August 19, 2014 La Pine, Oregon

Leave a reply

We didn’t have a reservation at La Pine State Park which is unusual for us during the summer tourist season, but we decided to take a chance since it was the beginning of the week and not the weekend. The camp host showed us several sites to choose from and we happily settled into a nice pull through site with full hookup.

This turned out to be such a fascinating area to explore. We had no idea we would explore a lava tube (cave) and see huge cinder cones and lave flows in Oregon!

We were eager to explore Newberry National Volcanic Monument, established in 1990. Newberry Volcano, central Oregon’s sleeping giant, has a lava flow covering almost 1,200 square miles (about the size of Rhode Island), making it the largest volcano in the Cascades chain. Unlike other volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest, this volcano is a composite volcano with dramatic lava flows that were very fluid during the eruptions, making it similar to volcanoes you would see in Hawaii. Newberry has as many as 400 volcanic vents around its slopes. Newberry Volcano has a large volcanic depression called a caldera. Scientists think the violent eruption which caused the caldera and occurred about 75,000 years ago, is responsible for volcanic ash deposits as far away as the San Francisco area. Newberry Volcano has been erupting over 400,000 years with the last eruption occurring about 1,300 years ago. Geologists say that while it is a sleeping giant, it could reawaken at any time and they monitor it closely.

We drove to the Newberry Caldera and stopped by the Lava Lands Visitors Center which included exhibits and 3-D topographic models of the volcano. We picked up a free pass to drive to the top of the Lava Butte Cinder Cone. The parking area at the top is very small so they limit traffic to 10 cars at a time. The pass gave us thirty minutes to explore the cone. The view at the top was magnificent. This cone is 7,000 years old and the lava flow from this cone once dammed up the Deschutes River.

We drove to an Obsidian Lava Flow and hiked a short distance to stairs that took us to the top of the lava flow. It was amazing to see the huge piles of lava rocks. What makes this lava flow special is the presence of large amounts of obsidian rock (black glass). I spoke with a lady who is an Oregon native. She said there used to be even more obsidian rock many years ago but people over the years carried them off. Today there are signs warning it is against the law to remove any rocks. The lady also said that there is only one other obsidian lava flow in the world, and that is in Russia.

We read there was a lava cave where we could walk inside a lava flow. So while in the area we went to the Lava River Cave. This is one of the longest, uncollapsed lava tubes in the

We could see our breath!

Northwest. The cave was once the pathway of an underground stream of molten lava. We knew the cave was going to be cold and dark, so we took jackets and flashlights. We entered the cave and immediately started to descend. The cave stays at a constant temperature of 42 degrees and it was very dark, even with flashlights. We picked our way slowly over rocks and uneven surfaces, occasionally coming to narrow flights of stairs taking us higher and further into the cave. The cave is a mile long and I found it more claustrophobic and unsettling than Bill. I don’t tend to be claustrophobic, but the dark lava walls and rocky uneven surface made me uncomfortable. There were quite a few tourists in the cave and I wondered how those walking with flipflops and using their cameras for light ever made it back out safely. I read the forest service is working on improvements to the cave with boardwalks over the uneven rocky surfaces and new stairways to make it more accessible to everyone. Hopefully this can be done without destroying the natural setting of the cave. There are bats living in the cave but we didn’t see any.

While at La Pine we got our first taste of cold weather. We awoke one morning to the sound of the heat pumps struggling to keep up and discovered the outside temperature was 38 degrees. Yikes! It wasn’t that long ago we were complaining about the heat. Now instead of searching for a campsite with shade, we were hunting sites with full sun!

August 12, 2014 Redmond and Bend, Oregon

1 Reply

We had a great time in Redmond at the FMCA International Rally. It was five full days jam packed with seminars, vendor shopping, looking at new RV coaches on display and entertainment.

Looking East in our neighborhood of motorhomes

Looking west over the sea of motorhomes with the three sister mountains

Whew, it was exhausting! While there we had three days of rainy, chilly weather followed by sunny skies. We managed to get a picture of the Three Sisters as we left the Redmond Expo Center where the Rally was held. The Three Sisters form a volcano comprised by three volcanic peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range in Oregon. Each peak exceeds 10,000 feet and are the third, fourth and fifth highest peaks in Oregon. Together they have 15 named glaciers, nearly half of the 35 named glaciers in Oregon. Interestingly, although they are seen as one unit, the three mountains formed under different geologic situations. The North Sister is extinct, the Middle Sister is inactive, and the South Sister last erupted about 2,000 years ago and still could erupt. Satellite imagery in the year 2000 detected uplift in South Sister and the U.S. Geological Survey made plans to improve monitoring in the area. The mountains were originally named Faith, Hope and Charity by the early settlers but those names did not last and today they are called North Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister.

