More Volcanoes

September 20, 2013 - Friday
We are in Crescent, OR. If you are following along, with map in hand, you will find Crescent along US97 about 50 miles south of Bend. Wow did it get cold here last night, 32F. We now pack an electric blanket and we used it last night. It was 51 in the trailer this morning even with our little heater going on low. But we woke to sun and nearly clear sky.

Our journey today took us up the road to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. this area of Oregon had a bunch of volcanoes blasting away about 7-8000 years ago. Crater Lake was one and the area in Newberry had a bunch. The one we are going to see is younger than Mt. Mazama and Crater Lake. Originally it was a single blast forming a crater about the size of Crater Lake, but when it erupted again about a thousand years ago, it formed two smaller lakes.

They are only about 250 ft deep. In the first picture you can see the two lakes with the land mass created by the most recent eruption in the center.

The lakes are named Paulina Lake and East Lake. The caldera is not as high so there is access to the lakes. Note in this picture a grey mass in the lower right. That is an obsidian flow area. The following picture gives a better view.

That area was formed by molten lava. Pretty cool, eh? We have only seen this type of thing at Haleakala in Hawaii. Here they permit access to this flow area so we have some close-up shots of the rocks.

If you are into gemstones you will know how rare and costly obsidian is. It was here in huge sizes, by the truckload. But, it is protected, take some and there is a $500 fine & 90 days in jail. A volcano produces several types of rocks depending on the geological composition, temperatures, etc. Besides obsidian, which is basically glass with magnetite, there is pumice, cinder, and basalt. The pumice was lava that was full of air when it cooled, so it is light. So no, Lynn has not been lifting weights!

Unlike Crater Lake, Paulina Lake has an outfall in the form of a waterfall. As you can see in the next picture. Lynn took this hanging like a monkey on the side of a cliff. Geez, they construct overlooks with barriers, but no, she has to go get both falls. So appreciate the effort on this one.

Tomorrow we plan to go back up in this area to Lava Land, should be pretty interesting.

Cave and Volcano

September 18, 2013 - Wednesday
We left California this morning heading to Oregon Cave National Monument in Cave Junction, OR. The road up to the Cave was narrow and twisty, not recommended for trailers or RVs, so we made arrangements to drop the trailer in Cave Junction. Our stop for the night was another 30 miles up the road at Grants Pass. Although a bit nervous about doing it, we parked in a church parking lot that the visitor's center recommended. After securing it the best we could, we drove up to the cave.

This cave is unique in a couple ways, first it is one of only a few marble caves in the world. Also, it is relatively small and requires a tour guide. It is not as well known as other caves or visited by as many as Carlsbad or Mammoth and did not come under NPS control until 1909; although discovered in the 1860s. As a result, many stalactites and stalagmites were broken and stolen.

Not apparent to the public is the bio-sphere significance of the many species of plant and animals life supported in the cave. The hike through was pretty strenuous with all the steps and crouching required, but was interesting. The following pictures depict some of the formations we saw.

After the cave, we returned to the trailer, found all was well; hooked up and went on to Grants Pass. The park we selected was nice but noisy due to its close proximity to I-5. Tomorrow we head to Crescent, OR.

September 19, 2013 - Thursday
Today we are headed to Crater Lake. The route was confusing as there are several roads to choose from, with Lynn giving a different route than Mapquest and Garmin. We are not sure if we picked the best or shortest, but we got there around 1PM. We again dropped the trailer, with permission, so we could drive around the park.

Crater Lake is actually an old volcano, Mt Mazama, that erupted about 8000 years ago. The mountain was originally over 12,000 feet tall. When it erupted magma and ash spewed in all directions for hundreds of miles, then the dome fell into the crater that was formed when the magma chamber emptied. The crater then filled with water from rain and snow to a depth of 1200 feet. The rim is about 7500 feet tall, so the top 5000 feet either fell in or blew off.

