State number “27” Oregon.

17^th September – Bend

After doing domestics in the morning we spent the afternoon with Jo and Woody, friends we had made in Utah back in May; and also their cat Pumpkin.  They live on the outskirts of town in a lovely forested area. Our GPS plotted the shortest route, which included approximately 10 miles of dirt road.  Needless to say we took a different route home!

Bend is on the edge of the National Wilderness Area mountain range and makes it an ideal place for almost every outdoor activity imaginable in both summer and winter.

18^th September – Tumalo Falls

Unfortunately Woody was busy for the next couple of days, so we picked up Jo on our way to Tumalo Falls for a day hike.  The trailhead started at the 98ft Falls, and took us approximately 8 miles around a series of waterfalls – which means we walked uphill a lot!

This area had a bad fire in 1979.  As part of the management of the area all the burnt trees were removed to encourage regrowth.  However several years later the mistake was realised as a large proportion of the top soil had washed down the mountains clogging up the river.  Even the roots of burnt trees have a use in retaining top soil.  Fire damage management policy has changed since then.

Before we went back to Jo and Woody’s for a delicious chicken chilli, Jo took us into town around the Old Mill District; an area by the river with modern shops, cafes and bars etc.  Bend has a lovely appeal to it – perhaps it’s the many roundabouts we encounter on the roads that made us feel at home! We never thought that we would hear an American say that they love roundabouts. No photos of Tumalo Falls as the camera decided to through a wobbly and all photos were deleted.

19^th September – Hosmer Lake

We met Jo and her friends Bill and Phyllis to spend the day kayaking around Hosmer Lake on the west side of Mount Bachelor.  The car park was pretty full but the lake was shaped in such a way that we didn’t see many other people.  We found a nice private spot for lunch in the sun; accompanied with some wine Bill and Phyllis had brought along. It was an ideal setting with the mountains around us.  The water was beautifully clear and we could see some nice sized fish – however they weren’t hungry and ignored Paul’s bait. 

On the way home we could see smoke in the distance from a ‘prescribed burn’ that they were doing in the forest several miles away.

20^th September – Broken Top Mountain

We joined Jo and Bill for a hike up to a glacier lake.  The 6 mile round trip took us up to around 9500ft.  We could see the Three Sisters Mountains and Mount Jefferson about 30 miles away. 

The glacier lake inside an old volcano was stunning.  The water was a milky blue green and was surrounded by rocks of so many colours; red, purple, peach, yellow, rust. 

It was amazing. 

We found a spot out of the wind to have lunch, at this elevation the temperature was a lot cooler than yesterday.  We passed compacted ice (not sufficient quantity to call a glacier) on our way down; some of it was only 2” thick and yet still hard enough to take Paul’s weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 21^st September – Bend Oktoberfest

Yes it is still September but Bend celebrates their Oktoberfest at this time of year when the weather is still good.  We met Jo and Woody in the afternoon and wandered around Downtown Bend.  This was not a large event but was well supported (perhaps 6000 attended?) and had a fun, local feel to it.

Activities included “Weiner Dog Races” (ie Sausage Dog).  There were lots of entrants, some of which may have been of questionable breed, and many of which were dressed in little outfits to keep them warm against the cold weather.  We watched from the multi-story car park as they had six heats and then the finals.  It was funny to see the dogs let out of the starting blocks and then stand around looking completely confused.

After that we went into the entertainment arena for some local micro-brewery beer and cider – very nice too!  On stage was the Hammerslagen competition – to see who can hammer a nail the fastest.   This was a challenge Paul could not resist and after beating 11 other competitors – he won!  Afterwards so many people came up and congratulated him that he felt like a celebrity.  Everyone was so friendly and we chatted to several people during the evening as we listened to the Oompha band.

22^nd September – Sunday

We had a quiet day doing domestics and shopping.  This town has some great outdoor clothing and accessory factory outlet shops.

