Finally, a Great Campsite

We headed over to the Sawtooth Scenic Byway and eventually pulled into the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and found Caribou Campground, a great little campsite far away from Route 75. No water, but we were just the 3^rd to occupy the 7 site grounds. Bedding down by the creek for the night is the highlight of the day. Especially after the last couple of nights.

Craters of the Moon National Monument

We had no idea what a lava bed would look like. As soon as we saw it, though, that’s exactly what it should look like. It’s sort of large areas of rock cinders from the size of a golf ball to large rocks.

The same hotspot that now exists under Yellowstone is thought to have formed the Craters of the Moon National Monument. (The shifting of the North American continent accounts for this.) This area, like Yellowstone, is also a dormant volcano and it is thought it will erupt again sometime in the next 900 years with the most likely period being within the next 100 years. Another ‘see it while you can, folks’!

(No word on whether the Apollo moon landing shots were faked here, or somewhere else.)

The Niagara Falls of the West

Shoshone Falls is gorgeous. A giant flood ripped down the Snake River about 15,000 years ago carving a gorge through the basalt rock. The Falls were said to have attracted settlers from miles around due to the roar of the water. Today it was pretty hot, though, and no shade of any magnitude made it tough to stick around too long. It’s a shame, really. Would have been a nice place for a picnic lunch.

Balanced Rock and Unbalanced Human

Balanced Rock. It looks pretty small from the parking lot, but that’s until you start hiking towards it.

Taking the Waters

Upon arriving at what was pitched as a resort in their marketing materials, we found we had the opportunity to swim in the “rejuvenating” hot springs. We could choose between the public pool ($9 each) or a private room for an additional $2. One look at the private room (scary, little prison cells) convinced us to save the surcharge. The hot springs (a big cement pool) has an exceedingly high woo factor. Most everyone in the public area was under 15 or over 65. Just as we were wondering which one of has had “Go ahead, charge us $9” stamped to our forehead, we were saved by a great chat with a fascinating woman. Lynn, who had 3 kids and was widowed by 25, married a man with 5 kids, then had two together. She now has 40 grandchildren and 15 great grands. They lived for 15 years, till he died, leasing 35,000 acres from the Bureau of Land Management. Their home was 12 miles off the nearest road (those 12 miles took 45 minutes to negotiate), but they had tons of visitors. She once went 17 days without preparing a meal for less than 30 people. Her husband testified before Congress about the amount of space needed to raise cattle. One Congressman, from New Jersey, didn’t believe him (in Jersey they had 15 cows per acre), so he invited him out and the Congressman took him up on the offer! They ran the poor man and his three companions into the ground – 13 hours in the saddle in one day. The Congressman later apologized in front of Congress for calling Lynn’s husband a liar. Learned a neat thing about cattle: a head of cattle is one mother cow, her offspring, and the bull it takes to service her. So their 400-head ranch could have easily had as many as 800 animals at one time. Interestingly, Lynn was a distant relative of one of the original six founders of Hartford, Merriam, of Merriam Webster Dictionary fame.

Foiled by the Idaho Visitor Centers

Our grand plan to map out our journey through Idaho was foiled when nobody was staffing the visitor center on Route 84. On the map of Boise was listed another visitor center so we tried there. Slightly more success, they pointed us to the library and had some vague suggestions about where we might see interesting sights. Amy attempted yet another visitor center in the heart of downtown and again came up empty.

At least we got to check out downtown Boise, a really cool place with a great library!

We made a plan to drive to Route 78 east through what the folks from the Boise visitor center said would be farm country, re-connect with 84 for a few miles and then take the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway through the towns of Buhl and Twin Falls and hop up Highway 93 to Shoshone Falls. It took a while to find the connecting road to get to Route 78 (nobody at the Fred Meyer in Nampa seemed to know the route numbers) and when we finally got there, it was mostly scrub and sagebrush rather than the lush fields we’d been hoping for.

