Best of Central Oregon: Lava, Snow, Mountains, and more

After last weekend's 48-hours-in-the-hospital, it was a blessing (THANKS to all our veterans and active duty service people!) to have Memorial Day weekend off.

On several friends' recommendations, K and I headed to our neighbor to the north, Oregon, to kick off the "summer" with some rather "wintry" activities.

We overnighted in Grants Pass (southern Oregon, near Medford/Ashland) and then headed up scenic highway 230/62 past Crater Lake to central Oregon/ Bend area.

Rogue River View (rest stop/short hike)

 Pep is giving me a kiss rather than posing for the camera.
The Rogue River flows from near Crater Lake to the Pacific Ocean.

I'm not sure why I was surprised to see snow on this start-of-summer weekend (two years ago in May, we drove up to Crater Lake from Sacramento to find the main road partially passable and lots of snowshoeing to be had!), but it was a bit unexpected.

We visited several spots within Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which was created in 1990 within Deschutes National Forest and features many formerly-geothermally active spots. The first place we checked out was the Lava Cast Forest; approximately 6,000 years ago, the Newberry Volcano spewed out lava onto the forests, leaving many "tree casts" viewable from this trail.

Typical tree-cast

 

Pepper LOVED frolicking in the snow

 

Funny- looking tree

We then headed to Lava Butte, a 500-foot cinder cone. As we didn't get there in time to get a parking pass to be able to drive up to the top, we hiked it, which was really pleasant.

Entrance Lava

view from halfway

  

Summit view (thank you, Asian tourist, for taking the only photo of us two [three] from this entire trip!)

We checked out Sunriver (a resort town) just outside Bend (gotta come back when we have more time and planned a bit better!), had WONDERFUL Thai food in Bend, and then went up to Pilot Butte State Park, an extinct volcano, from which you can see a 360-degree view of some Cascade mountains including the Three Sisters, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Jefferson (Oregon's second highest peak, after Mt. Hood outside of Portland) and Black Butte.

On Sunday, we headed west to Mt. Bachelor.

Highway view

Mt. Bachelor, whose summit is over 9000 feet, is the second largest single-mountain ski resort in the U.S. (after Vail). I believe it!  I couldn't believe that, in almost June, I was skiing on fresh powder, with over a foot of snow in the preceding week but with May 27th being the last day of this year's "season." As a fellow skiier told me on the lift, it's actually possible to ski into July up there, but the current owners have chosen to curtail the season.  The runs are LONG (some close to 2 miles!) and although there were only three lifts open, I was exhausted (it's actually really tiring to ski on thick powder) after just half a day!  This was, by far, one of the most impressive ski resorts I have ever been to!

In the afternoon, we checked out the nearby town of Sisters, an old western town, named for the "Three Sisters" peaks (all over 10,000 feet) part of the Cascade Range, which are visible from the town and the highway (#20) into town.

We relaxed at Drake Park, a lovely riverside park in downtown Bend, where many people were playing frisbee, walking/playing with their dogs.....

... and walking on tightropes. Only in Oregon...

We enjoyed dinner at Deschutes Brewery, one of Oregon's finest breweries. Neither K nor I are big beer drinkers, but even I enjoyed their Chainbreaker White IPA, and the elk (and beef) burgers were excellent.

On our way home, we made a few more roadside stops to break up the trip.

Benham Falls trail

K: "Is that a zipline across the river?"

(it was actually a gauge to measure the [Deschutes] river's height)

We explored the Lava River Cave, an almost-1-mile-long "tube" through which lava used to flow... and which you can traverse, without crawling!

  We stopped by the old western town of Jacksonville, OR before heading back to CA....

... to be greeted by ELK CROSSING (near Prairie Creek Redwoods SP)

While it was many hours in the car, it was worth it!
We had one doggie barf pile to clean up (winding Rt. 199), but our pooch found herself a nice cool "cave" amidst the gear in the back of the car/trunk and was pretty comfortable most of the time!

 

We saw a lot of Oregon's beautiful scenery. And while we sort of missed the "summer" weather (part of scenic Cascades Highway was closed due to still-unplowed snow), I'm sure we'll be back for some true "summer fun"!

Nice shoes, first chew

I just bought the most amazing shoes. I don't normally buy expensive footwear, but when a product has good quality, comfort, and versatility, I am willing to spring (once every few years :)). With an REI sale and a dividends check, these were well worth it. Per REI's site,

 "These lively Jambu Planet shoes offer style, comfort and utility for everyday escapades, whether you're at the park, in the grocery store or traveling around the world...

• Leather uppers offer supple style and longevity, while naturally fighting odors
• Instep straps adjust with rip-and-stick? tabs for a secure, personalized fit
• Memory foam insoles enhance comfort underfoot
• Feature shock-absorbing polyurethane midsoles for walks and long time spent on your feet
• Partially recycled, compressed-rubber outsoles deliver ample traction"
  
  
  These shoes would have been PERFECT for Italy... good enough to serve as walking shoes (all day!) without the "ick" factor of wearing tennies... (which, despite my comfort, always made me feel soooo unsophisticated in Europe. However, there would have been no way I could have walked around Rome/Florence in cute boots [Did anyone see the season finale of Modern Family?]!
  