23^rd September – Smith Rocks State Park

Woody and Jo took us up to Smith Rocks SP, a few miles north of Bend for a hike around the Rocks.  This spot is very popular with rock climbers and was the first place to be set up for ‘sport climbing’. Bolts are permanently set in the rocks for all climbers to use, rather than people using their own temporary ones.

It is a beautiful area.  The rocks were wonderful colours and shapes.  We climbed up the top of Misery Ridge and across from us we saw a couple of “High-liners” on a line stretching between two mountain peaks.  Woody explained the difference between High-lining (or Slack-lining) as opposed to Tight-rope walking.  Tight-rope is a taut rope or cable: whereas High/Slack-lining is webbing, wider/flatter, and hence has a slack tension.  Either way it was scary to watch; especially as one person fell.  We were relieved to see that they were tied on by a safety line and got back up.  The things people do in their leisure time!

24^th September – High Desert Museum

 We were going to visit the Volcanic National Park and Lava Fields but discovered they were shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  So we visited the High Desert museum instead.  We saw River Otters, eagles and a peregrine falcon as well as lizards and snakes etc. There was also a Bobcat and a Lynx, which had been ‘pets’, and were now being cared for in the museum as they could not survive in the wild.  The museum was educational about the forests and wildlife, and explained that with only 14-20 inches of precipitation (that’s “rain” to us) a year the area is called High Desert.  One thing we were surprised at was the world habitat range that they showed for the Barn Owl, it did not include the UK!

25^th September – Wednesday

The weather has definitely changed.  We have been watching thousands of geese fly south for the past 3 days. (Think they are trying to tell us something).  This morning we could see snow on the hills opposite the camp site.  Paul went fishing despite the drizzle.  This was a day to catch up with chores etc.

26^th September – Alder Springs

We woke to a frost and had to scrape the ice from the car to set off into Bend to meet Jo and Woody.  Bill and Phillis joined us for a trip to Alder Springs.  As we drove north from Bend we could see snow on the Three Sisters Mountains and Broken Top, the mountain’s that we had climbed last week.

The hike took us down into the canyon where two rivers converge.  The water comes from the Cascade Mountains where the snowmelt travels up to 40 miles underground to emerge here at the Springs.  At one point we had to wade across the river (NB we had a frost this morning!!).  At least the sun came out and the day got warmer.  We had lunch at the convergence of the rivers.

 The six of us had a nice meal in Bend and we joined Jo and Woody for the Kayaking Film Festival.  We watched three films of different lengths.  One was how the ‘river’ through Los Angeles (which resembled a storm drain) had been proved navigable and now approved as a River and hence will attract interest to improve and develop it.  Currently LA does not collect any run-off water from rain as it all goes down the drains!

Going West

14^th September Travel to Boise

We left the volcanic landscape of the Great Rift and travelled west to Boise near the state line between Idaho and Oregon.  We found a nice peaceful camp site in Marsing by the Snake River, which just happens to be in the Idaho Wine valley region – nice!

15^th September Marsing

Idaho Wine Valley vineyards – well, it would be rude not to visit at least one wouldn’t it!

So we spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon at Ste Chapelle Vineyard, tasting 10 different wines between us – very nice too! We left with three bottles of wine and two glasses.

 
State number 26!

16^th September Travel to Bend, Oregon

Off we set for State number 26 – Oregon.  We travelled 330 miles to Bend, mostly on Hwy 20, some of which was part of the old “Oregon Trail”.  It has to be said there wasn’t much between Marsing and Bend – few towns and the landscape is un-dramatic, straight roads and very little to look at.

We arrived at the camp site on the outskirts of Bend. Set up the motorhome and then headed for the heated pool and hot tub, great for relaxing after spending all day in the RV.

We are now in another time zone – Pacific Time, this now puts us 8 hours behind the UK.

Craters of the Moon NM

12^th September Travel into Idaho

We set off from out of the Grand Tetons, through Jackson Hole, on our way west from Wyoming into Idaho.  The mountains and tree landscape gradually changed and turned into agricultural fields.  On our way to Idaho Falls we passed Palisades Reservoir.  The water level must be nearly 80ft below its highest level.   