Crater Lake has no out flow. No water leaves and no rivers can flow up the sides of the caldera. The result is a lake with the purest water there is. Its clarity is over 100 feet! Average water temperature is 38F. Due to this purity, the water is bluer than the sky. There is an island called Wizard Island, that was a mini-volcano that erupted shortly after the big blow. Since it pokes up out of the water, its total height is about 1500 feet. Check out the pictures below, which do not do this place justice.

These pictures are taken on the 33 mile Rim Road. Not much here for hiking as the only trail, the Cleetwood trail, takes you down to the lake. Ha, that sounds like fun doesn't it? No, we did not take it. In the summer there are boat rides out to Wizard Island departing at the bottom of this trail. We are convinced the intent of this trail is to weed out the weaker of our species!

Now,you might ask after seeing these pictures, "Wow, where does all that water come from?"  Well they get an average of 43 feet of snow per year. In most winter months (yes, starting in October) there is 10 feet on the ground. The place finally opens fully in late June. The next picture shows a stick they use to know where to plow.

Next is a self portrait...

Another interesting feature, actually outside of the rim, is a collection of spires formed by the molten lava. They are very unique to this area.

We returned to where we dropped the trailer, picked it up, and drove on to Crescent, OR to see more volcano related stuff.

More Redwoods and An Adventure

September 17, 2013 - Tuesday
Today we decided to explore Fern Canyon. The access road there was an adventure of its own. It runs 4 miles west off of highway 101 to the beach then north another 4 miles. Its all dirt, although today since it rained this morning, much of it was mud and wash board. It was also narrow, very narrow, with sharp curves, and hills, and 2 way. To increase the adventure aspect, you cross 3 streams, one fairly large, about 1½ foot deep. We made it without incident but ticked off everyone following because I went slowly. Amazing, we saw Toyotas, minivans, and even a Mustang in the parking lot. Most were rentals, so they didn’t care, whereas our truckie needs to get us home, so we were very careful.

Okay, after a restroom stop, we embarked on our hike to Fern Canyon. Talk about weird places. The canyon is about 50 feet high with a stream running along the floor. Much of the time you are walking in the stream, about ankle deep, or climbing over logs that are laying in the stream. There is evidence that you would not want to be here in the rainy season. Covering the walls were ferns of various types. They say Jurassic Park II was shot in here. It did look like a dinosaur might show up at any time. A fun day! Check out the pictures.

Tomorrow we head to Cave Junction, back in Oregon for a cave jaunt, then on to Grant’s Pass for the night.

September 16, 2013 – Monday
A little foggy this morning, but it burned off in short order as we drove about 100 miles down to Humboldt State Park and the Avenue of the Giants. Finding specific information about the park and the trails was impossible. No park ranger to be found and the first volunteers we encountered were, I hate to say, useless old farts that should have been home watching Phil Donahue. So we tried a ½ mile loop trail that was so poorly marked we lost our way and made a 1 mile plus hike out of it. We persevered and found some other interesting places to see. The big trees in here are 20 to 22 feet in diameter and there are lots. We were looking for that 50 footer, well we found that is the circumference, not the diameter that is being referred to. Those old trees are 1500 to 2000 years old. Some pictures follow.

Some additional information we have learned about the redwoods. There are three types of redwood trees, the Dawn Redwood, a tiny species that only grows in China. The Sequoia Redwood which is larger in girth but shorter than Coast Redwoods and grows only in central California. The Coast Redwoods that we are seeing grow only in the 4 mile wide 400 mile long region along the northern California coast. They used to extend into Oregon, but have been all logged out.

They do not reliably germinate from seed. So new growth starts in Park Service nurseries, then transplanted a couple times before ending up in a new forest. An old growth forest is too dark for seedlings to grow. So how do redwoods regenerate in the forest? At the base of most old trees are burls which contain the makings of a sprout, or offshoot. At some point they pop out and begin growing. The old parent eventually falls over and the young sprout continues to grow with the help of the parent’s root system and an opening in the canopy to get light.