We arrived in Bend, population 80,000 and checked into a small private campground. Surprisingly there are not many RV park choices in Bend, and while this park was crowded with tight sites. While the park wasn’t great, we certainly enjoyed our activities while in the area.

Bend is bordered by the Deschutes National Forest and the Cascade Mountains, with the Deschutes River meandering through the center of the town. We drove around downtown Bend and stopped at lovely Drake Park where people were taking walks, riding their bikes or sitting and reading. Ducks danced across the water and tubers floated downstream.

Floating in the city of Bend OR on the Deschutes River

One day we drove the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway,

an 87 mile drive through a volcanic and glacial landscape. Volcanoes built up the land and glaciers tore it down. We saw evidence of this volcanic history along the road. During the last Ice Age glaciers flowed down both sides of the Cascades and cut deeply into the volcanic cones, gouging out glacial valleys. As we drove through Deschutes National Forest with views of snow-capped mountains and many lakes, we could see why this road is called one of America’s most important scenic byways. We drove on Century Drive, so named in the days of horse and buggy because it was a hundred mile dirt road and at one time was an ancient trading route for Native Americans where they hunted, fished and gathered. Appearing before us was magnificent Mount Bachelor,

Mount Bachelor

at 7,700 feet another volcano and home to the most popular ski resort in the Pacific Northwest. We were also able to make out the Three Sisters and Broken Top mountains. Those mountains were features in the movies “Homeward Bound” and “Rooster Cogburn”.

Oregon has many beautiful lakes and on this drive we passed Sparks Lake, Devils Lake, Elk Lake, Little Lava Lake and Big Lava Lake to name a few.

Big Lava Lake with Mount Bachelor in the background

Little Lava Lake is the source of the Deschutes River. During the Ice Age, eruptions took place under the glaciers and often melted holes in the ice, forming the more than 100 small and large lakes behind volcano dams and in craters.

We drove to the Pilot Butte State Scenic Viewpoint. Pilot Butte is a cinder cone rising 511 feet above the city. From the viewpoint we had views of Mount Bachelor, the Three Sisters and could just make out Mt Hood. We had a nice view of downtown Bend.

At the Pilot Butte crest was this bronze compass dial that showed the mountains peaks that could be viewed assuming good visibility

The day was a bit hazy so it was hard to get pictures.

We loved our time in Bend but we were looking forward to getting away from the cramped private park and heading to La Pine State Park just down the road.

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

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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

2 Replies

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.

August 5, 2014 Montana, Idaho and Washington, Oh MY!

1 Reply

We left Missoula, and with our visit to Glacier National Park completed, we headed once again west and south. Over the next several months we will gradually make our way back south for the winter. As we traveled through western Montana we marveled at all the open land with few houses in the distance. We concluded that people must each own a lot of land since there was so much land and so few homes. We continued to see cattle and horses on the dry, rocky farmland and little if any crops. It appeared it would take a lot of irrigation to grow much of anything.

I don’t know when, if ever, we have crossed through three states in one day, but we did today as we made our way through Montana, the north western tip of Idaho, and just over the border into Washington.

After one night stops in Spokane Valley and Kennewick where the daily temperatures approached 100 degrees, we headed west and south towards Oregon. We had planned on staying two or more nights in Kennewick, but the campground was new and had absolutely no shade and we were cooking in the broiling sun.

As we headed west through Washington, we continued to marvel at the difference between eastern and western Washington. Here in eastern Washington the grass was a golden brown surrounded by steep rocky cliffs. Occasionally we would see some corn growing in areas where they had worked hard at irrigating the fields. We saw many power lines, fields of wind turbines called wind farms, and long long trains racing beside us on tracks fairly close to the interstate. While in Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington we often heard train whistles in the distance during the night.

Eventually we began to see the mighty Columbia River, an important passageway for Lewis and Clark. This was the beginning of the magnificent Columbia River Gorge, and the reason we came to this area. But much much more on that later! As we approached the Oregon border we began to see vineyards appearing, though it appeared that irrigation was still a struggle, as well as field after field of wheat. We saw the John Day Dam and Mt Adams in the

John Day Lock and Dam was completed in 1971. John Day Lock has the highest lift (110 feet) of any U.S. lock.

distance and we stopped at an overlook to take a break and snap some pictures. Mt Adams, at 12,276 feet high is the second highest peak in the Northwest after Mt Rainier.

