Pacific Northwest Roadtrip - All Good Things Must End

For the past two months I've been entertaining you with the photos and descriptions of adventures Anil and I had during our 10-day road trip through the Pacific Northwest earlier this year. In case you missed some of the posts, below is the list with links to all of them.

On Saturday another adventure begins: as promised, I'll start blogging about our last year's Christmas trip to Peru. I'll do my best to publish one post a day, or at least five posts a week. So stay tuned and bear with me!

The Pacific Northwest Roadtrip:

1. Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
2. Boy Scout Hike in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
3. The South Oregon Coast
4. Meyers Creek Beach 
5. Riding ATVs in the Dunes
6. The Central Oregon Coast
7. The North Oregon Coast
8. Ships on the Columbia River in Astoria
9. Cape Disappointment
10. Quinault Valley Rain Forest in Olympic National Park
11. Queets Rain Forest in Olympic National Park
12. Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park
13. Hall of Mosses Trail in Hoh Rain Forrest, Olympic National Park
14. Spruce Nature Trail in Hoh Rain Forrest, Olympic National Park
15. Second Beach, Olympic National Park
16. Ozette Lake Loop, Olympic National Park
17. Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park
18. Seattle Skyline 
19. Space Needle in Seattle
20. Seattle Experience Music Project
21. Mt. Rainier National Park
22. Narada Falls, Mt. Rainier NP
23. Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
24. Lava Canyon, Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
25. Historic Columbia River Highway
26. Bridge of the Gods
27. Strawberry Island Hike in the Columbia River Gorge
28. Portland
29. Crater Lake National Park
30. Mount Shasta
31. Mt. Eddy/Deadfall Leaf Lake Hike in Mt. Shasta Forest

Mt. Eddy/Deadfall Lake Hike in Mt. Shasta Forest

Towards the end of our trip both Anil and I felt that we had been spending too much time in a car and not enough time hiking. Therefore, we decided to change our plans for the last day and instead of going to Lava Beds National Monument we went to Mt. Shasta Forest. There we wanted to go on a 10-mile long hike to the top of Mt. Eddy.

Our plan partially failed, as we only managed to go on a 6-mile hike due to unforeseeable amounts of snow that were still present at the higher elevations. In fact, we even had some trouble getting to the hike’s trailhead, as the last 3 km of the road leading to it were still partially covered by snow. At a certain moment a mountain of snow appeared in front of us, completely blocking the road and forcing us to park our car in front of it and cross it by foot.

Luckily, the trail was not as completely covered by snow as the road was, so we did not have trouble finding our way to Dead Leaf Lakes. There, however, we decided to abort our initial plan of climbing Mt Eddy, as because of the snow we were unable to find the trail anymore. Still, it was a very pretty hike. And if anything, the snow made it probably even prettier. The lakes were truly beautiful and I would strongly recommend this hike to anybody, no matter if you will make it all the way to the top of Mt. Eddy or just go to the lakes. I’m also determined to do this hike again later in the season, when there is less snow.


A snow-covered road:

Anil jumping over a seasonal creek formed by melting snow:

Occasionally, we had to struggle a bit to cross a snow patch blocking the trail:

Views from the trail:

Deadfall Lakes

Mt. Shasta

As soon as we crossed the northern border of California, a spectacular sight of Mount Shasta appeared in front of us. Both Anil and I were truly amazed and deeply touched by the beauty of the mountain, and its sight made us feel happy to be back in our home state, just a few hours away from home. Even though we have seen many amazing places in our lives, we both agree that California is the most beautiful place of them all. Mount Shasta was a small reminder of that.

At 14,179 feet (4,322 m) Mount Shasta ("White Mountain") is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California. What makes it more spectacular than other mountains of a similar height, is that it stands alone and rises abruptly nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the surrounding terrain. If it was connected to other mountains, I do not think it would look quite as impressive as it does by itself.

Mount Shasta is a dormant volcano, which is predicted to erupt within the next several hundred years ☺ It is difficult to believe that, looking at its snow-covered peaks:

Crater Lake National Park

We were supposed to spend three days and two nights at Crater Lake National Park, camping at the Mazama Campground, which I had booked four months earlier. Unfortunately, two weeks before our planned stay there, I received a phone call from one of the park's rangers informing me that our reservation got canceled, as most of the campground was still under snow . . .

The visiting season at Crater Lake NP is usually very short (around three to four months), but this year it seems it will be even shorter. Usually, by the beginning of July, most of the park would be snow-free. This year, however, on the Fourth of July weekend, only a small part of the park was accessible to tourists.

If you take a look at the first photo below, you'll see how much snow was still left in the park then. The only reason that we could visit the park at all during that weekend was because of the incredible dedication and unbelievable amount of work put in by the people working at the park and the National Park Services. I must have said it thousands of times and I'll repeat it again and again: National Parks are America's best idea and they are the main reason why I love living here.

Carter Lake NP is the sixth oldest National Park in the United States, and the only one located in Oregon. The park encompasses the Crater Lake caldera, which rests in the remains of a destroyed volcano, as well as the surrounding hills and forests. The caldera rim ranges in elevation from 2,100 to 2,400 meters (7,000-8,000 feet), whereas the lake surface is at 1,883 meters (6,178 feet).

At its deepest point the Carter Lake is 594 meters (1,949 feet) deep, which makes it the deepest lake in the United States and the ninth deepest in the world. Because of its depth and because its waters come only from rain and snow, the lake has an amazingly beautiful, deep blue color. As you can see in the pictures below, the color of the lake contrasts perfectly with the white snow and graphite mountain peaks.