It was getting late (after 6) when we got to the visitor center in Buhl but the sign on the door said “Open” even though the door was locked. We saw someone inside and knocked until we got her attention: we needed help finding a place to sleep. She turned out to be exactly what we’d hoped for when we first hit Idaho: friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. She called the “Miracle Hot Springs” RV park and campground to confirm they had a tent site for the night, and gave us directions to the Balanced Rock and Shoshone Falls, the “must do” area sights.

You’d Think the Official State Map of Oregon Would Tell Us

1) When you hit Malheur County (southeasternmost county in OR), you’re in Mountain time. Surprise! Nothing like trying to set your watch ahead an hour while barreling down a two-lane road at 60 MPH.

2) Oregon is a full-serve only state. The fourth time we stopped for gas (and the fourth time Scott was intercepted on his way to the pump) Amy the attendant told us it was a law. Should we tip?

Bully Creek Campground Tonight?

Sold!

Crater Lake to the Idaho Border (Almost)

Heading east, mostly, in this part of Oregon is different. There just aren’t a lot of roads. You can go 15 miles without running into an intersection. Not a single house to be seen. We’ve driven through a piney scrub, a marsh with wildlife viewing, and a couple of ranches. Almost no cars or intersections.

We stopped for gas at the thriving metropolis of Silver Lake. They have a restaurant and a one-room grocery store selling toys, clothes, pre-packaged deli meat and video rentals (among other things). And . . . a library! It wasn’t Monday, though, so the library was closed. We contributed $38 to the local economy and kept on moving.

We took a county road from there to Christmas Valley (Cell service! Two bars!) and then another 38 miles til a left turn put us on US Route 395 N. We took that 28 miles to Riley (not a town along the way), hung a right on Route 20 and stopped for a spell in Burns to provision up. On the way out of town, we swung by the visitor center and got a campsite and restaurant recommendation close to the Idaho border.

Bully Creek Campground is a grassy municipal park with some trees, located on the edge of a reservoir. Full electric and showers. $10 a night. Really warm tonight; the couple at R Big Burger American and Mexican Cuisine who shared their hot sauce with us said it might get as low as 55. We’re excited that we can sleep without the fly and maybe even open up all the windows on our tent and see some stars.

The reservoir in this area makes the land incredibly different from that on the way here. En route, there was a lot of sagebrush and Badlands-esque structures (often made of pumice). Very dry and little vegetation. Around here, though, the irrigation canals connecting the ranches allow for corn and even soybeans to be grown. Some places you look across the road from a farm and see sagebrush and scrub. People even water their lawns.

Why We Hate Xanterra

Q: What do you call a competent, conscientious and friendly Xanterra employee?

A: A bad hire.

Q: What do you call a clear, concise, easy to follow, customer-focused Xanterra policy?

A: A rough draft.

OK, OK, There’s a Little More to it . . .

Basically the lake was formed when Mt. Mazama collapsed 6,800 years ago after a series of violent volcanic eruptions. Subsequent eruptions created Wizard Island and sealed the bowl of the lake. Because of this seal, no streams enter or leave the lake. Snow and rain replenish what is lost to evaporation and seepage so the water level remains fairly constant. It’s around 6 miles long and, at 1,932 feet, it’s the deepest freshwater lake in the United States and the 7^th deepest in the world. It is this depth that creates the extraordinary blue you see in the water (blue light can travel further underwater than that of other colors along the spectrum.) All of this information was obtained from reading two or three signs posted around the rim. There was a distinct lack of ranger programs (evidently, everyone is still in training), and with the hordes of ravenous mosquitoes, the main reaction we had was “Woo.”

That’s not to say it isn’t beautiful. Because it is. But there really isn’t any reason to linger.

Plus, with all the snow still to be cleared, part of the rim drive (and much of the campground) was closed.

