On the Willamette River

     All those wagon trains going to Oregon that we studied in history classes were headed for this river valley and it's rich, fertile fields---- the Williamette.  Our present hosting site is on the banks of the river north of Salem and about 40 miles south of Portland.  It includes 1,600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, rolling meadows and working farmland.

This is one end of the largest picnic area in the park.  The distant tree line borders a lake that was the original river channel before a huge flood changed its course.  The present river course was behind me when I took this photo.

This picnic area, the Filbert (Hazelnut) Grove, borders the river with a 6.4 mile bike trail along the river bank.  This area will stay open all year when access to it is not flooded out.

The paved bike trail goes all the way to the Wheatland Ferry Crossing at the edge of the park.  This crossing was used by the wagon trains too!  There's a Bicycle Campground and a Horse Campground back to back here on the right.  Nice trail !!

We are busy helping to ready the park for winter; taking down volleyball nets, blowing leaves off the trails, patching holes in the bike path, getting equipment winterized, and organizing the work sheds.  With 17 miles of trails in the park we will never keep them all clean and trimmed.  It's all very satisfying work though and more than we can do before winter rains stop us.

More Beach Views

Looking south to Heceta Head and Lighthouse.

Back at the parking and picnic area the view looks over the shrub covered dune to the beach below.  Another path winds through the moss draped trees to the campground for about a 1 and 1/2 mile loop.

The October days here have been gorgeous as these pictures show and I try to get to the beach daily.
The only place we can get cell phone service or internet is parked at this view.  Not bad, huh?
Only 12 more days and we head inland to Willamette Mission State Park, 8 miles north of Salem, OR.

The Beach at Washburne State Park

This beautiful sandy beach is 1/4 mile across Hwy. 101 from our campground.  Part of our duty is litter pick up in the parking and picnic area.  We are stopped many times and thanked for our clean up efforts.  Makes us feel good!

One trail at the end of the camping area leads under the highway along China Creek for 1/2 mile to the beach.  It's a little more than 1/2 mile back to the picnic area, making a very nice loop walk.

So here we go on a little stroll to the beach.

Once you climb down a few steps, here's the view north toward Yachats.

Big Creek flows into the ocean up where the sand breaks at the rock strewn edge.
As you turn to head back to the picnic area, the sea stack rocks at the end of Heceta Head are in the distance.


Well, that's all folks! Something is goofy here.  Look for a second post.

Our Oregon Camp

We've had a busy week helping clean up the campground now that the fall camper rush has slowed.  The weather allowed some fine walks on the beach and a chance to take some photos.  It's such a lovely park that it's hard to share it all.

The campground is on one side of Hwy 101, the Coast Highway, and the beach is on the other.  We can hear the ocean roar throughout the campground and at night when we awake.

This is Loop A of the CG, our site is on the left next to the large 5th wheel trailer.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and you can see Terry's truck.  We pick up litter throughout the CG each day.

This is Loop B with a meadow front and center.  A creek and some interesting old trees are in the back section.

One of our jobs is cleaning the 2 Yurts that are near the CG entrance.  They are rented most nights year round we are told.  Most folks stay just 1 or 2 nights.  We had a family stay for 5 days over Labor Day.

Next time I'll share pictures of the Washburne Beach.  We pick up litter over there too.  Tough job!  One we dearly love!

October- Old and New

October already?

We had a busy, happy September at Heceta Head Lighthouse and Washburne Campground.  Susie and Mike, our true Oregon friends, finished their Host month and we hated to end our great team.  We'll do a repeat performance someday.  The September Lighthouse Host crew was such a 'good time' group that we hope to be back next Sept.  Our weekly campfires were non stop laughs and funny adventure stories.  We had a great visit from Terry's,  Uncle Rex, and saw more of the area than we ever had thanks to his "Let's go" attitude. We went down to Coos Bay and Shore Acres SP to visit our previous Host friends, Art and Janette.  What a beautiful place!  We had a 'personal tour of the gardens' and the rocky headlands with gigantic waves crashing across them.  (It's off the beaten path of Rt. 101, but so worth it!!)  We weathered and cleaned up from a big 2 day storm- 45 mph gusts and over 3 inches of rain.

And now it's October.  This month we will just be working at the Campground.  With fewer travelers this month, we won't be so busy and hope to have more walks on the beach and hikes in the area.   I've started Line Dance classes in Florence, very different dances.  (I knew one, Stealing the Best with an Irish tune I don't know.)  I am challenged but learning.

 Every day we marvel at the beauty that surrounds us and LOVE living here waking up to the sound of the waves rolling in!

Here are some pictures from our visit to Yellowstone, summer home of Ranger Anthony.  He and Molly visited with us each day and introduced us to some great restaurants and pubs in West Yellowstone.  The wildlife gave us a great show too!  It's such fun learning a National Park from the professionals!

Yellowstone Canyon colors were stunning after a rainstorm!

The bison in Hayden Valley were also leading traffic down the road for a close encounter.