Coast redwoods only live in this narrow coastal band because they rely on fog and the moisture in it to survive during the relatively dry summer months. Also, the tree produces seeds only every other year. The cones in the pictures have already opened and dropped their seeds. The diametric growth rate of the tree is unpredictable, as they will first try to grow height to get the sun and fog. We saw some trees that were maybe a foot in diameter, but 200 feet tall. It seems once they reach that height then they add girth. They are a very unique tree.

A few gripes about the California State Parks. Real Park Ranges are scarcer then hen’s teeth. The bathrooms have water to wash hands, but nothing to dry them; maybe they expect you to use toilet paper? No hand sanitizer in the outhouses. Roads and trails are poorly marked and their maps are nearly useless.

Klamath appears to be California redneck country. We heard two 3 shot bursts from a rifle last night after dark, maybe around 9. Maybe hunting elk, after dark? Really? There are bear in the park that hang out near the fish cleaning station about 100 yards from our site. The campground is very near the Klamath River and most in here come to fish for salmon and trout. Very nice facilities here and great location for jumping on and off 101.

Sunny California

September 15, 2013 - Sunday
Today we moved down the coast to Klamath, CA. We woke to guess what? Yep, rain and fog, but when we got into California the sun came out and it turned out sunny and clear; in the mid 60s. It was great to see the sun again!

We are at Klamath Camper Corral campground, a nice place and convenient to 101. After setting up, we continued our travels into the Redwood Park. We took a loop road that went out to a bluff overlooking the ocean. A surprise, no redwoods here, but very nice views of the coast and ocean as you can see in the following pictures. With binoculars we saw some seals swimming around.

Next we headed over to Newton B. Drury Scenic Highway. This is a 10 mile drive through an old growth redwood forest. We parked and took a short walk to The Big Tree. It is the second photo down. This tree is 22 ft in diameter and 304 ft tall. It is estimated at 1500 years old. Story has it some guy wanted to cut it down and use the trunk as a dance floor. It is one of the key events leading to the preservation of these trees.

Here in Klamath there is an entrepreneur charging 5 bucks to drive through the trunk of a redwood. Don't wait for that picture! Anyway, that tells you how big these things are. Tomorrow the plan is to run down the road a couple hours to the Avenue of The Giants in Humboldt State Park. There is supposed to be some really big trees, like giants, in that park. Stay tuned.

Oregon South Coast

September 14, 2013 - Saturday
As usual it was foggy this morning and about 60 degrees. We went up the coast to visit the Cape Sebastian and Samuel Boardman scenic corridors, which span pretty much the coast from Gold Beach to Brookings. The Boardman corridor, 12 miles in length, seemed to have the best scenery and access points so most pictures are from this section.

The cloudy/foggy sky resulted in making the otherwise very pretty area rather flat, so the pictures unfortunately reflect that.

A little history about Brookings and Crescent City. In 1964, they were hit by a tsunami from a 9.2 quake in Alaska. It hit the cities with a 20 foot high wall of water in the middle of the night. It wiped out the marinas, many houses, and businesses. It killed 11 people in Brookings. There are no remnants of the damage today, but there is now an early warning system in place. However, the wave traveled at an incredible 600 mph from Alaska, so a repeat of that would still likely only provide a few hours of warning even with the new system. Moral: live on high ground!

Tomorrow the plan is to move to Klamath, California for more redwood forest exploring. We noted yesterday gas runs $4.15/gal, about 50 cents higher than here, so we filled up, but will likely need some while down there.

The Oregon coast has been pretty, but the frequent cloudy, cool, foggy conditions are depressing to us. It is the price they pay for the moderate 60 to 75 degree temperatures. Central Oregon has been running in the 90s, even in towns as close as Medford. Then there is winter, where we hear they get 70 to 75 inches of rain from November to February. That's a quarter inch every day on average! We have concluded that its OK to visit, but not live here.