As we crossed the bridge between Washington and Oregon we caught the first whiff of smoke from the Oregon wildfires burning about thirty miles away. As we approached our home for the next several days we saw some llamas in a field.

Welcome to Oregon

We are staying the next several days at a county park in Moro, Oregon. For the low price of $25 a night we get full hookups with 50 AMP service, free WIFI and cable TV and they have laundry facilities. Quite a deal! The only drawback is there is no shade, but the temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees cooler than we left behind in Washington and there was a stiff breeze with gusts of 20 mph so we opened the windows and enjoyed Mother Nature’s air conditioning. From our campground we can see Mt Hood and Mt Adams in the distance! While the air appeared smoky in the distance, we could not smell smoke at the campground. The super friendly camp host came by to greet us and spent about an hour filling us in on all the interesting places to visit in the Columbia River Gorge area. Later Bill stepped outside and snapped some great sunset pictures which may had been enhanced by the smoke in the distance.

A zoomed view of Mount Hood from our campground just before sunset

Our first sunset over the wheat fields

August 3, 2014 Missoula, Montana

Leave a reply

We left our campground at Glacier National Park on yet another hot day and headed towards Missoula, Montana. We didn’t have any particular reason to go there except just to hang out a few more days in Montana. Along the way we passed through farmland with many signs advertising cherries for sale as we passed one cherry orchard after another. We continued to marvel at the large lakes, in particular Flathead Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi and originated from an ancient massive glacier. All but the northern tip of Flathead Lake is part of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

We arrived at our campground, a delightful private campground owned by Jim and Mary. The office looked like a little fairy tale cottage with beautiful flowers growing alongside a white picket fence. Mary said her husband plants the flowers from seeds and all throughout the park were little flower gardens. We parked the RV in a nice spot under some shade trees and spent a relaxing two days at Jim and Mary’s. One evening I caught a glimpse of a little black bunny as he scurried along one of the flower gardens.

One day we drove into downtown Missoula which had the usual box stores and restaurants. I wanted to drive down Main Street which was smaller than we expected and didn’t have the western flair we thought it might. We did a grocery run and I did some laundry at Jim and Mary’s super clean laundry facilities.

It was a wonderful relaxing two days in Missoula after the crowds, traffic, heat and rush to take in everything at Glacier.

July 29, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 3

Leave a reply

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 28, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 2

Leave a reply

Today we decided to hike one of the most popular trails in the park, the Avalanche Trail. We were up early in an attempt to beat the heat and find a parking spot at the trailhead. At 9:30 we got the last parking spot at the trailhead. Since there were numerous warnings about this being “Bear Country”, we were armed with a whistle in case we encountered Smokey the Bear. We noticed hikers on the trail with bells attached to their backpacks and one even had two metal Sierra cups that clanged together as he walked. These all did a great job of warning us that someone was coming up behind us, but truthfully the trail was so crowded that I expect any bears within miles had quickly retreated to someplace more quiet and peaceful. Early on the trail we saw a beautiful waterfall and could see where over time the rushing water had carved a canyon through the rock. Stunning! The views of the valley and mountains provided us with untouched beauty.

The five mile trail was a fairly steady climb of 500 feet and combined with the heat, we were glad to reach the end of the trail at Avalanche Lake with a gorgeous view of three waterfalls cascading down the mountain.

Avalanche Lake with high waterfalls in the distance

The steep climb downhill had our toes screaming as they pushed against our hiking boots, and we were glad to reach the car and some AC! The rest of the day was spent resting and enjoying the coolness of the RV.

The next day Bill went on a half day white water rafting trip on the Middle Fork Flathead River. I was not feeling well from the effects of the heat and some dehydration from the previous day’s hike. Bill went out on the water with an expert guide so I didn’t worry about him too much. He had a great time and brought home some great pictures. I am looking forward to going with him in the future!

Middle Fork of Flathead river

July 27, 2014 Glacier National Park Part 1

Leave a reply

We left Coeur d’ Alene knowing we had a long drive ahead of us. We typically drive around 100 miles every 3 to 7 days. But the wildfires in Washington changed our timetable and itinerary and we had to move faster than we like to get to our reservation in Coram, Montana. Bill knows the importance of taking a break every hour or so when driving a large vehicle, so with a couple breaks and a nice lunch break, it took us 6 hours to reach Coram. As we drove through the northern tip of Idaho and western Montana we were amazed at all the large, beautiful lakes and magnificent views. We saw mile after mile of farmland with crops and freshly cut hay in the fields. As we traveled farther and farther east, the temperature also continued to climb.