We hadn't visited Norris Geyser Basin before and it was such an array of colors and steam!

Just left of middle in that field are my first 2 Sandhill Crane sightings!  Get the magnifier for this one!

There's so much to see, so little time!

Returning from Glacier NP to Heceta Head Lighthouse-1

We are happy to be volunteering again at Heceta Head Lighthouse and Washburne SP, where we lived in May and June.  Our friends from Oregon State Parks Training, Susie and Mike, are Campground Hosts and we are assisting them and hosting on their days off. It is great to be working together as a team!!  On Tues. a tour group of 50 home schooled students, ages 5-16 years, will be visiting the Lighthouse so Susie and I will help out there.  Interesting!

I have to include some photos of our travels after Glacier and at Yellowstone, so here are a few favorites.  More will follow in each update for a while.

This is Freezeout Lake south of Choteau, MT on the Rocky Mt. Front.  Camping here is free on this Montana Fish and Game Refuge.  It hosts thousands of geese and swans in early spring.  It is a very, very beautiful place!

Sunset there was so Big Sky Montana!

The next day we went to Great Falls, MT to visit the Charlie M. Russell Museum.  If you are ever near, don't miss a visit!  We would have both returned the next day if time had allowed.  His art from bronzes, to oils, watercolors and illustrated letters to friends was so much more than the "cowboy" art we see most often.  The museum includes his home and studio.

 Our reservation at Yellowstone kept us on the move to a site on the Madison River south of Ennis, the fly-fishing capital of the world.  ( A neat little fishing resort in the middle of nowhere with an artsy fly-fisher statue at the edge of town.)  Another one on the list of Must Return Someday.  We were only 1 of 2 campers here at Ruby Creek, a BLM site, with the river gurgling behind us.  Loved it!

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail- 2

The trail left the boardwalk as you can see here.  The knees were happy with the change.

We did some climbing and trudging over rocky terrain, but soon leveled out.  My knees were aching and I was almost ready to turn back when we met some other NC hikers our age who said, Keep on!  You don't have far!  It is so worth it!"

The level area had this gorgeous little pond that I loved enough to stop right there and stay a few days!

It really wasn't far at all to a little rocky ledge where we got this view of Hidden Lake below.  The trail goes on for hardy hikers to the edge of the lake below.  We were happy to enjoy our lunch right there.

And look who joined us for lunch!!  Mama mountain goat was wandering around us too and they both wandered back down the mountain as we did all the way to the pond.

Glacier NP is a really wonderful place!  The Amtrak train still stops at several places on the park edge.  Great Falls, MT airport is not too far away!

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail-1, Logan Pass, Glacier NP, MT

Here are a few photos from our favorite hike at Glacier as I promised.

 About half the trail is on strangely sloped boardwalk with many steps along the way to protect the delicate sub alpine flowers and vegetation.  This area is covered with wildflowers and many little waterfalls from 6 inches to larger distant ones.

The trail is described as a series of 'hanging gardens' and it crosses one after another as it climbs the rock ledges at the base of Mt. Elbert.

The snow was still melting on the mountain and it made lots of waterfalls coming off the mountain as we circled around it toward the Hidden Lake Overlook.

Part 2 will include photos of the Lake Overlook area, our destination and lunch stop.

East Glacier National Park, MT

After traveling the south edge of Glacier NP twice on the train, we had hoped for an extended visit someday.  The train stops at the East Glacier Hotel and we had wandered and wondered at the station there.  Even though it was high season for visitors, we followed the advice of a camper at North Cascades and took the chance on camping at Rising Sun CG on St. Mary's Lake.  It is located just a little west of this photo.  On our second day in the area we got a very private, spacious site there.  Yes!

The Canadian part of the park, Waterton Lakes in Alberta (about 50 miles north) was a perfect place to explore on the next day of heavy rain and fog.  The historic hotel there offered afternoon tea and typical English pub fare so we grabbed the rain gear and headed north.  Even in the fog the views from the dining room of the lake waters and mountains was wonderful.  Great tea and English Crisp (waffle fries, pulled pork, sour cream and scallions) too!

 
The Many Glacier Hotel area is the center of activities on the East side and it is about 15 miles north of the St. Mary's area where we camped.  They had a Ranger led tour of the historic hotel so we went north again.  When we entered the hotel lobby just beyond the red tour bus at the entrance a fire was roaring in the huge fire place and a violinist was playing for the guests scattered through the lobby.  Wow, just too lovely!  Not to mention the breath taking view! ( I really did get a headache because I forgot to breathe.)

On Sunday the weather prediction was at last good so we boarded the free shuttle for the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road and it's high point, Logan Pass.  The Hidden Lake Overlook Trail starts there and was described as crossing hanging gardens of wildflowers, to circle Mt. Clements and climb to an overlook of the Hidden Lake in a 3 mile roundtrip.  There are not enough superlatives in my vocabulary to tell the beauty in every inch of this hike!  It will always top my list!