We checked into the Craters of the Moon National Monument campground just in time, as at least another 10 RVs arrived after us, we had the last site that would take our size of rig.

We had two thunderstorms that evening; one of which curtailed the Ranger evening presentation that we attended.

13^th September Craters of the Moon NM

We drove the Craters Drive Loop stopping at the various points of interest.  This is a volcanic landscape.  Vast volumes of lava have flowed, not from one volcano but from a series of deep fissures known as the Great Rift over the past 14000 years.  Eruptions have been fairly consistent every 2000 years and the last one was 2100 years ago – so another one may be overdue? 

We saw Spatter cones and Alison climbed ‘Inferno Cone’ which is made up of cinders.  It was interesting to see how the vegetation had grown over the vast ocean of volcanic rock.  We even spotted a thistle, an invasive species, which was possibly brought in on a visitor’s shoe.

We attended the Ranger led walk into Indian cave.  The cave is actually a lava tube formed when the crust of the hot lava flow hardened as it cooled and then the lava continued to flow away leaving a hollow area.  All lava tube ceilings collapse eventually but none have collapsed since this area became a national monument in 1924 (fortunately for us).  We learned the name for the different types of lava – “pahoehoe” is very fluid lava flowing smoothly, and “a - a” is lava that is more rubble-like.  Both words originate from Hawaii.

After the tour with the Ranger we continued on to explore two other caves.  Boy Scout cave had a low ceiling and was pitch black inside but fortunately we had come prepared with torches.  Beauty cave was taller with lots of space to stand up.  We were also told there are 11 species of bats at this park but we never saw any.

Again we had thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening.

Grand Tetons

9^th September Travel to Grand Tetons

We travelled all the way through Yellowstone NP from the north entrance to the south entrance to the Grand Tetons, which is still in Wyoming.  We stopped at Grant Village Visitor Centre and found out about the 1988 wildfire which destroyed so much of the park’s forests.  25 years later we could now see how the trees have re-seeded themselves.  The Lodge Pole Pine tree produces two types of pine-cones.  One is sealed in resin which requires the temperature of a fire before the seeds are released.  Thus even after fire the trees can grow back.  Aspen trees reproduce via their underground root system.  This is one of the few national parks where you are allowed to collect fire wood from the ground, for your campfire as this helps clear the area of some of the dead trees.

As we drove into Grand Tetons the road parallels Jackson lake, except ……….. where was all the water?  For about a mile all we could see were puddles and a gully of water.  The water level must be about at least 50 per cent below its normal level.

We called into Colter Bay campground to discover that 250 of the 350 sites are closed for maintenance and all the other sites were full.  So we opted for Plan B and continued down to Gros Ventre campground at the southern end of the park where we were told there was a Moose cow and calf that frequent the campsite on a regular basis.

10^th September Jenny Lake

In the morning Alison chatted to a neighbour, Hobo-Ken, who said he saw the Moose and her calf in the campground earlier. 

We drove through the park admiring the Teton Mountain Range in the sunshine.  After a picnic lunch we hiked part way around Jenny Lake and up to Moose Pond.  Unfortunately there were no Moose to be seen. 
We drove up Signal Mountain and enjoyed extensive views across the valley to the east and then drove down to Signal Lodge by the edge of the Lake where we could see just how low the water level was.

Back at the campground we chatted to another British lady, Angie, and her husband who were travelling with 5 dogs!

11^th September Jackson

We had thought to take the kayak out on one of the lakes today but the weather was too breezy so we drove into the town of Jackson just 10 miles south of the park.  After a stroll around the shops and Art and Photo Studios we had lunch and then drove up to Teton Village, which has the famous Jackson Hole ski resort. In the summer they use the runs for mountain biking and we watched as people go up in the ski-lifts and then hurtle down the slopes on their bikes.  We had noted there were a number of bike lanes in the area and throughout the park.

  Unfortunately we never did get to see the resident Moose in this campground.

Yellowstone National Park

31^st August Norris Geyser Basin and Artists Paintpots.