We reached the private campground in Coram, Montana about 5 miles from the entrance to Glacier National Park. Since the temperature was in the nineties, we were really hoping for a site with some shade. While the park has very few trees, they did assign us a spot with a small tree that afforded us a little shade. Since many campsites were in the blazing sun, we were grateful for even a little shade. During much of our week in Coram the daytime highs were in the low 90’s but in the 50’s at night. We would start the day with the heat on and then by lunchtime we were turning on the AC.

Our first day we awoke eager to begin exploring the park. Glacier National Park was established in 1910 and encompasses over a million acres, includes parts of two mountain ranges, has over 130 named lakes, over 700 miles of hiking trails, more than 1,000 species of plants and hundreds of species of animals. Glacier National Park borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and together the two parks are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, established in 1932 as the world’s first International Peace Park. Both parks are designated by the United Nations as World Heritage sites and Biosphere Reserves.

The best way to view the park is by driving along the Going-To-The-Sun Road. This 50 mile road, which bisects the park from the east to west, is one of the world’s most spectacular roads and an engineering marvel. The road follows the shores of the park’s two largest lakes, hugging cliffs below the Continental Divide until it reaches Logan’s Pass at an elevation of over 6,600 feet. The views as you climb up into the sky are truly stunning with views of mountains, lakes and waterfalls. It is hard to imagine how they put in this road alongside the cliffs. As you look at the pictures try to pick out the Going-To-The-Sun Road in the middle of the pictures. It is a small line in the middle of the picture. That is the road we drove! Two of our favorite waterfalls was Haystack Falls and Bird Woman Falls. Bird Woman Falls is just west of the Continental Divide which means the water here will eventually make its way to the Pacific Ocean. Amazing! This falls was named for Sacajawea, the Native American guide who led Lewis and Clark through the wilderness. The word Sacajawea means “Bird Woman”.

Haystack waterfall

Bird Woman Falls, nearly 500 feet tall fed by snowmelt

On our first day we intended to drive as far as Logan’s Pass and turn around and drive back to our campground on the western side of the park, saving the eastern side of the Going-To-The-Sun Road for another day. It took us quite awhile to get to Logan’s Pass because at every turn we wanted to stop at an overlook and take pictures and marvel at the views before us. Near Logan’s Pass we saw mountain goats grazing alongside the mountains. When we reached Logan’s Pass the parking lot was full and the Ranger was waving everyone on to the next parking area a quarter of a mile away. When we reached that area it too was full. We decided to skip the Visitor’s Center and return another day. We turned around but at that moment a helicopter landed in the middle of the road, blocking traffic in both directions. We heard that someone had suffered an asthma attack and it appeared that it would be awhile before the road was open again. We decided to turn around again and head east which meant we would have a much longer way home but at least we would end up seeing the eastern side of the park which was better than waiting in the hot sun for the road to eventually re-open. The eastern area of the Going-To-The-Sun Road is undergoing some extensive road repair as they replace the stone retaining walls, drainage pipes, asphalt and everything else that deteriorates with age, traffic and winter weather since the road first opened in 1933. This meant we drove through three areas of one lane roads with some minor delays. It was while waiting at one of these delays that we saw a baby cub lumbering across the road right in front of our car. We looked for the mama bear but didn’t see her.

Can you find the bear cub?

Saint Mary Lake

Once we left the park boundary on the east we drove through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. It was quite a long way home and while the Road-To-The-Sun is amazing, it is

Tepees come in many sizes

the only road through the park, which can be pretty inconvenient. If you are on the west and want to do something on the east side of the park, you either have to drive the 50 miles on the Road-To-The Sun which is very crowded and slow going with cars and tour buses pulling in and out of overlooks or drive south outside the park around to the east and go in that entrance. Either way it is over a two hour drive each way to get from one side to the other. We also found if you want to get a parking place at Logan’s Pass or at one of the popular trailheads, you better get an early start in the morning. The park has a marvelous free shuttle bus system that you can catch at various places throughout the park which takes you to different locations if you don’t want to drive or worry about parking. We didn’t ride the bus but one of our neighbors at our campground and his wife are spending their summer working for Glacier National Park driving the shuttle buses.

Our first day at Glacier National Park was pretty amazing!

Mountain reflection on Lake McDonald

McDonald Lake

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

August 19, 2014 La Pine, Oregon

August 12, 2014 Redmond and Bend, Oregon

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

August 7, 2014 Columbia River Gorge Part 2

August 6, 2014 Columbia River Gorge

August 5, 2014 Montana, Idaho and Washington, Oh MY!

August 3, 2014 Missoula, Montana

July 29, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 3

July 28, 2014 Glacier National Park, Part 2

July 27, 2014 Glacier National Park Part 1