Oregon, days one to four
Day One: Victoria to Portland
We took the Coho ferry from Victoria’s downtown to Port Angeles, Washington, then drove straight to Portland, Oregon, with only a brief break to stretch.
We were trying to reach Green Bean Books in Portland before it closed. This is a tiny but cute bookstore on Alberta Street that Shannon had seen online.
It turned out that Alberta Street was pedestrian-only that day in order to host an immense annual street fair. At the outer edge, people played bicycle polo. Everyone had Portland-style beards. They must have been handing them out.
We arrived in the last hour of the fair and, although we made it to Green Beans, we could not reach the end of the tents selling treats and crafts, such as metal dogs made out of welded lunchboxes.
Even without the fair, Alberta Street had enough tempting sights to explore for weeks.
For dinner, we picked a school bus that had been ornately decorated and converted into a grilled cheese cafe.
Dessert was at Salt and Straw, an ice cream parlour with recipes that included balsamic vinegar (not bad) and bone marrow (I will never know).
Day Two: Portland to Tumalo
In the morning, we explored Powell’s Books, which is as marvellous as everyone says, and the downtown library, which is heart-breakingly beautiful.
The children’s section at the Multnomah County Central Library has a sculpture of a tree, layered with creatures, planets, and other details.
We continued to explore downtown Portland, finding statues of animals streetside.
Maneuvering around yet another festival, we found our way to the Saturday Market, which despite its name, is open all weekend. We stocked up on Oregon cider and fudge.
For lunch, we went to Cartopia, the original Portland food pod (a collection of independent food carts in a lot). Shannon and I shared handsized pies: beef brisket and apple. Anna ordered a chocolate crepe from a different cart. There were also special drinks from still other carts: a watermelon basil punch, cucumber soda, licorice cola.
We left Portland and continued on the road trip, which would take us west along the Columbia River to Multnomah Falls, a site so popular there’s a freeway exit just for its parking lot, then south past Mount Hood, through the high desert, to the riverside Tumalo State Park, where we would camp.
An advisory sign warned us that Multnomah Falls was so busy today they had closed the freeway exit. We switched to the scenic historic highway that parallels the freeway and waited 20 minutes for a parking spot on the dirt shoulder, lucky to find that.
Before we turned away from the Columbia River, we stopped at the Bonneville Hatchery, home to Herman the Sturgeon.
We then headed south through Mount Hood National Forest.
It was a scorching day. Our car struggled with the heat and elevation gain, eventually shuddering to a stop on the roadside and refusing to start again. We had no phone signal and many worries.
Fortunately, a few minutes rest was enough to get the car going again. For the rest of the trip, every engine shudder would lead to clenched fists on the steering wheel, especially when, later, there was no roadside for stopping at all.
Leaving the forest, we headed into the high desert and, as the sun began to set, searched out a viewpoint we knew about over Cove Palisades Park, a lake in a desert canyon.
Time for a big picture.
The last stop before the camp site was a highway rest area called Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint. A sign warns of a 300 foot cliff, concluding “put your dog back in the vehicle.”
Three bridges cross the canyon here: a railway, the new highway, and the old highway, which is now a pedestrian walkway, which is how I took the shot above.
We were driving in the dark at this point, and a windstorm kicked up. Twigs pattered the car, and at one point I slammed on the brakes to avoid what proved to be a tumbleweed rolling across the road. Lightning flashed and the rain became heavy. Shannon suggested sleeping in the car rather than pitching the tent, but I had a secret. There was no need to pitch a tent.
Our camp site was a yurt.
Day Three: Tumalo to Crater Lake
Tumalo State Park borders a fast but shallow river, so we rose early for a wade and an exploration. The other side of the river is a cliff wall that caught the morning sun.
At one shallow bend in the river, someone had built a sheltered pool for babies, protected by a temporary wall of stones. You could tell from all the forgotten flip-flops that the park gets busy, but first thing in the morning, we had it to ourselves.
We ate breakfast at the McKay Cottage in Bend, which served french toast made from croissants and stuffed with mascarpone. Not content with a single bakery, we also sought out The Sparrow, famous locally for its cardamom and vanilla Ocean Rolls.
We also bought lettuce, which we forgot to eat at almost every opportunity (it came back to B.C. with us).