Yellowstone was the first National Park to be created in 1872.  It covers around 2 million acres and although most of it is in Wyoming it also edges into Montana and Idaho.  Although the lowest 

elevation is 5282ft, most of the park is above 6000ft.

We spent our first day on the west side of the park and visited Norris Geyser Basin and Artists Paintpots.  The geysers were amazing – so many of them.  They stimulate the senses; the smell of sulphur; the hot steam being wafted by the wind; the colours of blue, green, yellow, orange, browns; the sound of bubbling water, plopping of liquid mud and the hissing of steam released under pressure.

There were one or two lone bull Bison to be seen and as we left the park we saw some Elk by the river.

1^st September Lamar Valley

We drove down the Lamar Valley to see what wildlife was about.  As it was during the day time we
did not expect to see wolves as they are normally only seen at sunrise and sunset.

We saw Bison in herds and individuals on their own; many Pronghorn Antelope; a mule deer and a bighorn sheep.  There were a small herd of Elk near the Visitor Centre.  The stag was resting in the shade of the church.  The rutting season starts mid to late September. 

We also saw some Sandhill Cranes in the distance.

Tower Falls was very busy as it is a Holiday weekend.  So we only spent enough time to see the Falls and have an ice cream.  There were some people there trying to get signatures on a petition to stop hunting of wolves in the National Forests surrounding the National Park.  Wolves are only protected in the national park.

We joined the campfire at the campground that evening and were treated to a close-up encounter with 12 Elk.  They came down from the mountains into the town and right up to the fence line of the campground.

2^nd September A Non-Day

This was a bit of a Non-day.  Paul woke up with a sore throat and a cold (ran out of Irish whiskey) and spent the day horizontal either on the bed or the sofa.  The clouds obliterated the sun and it rained in the afternoon.  A Non-day.

3^rd September Old Faithful.

Old Faithful geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin where the majority of the world’s active geysers are located (others are in Russia, Chile, Iceland & New Zealand).  Five of the geysers here are
predictable.
Old Faithful reaches heights of between 106-184 ft and we watched it go off within 5 minutes of the expected time.  We also saw Castle Geyser, which reaches a height of around 75ft, erupting from across the river. 


 

The new Visitor Centre was completed in 2011 and everything looked a bit different from the last time we visited here in May 08; when there was snow on the ground and a blizzard was blowing. 


This time we were able to walk around all the Geysers and Hot Springs as well as the Fumaroles and Mud pots.  Chromatic Pool and Morning Glory were particularly impressive with their colours, which are caused by microscopic thermophiles; they survive in hot temperatures as well as high acidity or alkaline environments.

4^th September Canyon Village.

We spent the day around the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone where the Yellowstone River pours over two waterfalls of around 300ft.  We viewed the river from various points.  Most impressive was the Brink of the Lower Falls where a path down into the canyon stops at the level of the river and then you can lean over the railing to follow the water over the falls (made you feel quiet dizzy).

We descended the 328 steps to Uncle Tom’s point (and then climbed back up!) and also drove up to the famous Artist’s Point which exceeded expectations.

At one point we came across a herd of Bison coming down the road – all traffic stopped!

On the rim of the Canyon we were fortunate to be high enough to look down on an Osprey nest, with a youngster waiting for the parent to bring food –
which we witnessed as the adult flew in with a fish in its talons.

Towards the end of the day we drove to Blacktail Creek for a spot of wolf-watching.  We were advised two wolves were regularly spotted in this area every evening.  However we were not to be fortunate enough to see them.

5^th September West Yellowstone

We visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre just outside the National Park west entrance.  The Centre takes in rescue animals and is set up to educate humans on the animal’s behaviour.  Some Grizzly bears had become ‘habituated’ to human presence and relocation was not successful so consequently they were taken into captivity.  Some research is done in the Centre including the Bear-proof testing of containers.