 East Glacier has 4 separate areas of magnificent beauty to explore.  I'll try to blog more another time.  I took 66 pictures on the hike alone and we never even got to the Two Medicine Area.  We had to leave a day early when they closed our campground because a grizzly bear walked through the middle of the Campfire Program on Sunday night just after I was there for Evening Worship.  Glad I missed that program!

Tourists Again!

We left Ross Lake Recreation Area our home for the last month about 6 this morning.  Our time there gave us a great opportunity to explore the Pacific Northwest.  We had not been east out of the park so we have had such an adventure!

The sun lighting up the mountains of Washington Pass on the descent into the Methow Valley was fantastic!  Terry stopped for me to get this picture at just the right time.

We are on our way to Glacier NP and then on to Yellowstone.  It might be a few weeks before we add more notes and pictures.

Wonderful Whidbey Island, WA!

On Tuesday we returned to Fidalgo Island and crossed over to Whidbey Island on the amazing Deception Pass Bridge.  The morning fog was just beginning to lift off the bridge as we walked out across it.  The view to the Strait below was too scary for me to make the walk over the water.  Terry loved every step across!

Two tugs were pulling a float of timber under the bridge so I had lots to watch while he walked.

Next stop was lunch at the lovely little town of Coupeville (in the spring a headland area slipped into the Strait here).  The hanging Baskets of flowers all over town and the sea salt air filled the streets with fragrance and I wanted to stay for days!!  We visited the town Museum a part of the only National Historical Reserve in the US.  The community joined together to preserve the community and surrounding prairie farms and the Park Service created a local Trust Board to mange it.  We didn't find the local Reserve farmland coastal walk, so now we will have to return!  Whidbey Island is at the top of my Favorites List now.

The Coupeville wharf area and Mt. Baker and the North Cascades ( our Park) in the distance.

We ended our day at the Admirality Head Lighthouse (with a 4th order lens).  Another lovely spot!
It was fun to share stories with the volunteer hosts there.  I think we'll start a Lighthouse visit list too.

San Juan Island National Historical Park

Here comes the 9 am Friday Harbor Ferry!  We arrived at the Anacortes Terminal about an hour early to get the first ferry and spend the day on a visit to San Juan Island NHP.  The crossing weaves through   4 islands and takes about an hour.  We have applied for a Sept.-Oct. job there and wanted to check it out.

The view looking back east includes Mount Baker and just south our present home, the North Cascades NP range (still snow capped).  The Ferry Terminal is about 90 miles west of the NP.  On San Juan we were surprised how quickly we left the busy little harbor town and found rolling hills, lakes, farms and meadows.  Our first stop was English Camp where 400 British soldiers lived for 12 years as arbitration for ownership of the San Juan Islands was negotiated.

The English Camp included a school, library and formal garden fenced in beyond the flagpole.  We met a very helpful volunteer host who told us all about working there and directed us on a walk through the 2 campsites on the hill above the old Hospital Building.  No view there, but the grounds along the bay are beautiful as you see.  Lots of sky and grass which I love!

This is the American Camp on the South end of the island.  It also has 2 hosts and sits on a restored prairie on a sunny, dry hillside above the ocean and opposite the Olympic NP mountains.  We got a very distant sighting of Orca whales and a nice long chat with the volunteer here.  We could be very happy at either Camp.  The views, trails and beaches at this end of the island are most awesome!

As luck would have it the Ranger who might hire us is off for 2 days.  We left our card and will call on Thursday.  Terry has always loved islands and I think I could have a little fun here myself!  We'll see.

From the Land of Turquoise Waters

The waters of Lake Diablo at North Cascades National Park are filled with glacial water and the 'glacial flour' or tiny rock specks that reflect with more turquoise than this photo can show.  It is an unbelievable color!  Our campground, Colonial Creek, is located on both sides of the bridge below on the south end of the lake.

There's a great little trail, Thunder Knob, at the edge of the campground that climbs the knob and gave this view of the highway bridge.  About a half mile up is a view of the glaciers on Colonial Peak.  I was truly stunned!  It does seem like the 'American Alps' right out our backdoor.

The North side of our Campground (CG) has only 42 sites with Colonial Creek roaring through it.  The trail crosses the creek twice to reach this campsite.

  The South side across the highway has 96 sites with 21 hidden from view in the woods, 30 packed together on the side of the lake and the rest being dark little dens up in the giant trees on two loops that circle on the larger one.  It is a CG Host nightmare!   We host at the CG Kiosk entrance on the South side from 8am to 11:30 and do our 'count roves' on both sides. ( I am enjoying weeding the wildflower rock garden around the Kiosk that is covered by grass and tree starts.)  We have a break from 12 to 4pm and repeat the duties until 5:30 pm.

Most of all we are having a great time traveling in the area!  We love Anacortes, WA.

 Next Tues. we'll be ferrying over to San Juan Island to check out a possible Fall Host job there at the National Historic Park.  So many wonderful places to explore!!