  In any case, I love these shoes. They are definitely the best purchase I've made all year. Besides Pepper, that is.
  
  Pepper has her quirks (i.e. wary of strangers and big dogs, not a barker, kinda clingy, bites when plays), but chewing things was most certainly not one of her flaws. While we often come home to random shoes and bathmats piled in her dogbed, it seems she transports the items there out of boredom without any malicious or masticatory intent. Since the day we got her (and she's had free reign of the house since early January), she has never actually chewed anything, and I mean anything, except for things intended for small doggie mouths, like rawhide bones or Kongs.
  
  Until last week.
  
  Kelvin came home for lunch one day and found this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Definitely chewed.
  
  I guess the shoes were that good.  They must have tasted as good as they feel on my feet!
  They actually are still wearable-- the velcro can still attach to that side nubbin there, but I have to say I'm a bit disappointed.  They, along with other footwear of value, will have to be hidden from now on.
  
  I loved (and still love) these shoes.
  But I love my doggie more. 

Our Solar Eclipse

 

(random photo, not taken by me)

I had never seen a solar eclipse before (when the moon comes between the sun and the earth, for us who had to refresh our memories about this earth science phenomenon)!

However, this Sunday, circa 6:25 pm, Humboldt County experienced one! The eclipse was actually visible from the Chinese coast, southern Japan, and a band-like are of the U.S. (west/SW).

 (Michael Zeiler/Eclipse-Maps.com)

This was an "annular" eclipse, where the moon is at its farthest in orbit, so that, when it becomes between the sun and the earth, you can still see the sun's ring around it, rather than being in full darkness (with a total eclipse), which would be really eerie but which I hope to see someday! Apparently, between 2001- 2020, only 15 annual eclipses and 13 total eclipses will be visible on the planet.

As I mentioned, the eclipse occurred during daylight hours here and, rather than burning my retinas to get a glimpse of it (it's important to view only with special eyewear), I was lucky to be "stuck" at the hospital amidst a VERY busy 24 hours of "eclipse" babies (this weekend included a 48 hour call, 46 hours of which were at the hospital, 8 deliveries [1 vacuum delivery, 1 vaginal breech, and 0 c-sections!], and 4 total hours of sleep!), where there was xray film through which we could safely ogle at the phenomenon.

 (Masashi Hara/Getty Images)

What was remarkable was that it wasn't foggy-- we have been blessed with a couple of weeks of spectacular weather and we really saw the full progression of the eclipse with full "annularity" lasting about 4 minutes.

Apparently, we (Humboldt Co.) are due for a total eclipse on Aug 12, 2045 which is cool because apparently any single place on earth only sees a solar eclipse about once every 360 years (who knows if we'll still be here!)! The next total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. is apparently on Aug 21, 2017 in Salem, Oregon. Mark your calendars!

80 degrees and a Rattlesnake Scare

 

On Sunday, we ventured east past Willow Creek to hike the South Fork Trail, by the the Trinity River. While it is usually about 50-60 degrees Farenheit on the coast where we are, the "inland" areas are about 20-25 degrees warmer, and get downright hot in the summertime. We were amazed when, starting out our hike, it was about 75 degrees... almost shorts weather if there hadn't been so many bugs out.

We were walking nicely along, with me in the lead, followed by Pep and Kelvin (who was carrying his trademark stick, which I always laugh at), when, only about a mile into our hike, I was startled by a rattlesnake about 3 inches off the trail... which most definitely shook its tail at me. Although I was probably about 3 feet away when I heard the rattle, and then saw the grey/black snake, I didn't get a great look, as I was retreating as quickly as I could, getting Pepper out of the way.  I had no idea we were in rattlesnake country! Doing some research later on a Humboldt Herpetology site, I have deduced that it was probably a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus), the only rattler endemic to this area.

While we had come across snakes here and there on our other hikes, and I'd done quite a bit of trail running when I did a rotation in Arizona back in med school (in true rattlesnake country-- there are even warning signs there!), I never had come across one on a hike. But the rattle is unmistakable, and terrifying.

 

Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (not my photo-- there is no way I'd voluntarily get this close to a snake or be still enough to shoot a photo of one!)

Kelvin brandished his stick (now, as a result of this encounter, I have conceded that a walking stick on a hike is actually a great idea), and the snake finally slithered away... but it was a narrow trail and, truthfully, I was too scared to proceed with our hike. Having seen one rattlesnake, the odds of seeing another were probably slim to none, but we weren't sure we'd be so lucky with another encounter... one bite and (being about 1.5 hours from the closest Med Center) either one of us, or our little Pepper, who usually walks with us off-leash, probably would be toast. Figuring that one rattlesnake on the trail was omen enough to stop hiking for the day, we turned around.  I'm not sure we'll go back to that trail, but I'm sure it would have been a nice one sans reptiles.

We, instead, headed to the Trinity riverside to have a picnic lunch.

 

Pepper didn't jump in, but was quite warm the whole time and probably would have enjoyed a little swim; she is quite a good little swimmer if you recall (no life vests needed!)

Trying to cool off in the car!

Sleeping on the way back... (under the driver's seat is her preferred location... it is cooler there!)

With all the weekend activities, it was about time our little pup got a bath....

"Do I really have to?"

We're not sure when our next hike will be... we're a little snake-shy at the moment.