The areas we saw the animals in were very natural looking environments.  The bears were let out in groups, for a couple of hours at a time, to forage for food which had been buried or hidden under rocks etc.  This is with intent to provide a natural stimulus for them.  We watched as the Keepers hid the food and the minute they left the area about 40 ravens descended to see what they might pick-up first.  The bears did not seem bothered by the bird as the lifted the heavy rocks with ease. 
 

In the wild a lot of the Wolves are suffering from “Mange” introduced by humans to eradicate wolves about 100 years ago. Research is being done on the captive wolves to try and treat the problem.

On our way home we stopped in to see the Midway Geyser Basin area.

6^th September Beartooth Pass

The best time to see wolves is late evening or first thing in the morning.  As our evening vigil didn’t work-out we got up at 5am today and made our way to Slough Creek in the Lamar Valley.  We had spotted wolves here during our visit in 2008.  However, today the wolves were having a lie-in.  All we saw was a little coyote walk past.

As we drove further up the valley we spotted some Bison running and then further behind them saw a big black dot – which turned out to be a Grizzly bear casually striding along.  He was coming our way so we stopped.  Within a minute of us spotting him at least 10 other cars stopped too.  We followed him (from a distance) as his stroll took him along the base of a small hill that had some other wolf-spotters on the top.  Had the bear gone up the hill they would have come face to face with each other.

After that excitement we continued out of the north-east entrance of the Park and drove Highway 212 up through Beartooth Pass, at 10947ft.  This is listed as one of the Top 10 Drives in USA and provided some spectacular views across the Absaroka mountain range. 
We had lunch in Red Lodge and then retraced our steps back over the mountains.  The weather had started to change – we could have done without the clouds and rain.

On the way back through the Lamar Valley that evening we saw several herds of Bison – there must have been at least 1000 in the Valley that evening.  We also spotted a bald eagle in a tree above the Lamar River.


Every evening on our drive home we see the Bighorn sheep on the rocks near the park entrance.

7^th September Boiling River

After yesterday’s 5am start and 250 mile drive, we had a quiet day.  In the afternoon we drove into the park to Boiling River.  At this spot hot springs flow into the Yellowstone River and people can soak in the waters.  The River water had a very strong current – and was cold!  The hot springs water was very hot! So you had to be careful where you went in the waters but it was really fun and very
relaxing – and didn’t smell of sulphur.

We had noted some youngsters/teenagers enjoying the waters and then suddenly disappeared.  We thought nothing of it until we got back to the car park where a Ranger was giving each of them a ‘citation’.   For safety reasons food and drink were prohibited from this area and they had brought glass bottles and some were under the legal age for consuming alcohol.

That evening we went out for a meal at the same place we ate at for Alison’s ‘Big 50’ birthday five years ago.  We then joined everyone around the campground fire and learnt that a bear had been seen down by the river in the centre of town.

8^th September Fishing Bridge / West Thumb

We drove down the Hayden Valley hoping to see some wildlife.  There were 4 Trumpeter swans in the Yellowstone River and the odd lone Bison bull in the distance.  We stopped at Sulphur Caldron and Mud Volcano which is a very active and acidic area in the park.  During one period in the mid-70s over 500 minor earth quakes were recorded here in less than a month and affected a number of the active features. 

Dragon’s Mouth Spring was particularly impressive as it belched out steam and hot water. Water boils at only 93C at this elevation.

From Fishing Bridge we carried on down to West Thumb and the Geyser Basin next to the Yellowstone Lake where there were several geysers, hot springs and fumaroles.  Many of these hydrothermal features exist on the lake bottom.  3,100 gallons of hot water pour into the lake everyday yet the lake’s average summer temperature is only 7C.

The Abyss Pool is one of the deepest hot springs descending to 53ft and was a beautiful turquoise colour.

We went home via the Lamar Valley again – but only saw Bison.  It was lovely to watch the calves nursing and listen to the grunts of the bulls as they rolled in the dust.  We tried to picture what it would have looked like 200 years ago when the herds were so vast (50 million is one estimate).

This is our last day in Yellowstone – 10 nights and over 1000 miles of driving and we still didn’t see everything!