget Sound Energy, is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its association with the Snoqualmie people.

Snoqualmie Falls was first used as a power plant and a source for hydro electrical power in 1899. Today the water is diverted from the river for two nearby generator plants. Generator Plant Two alone has a capacity of 40,700 kilowatts.

We grabbed a geocache at the Falls and a couple more on the way back. We also saw a really neat totem pole at the entrance to the city limits. The totem pole is 43 feet tall and depicts the Native American story of the Raven creator Quq who according to legend placed the moon-child in the sky so fishermen would have light to spear salmon at night. The totem pole was carved from an old growth cedar by H.H. Hinds for his sweetheart and was erected in 1934. The totem pole is unique because it is carved all the way around instead of only on one side, and because it was carved by a white man. When the pole blew down in 1964 during a violent windstorm, serious rot was discovered and it wasn’t put back up until 1967. In 1981 it was taken down and determined to be unrepairable. From 1997 to 1999, the pole was restored by a team of people, including a local Boy Scout Troop, and was once again installed in 2001 where it has now stood off and on for 80 years.

We really enjoyed our time in Fall City but it was only a two night stop and it’s time to move on towards Glacier National Park!

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

Category Archives: Geocaching

September 13, 2014 Carson City/Virginia City, Nevada

September 8, 2014 Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada

September 2, 2014 Lassen Volcanic National Park, California Part 1

August 29, 2014 Weed, California

August 11, 2014 The Cove Palisades State Park, Culver, Oregon

August 7, 2014 Columbia River Gorge Part 2

August 6, 2014 Columbia River Gorge

July 29, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 3

July 24, 2014 Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho

July 21, 2014 Fall City, Washington