The road leading to the park:

Crater Lake:

Wizard Island:

Portland

Some people love it and can not imagine living anywhere else, others can not imagine living there. I'm in the latter category :) Not that there is anything wrong with Portland. It is actually quite lovely: it is very green and peaceful. Just a little bit too peaceful for my taste.

Even though half a million people live in Portland proper, and two million more in its metropolitan area, it feels like a small provincial town. There are no high-rise buildings even in downtown Portland, so it feels like one big suburb. Admittedly, a nice one, if you like living in the suburbs.

Like in San Francisco, there are many artsy, hippie types, who are into yoga, healthy living, organic food and good coffee. Also, nature around Portland is very pretty and green (no wonder, if you consider how much it rains there). In fact, the nature is so pretty there that Anil and I would even consider getting short-time contracts in Portland, so that we can explore some of hiking trails there. Of course, we would only consider moving there during the summer months (June through August); after that we would need to quickly move to a warmer place. Nine months of constant rain and overcast sky is not something either of us would enjoy.


Portland and Mt. Hood:

Portland and Mt. St. Helens:

One of the buildings in downtown Portland:

Portland's Beaver:

Historic Columbia River Highway

I love scenic byways and whenever there is an opportunity to take one, I do. Therefore, I could not resist the opportunity to drive along the Historic Columbia River Highway, an approximately 75-mile (120 km) scenic highway through the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The highway was built between 1913 and 1922 and it was the first planned scenic roadway in the United States. From the very beginning, the highway was envisioned not just as means of traveling, but designed to take full advantage of all the natural beauty along the route. As such it was recognized in several historic registries, e.g., as a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The highway indeed runs extremely close to many beautiful sights, including several waterfalls. We stopped at two of them, Horsetail and Multnomah Falls.


The Horsestail Fall:

The Multnomah Falls:

Bridge of the Gods

Would you like to cross a Bridge of the Gods? If you do, there is one on the Columbia River, between Cascade Locks in Oregon and Skamania County in Washington:

Strawberry Island Hike in the Columbia River Gorge

We liked the Columbia River Gorge so much we decided to explore it a little bit more and go for a short hike there. We asked several locals for recommendations of nice hikes in the area and we decided to go on a hike around Strawberry Island.

It was a short, maybe 3-4 mile long, completely flat hike through beautiful, lush green and serene landscape. In the distance, we could see and occasionally hear cars rushing on the highway, and we felt extremely grateful for finding this little island of serenity amongst the urban noise and mess.

The hike was made even better by the “show” of several different bird species: we got to see some of them hunting for food, building their nests, and defending their territory. Some of them flew so close to us that we could almost feel the air¬¬–moved by their wings–bounce off our faces.

I would definitely recommend this hike if you are in or around Portland. It is only 30 miles away from the city and can be accessed via the beautiful Historic Columbia River Highway, which is also worth seeing.

Lava Canyon, Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

The first hike we did in Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was a short, 2-mile loop hike in Lava Canyon. This hike begins with a wide, paved, wheelchair accessible Lava Canyon Interpretive Trail, which leads to a viewing platform overlooking the canyon and the Muddy River that cuts through it. From the viewing area, the trail loops down to the canyon rim in a long series of switchbacks. At the end of the switchbacks there is another viewing point, which offers good views of waterfalls on the Muddy River.

Soon afterward, the trail crosses a springy suspension bridge, which can give a bit of a scare to people with a fear of heights (like me). After crossing the bridge, you can either loop back to the trailhead, or you can continue into the gorge–a steep descent which includes climbing down a 30-foot ladder. We opted for heading back to our car, but I'm sure the views would have gotten even better if we had continued down the canyon. Still, even the short version of the hike was very enjoyable.


Lava Canyon and the Muddy River:

The suspension bridge:

Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

After our unsuccessful attempt to hike in Mt. Rainier National Park, we decided to head to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and try to go hiking there. To our surprise, the upper part of Mt. St. Helens was also under the snow. So instead of one longer hike at a higher elevation, we decided to go for several shorter hikes at a lower elevation.

First we went for a hike in Lava Canyon, to which I dedicated a separate post (it will appear here in two days).

Afterward, we hiked the interpretive "Trail of Two Forests", a 1-mile long boardwalk loop trail through the lava flow from Mount St. Helens' eruption that took place around two thousands years ago. One interesting part of the trail was a small, maybe 2.5 to 3 feet wide, lava tube that hikers were invited to "hike", or should I say "crawl" through. We were set on exploring this lava tube until we saw how small, dark, and dirty it was. But I bet a lot of kids would not have such inhibitions and would have lots of fun there.

We also planned to go for a hike in the Ape Caves–subterranean lava tubes formed in the thick lava beds. There are two of them: the lower and the upper. The lower one is the shorter and easier of the two. It is connected to the upper lava tube by a 1.3-mile trail through the old forest.

The upper and lower caves are 2.5-miles and 1.3-miles long, respectively. Anil and I planned to explore the shorter, lower cave, but after I managed to trip over and almost twist my ankle just after five minutes of walking there, we decided to turn around. Our flashlights were just not strong enough to light our way through this pitch-dark cave. My advice: if you plan to explore the caves, make sure to bring powerful flashlights and an extra set of batteries. Do not forget your jacket as well, as it is pretty chilly down there. And, most importantly, don't trip and sprain your ankle :)


Mt. St. Helens:

The entrance to the lower Ape Cave:

The Trail of Two Forests: