Our mission is to visit every National Park in Canada and the USA. To date, we have visited 18 national parks in Canada and 41 in the USA. On this trip, we are going to visit the national parks in the high Sierra Nevada mountains of California. In our previous winter vacations, we have visited all of the southern national parks that were not snowbound. This leaves Yosemite, King Canyon, Giant Sequoia and Pinnacle National Parks for this trip.
As usual, it took us all day to pack up the RV. Sonaa was quite anxious until we piled all her stuff into the RV along with ours. Realizing that she would not be left behind she became visibly elated and hopped into the shotgun seat. We finally hit the road at 6:30 p.m.
Traffic was relatively light on the I-5. Let me put that in perspective. For any other highway, the traffic would be considered intense but for the I-5 through Seattle it was not life threatening so I considered it light. Emma made it through without an Ativan.
South of Olympia we called it a day and parked at the local Walmart. The first birds we saw on this trip were 1) Bald Eagle, 2) Starlings, 3) Spotted Towhee, 4) Northwestern Crow.
June 12
We continued to drop steadily down the I-5. Traffic through Portland was surprisingly heavy and interfered with my admiring glances at the old steel bridges that are a hallmark of Portland, To refresh Emma, we stopped at the outlet stores south of Portland.
We decided to revisit Crater Lake National Park as the last time we were there the mountain and lake were socked in by heavy fog. At nightfall, we arrived at the Walmart in Roseburg near the entry road to Crater Lake.
Yikes, the city had passed an ordinance prohibiting RVs from parking overnight at any commercial parking lots. Like the end of the open range in the old west, I think this is the beginning of the end of free grazing for RVers.
We had to scramble in the dark and after a couple of failed attempts we landed a spot in an RV campground in Sutherlin.
June 13
The drive up highway 138 to Crater Lake is described as scenic. This is cartographers shorthand for windy, steep, slow and beautiful. The road and our RV hugged the meanderings of the Umpqua River as it cascaded down the mountainside from Crater Lake.
Umpqua River
Tioga Walking Bridge over the Umpqua River
Emma and Sonaa over the Umpqua River
Umpqua River
At Diamond Lake we stopped for lunch.
Diamond Lake
We approached Crater Lake from the north so our first view was at Merrian Point. It is difficult to express the serene grandeur of Crater Lake. Like the Grand Canyon you can photograph parts of it but it's too big even for a wide angle lens to contain the full vista.
Merriam Point at Crater Lake
At 594 metres, it is the deepest lake in the USA and one of the most pristine lakes in the world. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake. The water level is maintained by snow and rain which balances evaporation.
Wizard Island in Crater Lake
Did I mention that Crater Lake is a caldera at the top of an old volcano and at this altitude there is still lots of snow in mid June?
Emma and Sonaa at Merriam Point.
Just to get to Merriam Point we had to trek through several feet of snow. Sonaa wasn't much interested in the awesome vista but she sure was curious and happy about the snow. She had not played in snow in over a year so made the most of it.
Inadvertently, Emma almost joined Sonaa in a roll in the snow.
As camping sites in National Parks are at a premium, we hustled around the rim to our campground. We descended about 1,500 feet to our campsite but there was still piles of snow on the ground.
Sonaa was in doggy heaven as she rolled around to her heart's content.
On our evening perambulation, Sonna met a new friend, same breed, same colour, different gender.
Can you pick out the Sonaa Dog?
It was a cold winter but we piled on the covers and quilts so were snug and warm under a mound of blankets. Only our heads poked out and I wore my toque for good measure.
June 14
Surprise, we woke up to a winter landscape with snow coming down hard. To coax Emma out of bed I made coffee then opened up the front screen so Sonaa could have her morning "dog TV"
After breakfast, Sonaa likes to hop into the passenger seat and look out the window to see what the backyard of the day looks like. It is a morning ritual that we call "dog TV".
Unfortunately, no dog TV to start this day as the windshield was solid white. Sonaa curled up on the floor looking disappointed as only Goldens can.
This was not the picture we were holding in our minds of a visit to Crater Lake. Still the winter landscape had its own majestic beauty.
Crater Lake Visitor Center
We motored back up to the top of Crater Lake and walked along the rim trail. Well, I walked along the rim trail. Emma contented herself with a quick look then scurried back into the warm RV.
Crater Lake with snow and fog
I was captivated by the silent grandeur of the cold stark landscape that changed constantly as the fog and snow expanded and collapsed the scene in front of me.
I was reminded of Wallace Stevens poem, The Snow Man.
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
I had this gorgeous winter landscape entirely to myself as those people who were around were not venturing outdoors.
Hands freezing, I hustled back to the RV and we headed down from the rim in pursuit of warmer sunnier climes
Half way down the mountain, we hiked beside the Rogue River Gorge. The weather was much improved at this lower altitude.
Despite being chopped down this stump is still alive as it is connected by its shared root system to the surrounding trees.
Rogue River Gorge
Each turn of the Rogue River Gorge offered new and interesting views of the dynamic power of the water cascading down the mountainside.
Emma and Sonaa exploring the Rogue River Gorge
As expected with all scenic drives, it took some time to negotiate our way down the mountainside and back into the valley. Our second stop along the descending Rogue River was at Gold Canyon.
The Rogue River was wider and slower here and the conifers had given way to more deciduous trees.
Rogue River at Gold Canyon
After several serpentine miles descending along side the Rogue River, Emma and Sonaa were good to go and charged off along the Gold Canyon trail.
Arbutus Tree
Rogue River at Gold Canyon
In the afternoon, we reconnected with the I-5 and headed for the warmer weather of California.
We always look forward to stopping at the first rest stop inside northern California, With the Klamath River running down one side, the Randolf Collier rest area is spacious and scenic. It also attracts a lot of birds.
We have had surprising birding success here and this time was no different. In short order, we spotted a couple of lifers; 16)* Lewis's Woodpecker and 18) * Nuttal's Woodpecker.
Lewis's Woodpecker was kind enough to pose
Both birds interested me. The Lewis's Woodpecker was first described by Lewis Meriwether while on his journey of discovery to the Pacific. The Nuttal's Woodpecker is restricted to California and looks like a large Downy Woodpecker with a bill like a Hairy Woodpecker and a back like a Ladder-back Woodpecker.
22) Ring-billed Gull
Mount Shasta
On a roll, we continued to Mount Shasta. It doesn't truly feel like California to us until we see this mountain. We ended the day at the Wonderland RV Park near Redding.
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