Crater Lake National Park

We thought Crater Lake would be a big blue lake surrounded by mountains. Turns out, we were right. Also turns out, that’s pretty much the end of the story.

On to Crater Lake

We decided to make a break for Crater Lake National Park rather than meander all the way down the coast as originally planned. En route, we passed through part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Sand. Lots of it. Next.

The drive to Crater Lake is really a two-piece affair. One leg is labeled scenic, the other is not. Hard to tell which was which, they were both jaw-dropping in spots. Entering the Crater Lake region brought our first glimpse of snow covered peaks. And then, snow on the sides of the road. Not terribly reassuring for those of who will be sleeping outdoors. One part of the Rim Drive is closed due to snow. When we finally made it to the only open campground in the Park, some of its loops were closed due to snow.

Xanterra is as competent as usual (we encountered them last year at Yellowstone), which always makes things more interesting than they need to be. The woman at the desk was completely unable to tell us which sites might be available. Then she gave us a hassle when we set up in a site designated for RVs because there were no tent sites left. But we got it all resolved.

Apparently, the mosquitoes hadn’t eaten in a while.

OK So We’re Tourists, Sue Us

Spotting a beautiful view of the waves and lighthouse, we pulled into the conveniently located turnout. An added (and entirely unexpected) bonus was a group of sea lions sunning themselves on a rock ledge some 300 feet below. Many pictures were taken.

Not coincidentally, just a few hundred yards down the road was the tourist trap Sea Lion Caves. Since we don’t get out this way all that often we figured what the hey. Eighteen bucks later we found ourselves in an elevator descending 200 feet into what is billed as either “the world’s largest sea cave” (from the lobby) or “one of the world’s largest sea caves” (from the display in the cave itself). (Side note: Immediately after forking over our $18, the guy behind us asked the cashier, “Are there many sea lions in the cave today?” Great question! Wish we’d thought of it. “Not really, they’re mostly outside this time of year.” Swell.) The cave itself is cool (in both senses of the word), dark, and a tad smelly. What was really neat was the ability to hear the sea lions. Photography in extreme low light conditions (no flash allowed) was a challenge but we did manage to get some decent video from our supercool camera.

Morning Stroll

We spent a very nice night at the Carl G. Washburne State Park. We don’t know who Carl G. Washburne was but he seems to have had a penchant for very hot showers and soft toilet tissue. Our kind of guy.

We took an early morning jaunt through a forest thickly carpeted with moss down to the beach. The beach the night before had a distinct Lawrence of Arabia feel to it as the wind positively whipped the sand across the ground. There was a louder than usual roar coming from the area of the ocean, the cause of which is of some disagreement between us (Amy maintains it’s the wind, Scott says it’s the waves). This morning, though, it was far less windy. The tide was about as far out as it gets, there were many beautiful breakers. The wind that was present, along with the cold, kept it from being a “wow, let’s sit a while and look at the beautiful water” type of beach – doubtless contributing to the vast expanse of empty – but it was nice nonetheless.

Bird Watcher Alert

Anyone have any idea what kind of bird this is? He visited our campsite both in the evening and morning. Hard to get a decent picture, though.

Route 101S

Billed as the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway and an All America Road, we had high hopes. We had planned numerous stops along the way at exciting sounding places like Cape Foulweather and Devil’s Punchbowl. Our planned stops have mostly been disappointing (Cape Foulweather was essentially a gift shop on an overlook) with little to no waves. Yet, enticingly, we keep getting momentary glimpses of enticing salt spray through the brief breaks in the tree line. Rarely has there been a place to stop for these, though.

We Went Two for Three on the Three Capes Scenic Loop

In Tillamook we picked up the Three Capes Scenic Loop Drive. Cape Meares proved interesting, with the three arches rocks off shore, the octopus tree, and wildlife volunteers with telescopes trained on nesting Cormorants and Common Murres. Then… we lost the loop somehow, and ended up back in Tillamook. We found the end of the loop some miles down Route 101, in time to check out Cape Kiwanda. Despite desperate searching for a non-existent sign to tell us why it is billed as Oregon’s most famous promontory (and, for that matter, what a promontory exactly was), we had to settle for walking the beautiful (albeit strewn with pickups), wide, white sand beach, and climbing a huge sand dune. Oh, there was a big rock in the water.

