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Time for a Road Trip
- Thread starter OBW0549
- Start date
I'm holed up for the night in beautiful downtown Medford, Oregon.
The drive up was uneventful. The first part, getting out of Silicon Valley, had to be endured: tremendous traffic, crazy commuter drivers, clogged roads, etc. From Sunnyvale all the way to the I-505 bypass around Sacramento (≈ 100 mi.) was pretty high-stress driving.
Then followed 150 miles of driving I-5 up California's central valley-- flat as a pancake, with little or nothing to see but mile after mile of fruit/nut tree orchards.
At Redding, the valley abruptly ends and is replaced by mountains. Not big mountains like the Sierras or the Rockies, but pretty substantial hills with tall peaks visible in the distance. I wanted to get some pictures of Mount Shasta (dormant volcano in northern California) but it was shrouded in clouds and impossible to see.
This pic is of me, taken this afternoon at a rest stop at one end of Shasta Lake:
The drive up was uneventful. The first part, getting out of Silicon Valley, had to be endured: tremendous traffic, crazy commuter drivers, clogged roads, etc. From Sunnyvale all the way to the I-505 bypass around Sacramento (≈ 100 mi.) was pretty high-stress driving.
Then followed 150 miles of driving I-5 up California's central valley-- flat as a pancake, with little or nothing to see but mile after mile of fruit/nut tree orchards.
At Redding, the valley abruptly ends and is replaced by mountains. Not big mountains like the Sierras or the Rockies, but pretty substantial hills with tall peaks visible in the distance. I wanted to get some pictures of Mount Shasta (dormant volcano in northern California) but it was shrouded in clouds and impossible to see.
This pic is of me, taken this afternoon at a rest stop at one end of Shasta Lake:
Should be nice weather tomorrow. If you have time take a short trip up to Crown Point. The view is great.
https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=108
https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=108
I think I'll do that; it's right along the way, and I have time. Thanks for the suggestion!
I will be going right by here on July 3.
Other than the lodge at Multnomah Falls , is there some place to eat before I hit Cascade Locks?
Are there signs along the road that indicate the various senic places that are off the road?
It's well marked.
I don't think there is inside the official Scenic area. The Corbett Country Market on the old highway is the last place that I know about out from Portland until Cascade Locks outside of the Falls.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...b682224cf2919!8m2!3d45.5323892!4d-122.2850587
Maybe you can get a takeout box from a place like https://www.mcmenamins.com/edgefield if you want a fancy meal on the trail.
Excitement last night at my hotel in Medford: I was just about to jump in the shower when there was a loud BANG! and a flash outside my window, and the lights went out. No electricity all night, and no shower. Ugh.
The drive up from Medford was uneventful though taxing-- lots of hills with ups and downs and winding road. Portland traffic was nightmarish (Obie don't do cities well) but at least once I got on I-84 headed East out of the city the traffic thinned out pretty quickly.
I took @nsaspook 's advice and checked out Crown Point overlooking the Columbia River Gorge-- the view was absolutely magnificent!
Looking East, upriver:
And looking West, downriver back toward Portland:
Crown Point is a volcanic lava outcropping along scenic Old US Highway 30, and is topped by a structure built in 1912 known as the Vista House:
Here's yours truly, taken by some young lady from somewhere in the Middle East who was taking pictures for people:
(I don't know what she said, but I remember it was outrageously funny)
And finally, one of the many waterfalls along US Route 30:
Right now I'm in my hotel in The Dalles. Time to shave, shower and sleep.
The drive up from Medford was uneventful though taxing-- lots of hills with ups and downs and winding road. Portland traffic was nightmarish (Obie don't do cities well) but at least once I got on I-84 headed East out of the city the traffic thinned out pretty quickly.
I took @nsaspook 's advice and checked out Crown Point overlooking the Columbia River Gorge-- the view was absolutely magnificent!
Looking East, upriver:
And looking West, downriver back toward Portland:
Crown Point is a volcanic lava outcropping along scenic Old US Highway 30, and is topped by a structure built in 1912 known as the Vista House:
Here's yours truly, taken by some young lady from somewhere in the Middle East who was taking pictures for people:
(I don't know what she said, but I remember it was outrageously funny)
And finally, one of the many waterfalls along US Route 30:
Right now I'm in my hotel in The Dalles. Time to shave, shower and sleep.
Good morning. Time to rise and shine, get some breakfast and hit the road again. Today's destination: Boise, Idaho.
One very striking thing I've noticed on my trek up the Columbia River Gorge is the extent to which volcanism has created the landscape: everywhere I've looked, there's lava-- sometimes hundreds or even thousands of feet thick. Crown Point itself is at the top of a lava flow (or several flows) extending down all the way to the river bed some 700 feet below, according to this paper. The waterfall pictured above was falling over a ≈ 200 foot cliff apparently (because of its uniformity from top to bottom) built by a lava flow from a single volcanic eruption.
NB: I'm an amateur geology nerd who knows almost nothing but is fascinated by almost everything. I wish I knew more, and could have someone explain to me every interesting thing I see the instant I see it. To me, geologists are like cops: there's never one around when you need one.
Time to hit the road!
One very striking thing I've noticed on my trek up the Columbia River Gorge is the extent to which volcanism has created the landscape: everywhere I've looked, there's lava-- sometimes hundreds or even thousands of feet thick. Crown Point itself is at the top of a lava flow (or several flows) extending down all the way to the river bed some 700 feet below, according to this paper. The waterfall pictured above was falling over a ≈ 200 foot cliff apparently (because of its uniformity from top to bottom) built by a lava flow from a single volcanic eruption.
NB: I'm an amateur geology nerd who knows almost nothing but is fascinated by almost everything. I wish I knew more, and could have someone explain to me every interesting thing I see the instant I see it. To me, geologists are like cops: there's never one around when you need one.
Time to hit the road!
Nice! ... if you love that sort of stuff, you'd go head over heels about Copper Canyon.
'Tis true, I'm now on the way back home. I'm taking it a lot easier than the trip out to California-- 5 days to drive out there and 9 to drive back-- so I'm only driving 5-7 hours a day instead of 8-11, leaving plenty of time for diversions and rubbernecking.
Right now (and this could change depending on what I encounter along the way) my plans are to overnight in Cleveland the night of Tuesday, June 4th so we could get together then if you'd like. I'm also hoping to get together with @wayneh; I'd be passing through his neck of the woods that morning, so maybe he and I could catch breakfast.
Again, all this is subject to change depending on circumstances; but I'll keep you all posted.
Ooooooh!!! Obie like!!!
Another place I really liked was Dead Horse Point in Utah. It's sort of a "mini Grand Canyon", not as overwhelming as the Grand Canyon itself.
Should be doable. It'll be Taco Tuesday, which may not relevant for breakfast.
On the way back from my future Yellowstone trip we are taking the train (Empire Builder) back from Spokane. It leaves at about 3AM so you get to see the Columbia River in the morning light from
I usually have a breakfast burrito.
That doesn't mean the restaurants here will be open at breakfast time! My favorite opens at 10AM, so maybe.