South of the town of Bend, we stopped at the Lava River Cave. It’s a single vast lava tube that extends for over an hour’s walk underground. At the entrance, it’s a jumble of rock that you cross on a metal walkway, but soon the floor becomes wide and sandy.
After the cave, it was onward to Crater Lake.
Crater Lake is a caldera formed by the collapse of a volcano 7,700 years ago. The lake water comes entirely from rain and snow; there are no rivers feeding it. A narrow road circles the rim.
The lake is 1883 metres above sea level, and there is often snow on the Rim Road into June. Indeed, there were a few pieces of snow along the lake edge when we visited in August.
There is a cinder cone in the lake called Wizard Island.
The only other island is a fin of rock called The Phantom Ship.
One of the sites I had been looking forward to seeing at Crater Lake were the Pinnacles, old volcanic chimneys called fumaroles, but it turns out the road was closed for repairs on the two days we would be here.
We set up camp in Mazama on the edge of the park. This is the only campground I’ve visited where you are welcome to gather and burn fallen wood. Mostly, Anna jumped on it instead.
We went to the Crater Lake Lodge for a fine dinner of elk chops overlooking the lake; however, we found the lodge in confusion because of a power outage. Most staff were handling things gracefully, but the hostess had totally snapped her circuits and was repeating “I’m not doing anything until I talk to my supervisor! I’m not doing anything until I talk to my supervisor!” no matter what anyone said to her.
The kitchen managed to conjure up warm bread, soups, salads, and ice cream. They had run out of clean wine glasses, so they filled Shannon a stein of sauvignon blanc.
Day Four: Crater Lake to Reedsport
There is only one trail down to the lake in the whole park. From the water’s edge, you can take a boat cruise around the lake to see it from a new perspective.
We had read that the trail down to the lake takes about 45 minutes, and we left for the trailhead with a bit of extra time — and got stuck in roadwork. The delay ate up our cushion of time and then chomped away more. We arrived late at the trailhead and hustled down the steep switchbacks.
Fortunately, the trail took closer to 30 minutes going down.
Our boat captain led us around the lake just ahead of the rain. We had been hearing rumbles all morning, and the ranger had warned us that the trip would end immediately if there were lightning. We finished, but all the remaining cruises that day were cancelled.
As we headed toward the dock and the storm closed in, the captain spotted two men on shore, well away from the only trail. It’s dangerous and illegal to hike down to the caldera off-trail, and there’s a complicated procedure the boats have to follow if they encounter hikers, which involves calling and waiting for law enforcement. However, the men claimed to have swum to this point, which let our boat off the hook. The men accepted assistance when asked, and the captain called in a rescue skiff.
As we began the tough climb back to the caldera’s rim, the storm hit. There was lightning across the lake, shuddering thunder, rain, and then … stinging hail. We sheltered under hoods, trees, backpacks, and water bottles. We’d seen families with toddlers heading down to the lake before the storm. I hope they found good shelter.
A miniature debris torrent of ice and mud rolled down the trail, carving a stream.
We were relieved to reach the Rim Road. Rather than drive along a cliff edge with no visibility and ice balls on the roads, we decided to hunker in the car for a while.
When the rain lifted, we left Crater Lake and headed west along the Umpqua River. This is a beautiful drive, full of river views, dramatic rock faces, forests, and waterfalls. We pulled over at random for a rest break and found Clearwater Falls. We were the only ones there.
A little further on, we follow a trail to Toketee Falls. At the trailhead, there’s a enormous pipe, part of a hydroelectric project, with tiny leaks that jet high-pressure water. I came *this* close to driving into a spray with my window open.
The path to the falls reveals rapids and churns.
The trail ends in an elevated boardwalk that wraps around a tree, the viewpoint for the falls.
We return to urban life with some Mexican food, fresh tortillas, and jarritos at a super-friendly spot in Roseburg, then end the day at a Best Western in Reedsport, not too far from the coast.
I web our hotel room with clotheslines to dry storm-damp clothes while Shannon and Anna hit the pool.
So that’s the first four days, putting us halfway through the trip. The second half follows the coast.
Should you need them, I’ve collected the photos from this story in a high-resolution Flickr album and slideshow.
Thanks for reading!