FYI

Not all Starbucks have internet access.

Mmmmm, Cheesy Goodness

Tillamook Cheese Factory did not disappoint. No, indeedy. The displays, the movie telling the history of how the farmers in the 1890s came together to build a ship to send their butter to Portland, and how they expanded that relationship to form the Tillamook brand was fascinating. The view of the factory floor where they make the cheese was amazing even though they don’t do any cheese making on the weekends. Topping it off was a cheese tasting followed by a great, Roadfood-recommended restaurant onsite, with perhaps one of the best breakfasts we’ve had.

The Northwestern Rainforest

Route 6 to Tillamook took us down windy roads, with signs reading “ROCKS”, “SLIDES”, and “ELK” every so often. The foliage was dense and close to the road, which cut along sharply rising (to the left) and falling (to the right) mountainside. Large ferns and moss covered white birch trees intermingled with wild celery. One right turn to explore a campground and we felt like we were back in El Yunque, the Puerto Rican rain forest we’d visited several years ago.

In Which Mr. Murphy Pays a Visit

“One of your flights has been cancelled” read the check-in screen at Bradley, “please see an agent for re-booking.” After only a nerve-wracking half hour, we got seats on a Frontier Airlines plane to Denver, where we’d have about an hour and 45 minutes before taking a US Airways codeshare flight “operated by United Airlines” to Portland, arriving 10 minutes earlier than our original flight.

We had lovely wait (hey, isn’t our flight due to leave … now?) in the holding pen for those “selected by the airline for additional screening.” After a few minutes of being ignored (will our plane leave without us?) our bags were thoroughly inspected, our two bottles of tap water confiscated, and we were on our way.

They say changing carriers is the worst thing for getting your luggage lost. They’re right!

Unsure of our next move (hey, the tent was in the checked luggage, and who knew where we’d be in a day or two), and going with the squeaky wheel concept, we opted for hanging outside the luggage place and checking in every 20 minutes. Finally, John McClaine (read his (fake) nametag, homage to Bruce Willis’s Die Hard character) reached Denver by phone. Short story long, our bags had been spotted after going unclaimed in Denver and rushed onto the next Frontier Airlines flight to Portland, arriving in Portland . . . nearly an hour ago.

Off to provision up at the local Albertson’s. Couldn’t find it. The teenager at the Jack in the Box said all of the Albertson’s in the area had “shut down”. Good of them to keep their website up to date. She directed us to a place called Fred Meyer, which turned out to be pretty close to a Super Wal*Mart, but more manageable and friendlier.

Arriving at the campsite just off Route 6 in Tillamook State Forest, we discovered that the directions for pitching our tent were keeping the nozzle for the air mattress pump company on our coffee table back home. A little McGyver work and we were good for the night.

Infidelity and Cacophony (and we haven’t even left yet)

(Note to parents: While we’ll do our best to make this as G rated as possible, the following post might be closer to PG-13.)

Scott had trouble sleeping the night before the flight and was awake earlier then the 4:50 a.m. alarm. He found himself listening to the soon-to-be familiar sounds of pre-dawn bird calls. His mind drifted back to a “Mr. Know-it-All” column in The Hartford Courant from a few weeks earlier. Apparently, birds are not necessarily loyal partners. They use the pre-dawn hours to, uh, sow their seeds and loudly advertise their availability for an a.m. quickie (literally . . . these hookups can take less than two minutes). Once it gets light enough to see, they begin the work of focusing on breakfast and the noise subsides. History shows us we’ll have trouble sleeping through the avian adventures in the campgrounds out West. Who knew?