Amy's Rear View Mirror

Idaho, Washington, Oregon & Utah

July August & September 2004

I drove from Jackson west across US-26 to Idaho Falls where I got on I-15 south to Malad City ID. Just before the 4th of July weekend I visited some friends in Idaho. Part of the weekend festivities was a Bed Race. Contestants race beds through town competing for prizes. Usually there are four runners pushing the beds and one driver steering it. Entries have four wheels touching the ground; all beds include a mattress and steering mechanism and meet size specifications. Team members often are dressed in keeping with the theme of their particular entry.

I left Idaho taking back roads down to Snowville UT to get on I-84 west into Washington, then I-82 north by Yakima, then I-90 west into the Seattle WA area.

Mount Rainier National Park encompasses 235,625 acres, ranging in elevation from 1,610 to 14,410 ft above sea level. The 'mountain' is an active volcano encased in over 35 square miles of snow and ice, surrounded by old growth forest and stunning wildflower meadows. Active steam vents, periodic earth tremors, and historical eruptions provide evidence that Mount Rainier is sleeping, not dead. There are seismic monitoring stations around the mountain. The huge amount of precipitation, 87 - 126 inches per year, shapes everything from the 26 glaciers that cap the mountain to the old-growth forest.

The 4-hour adventure to Tillicum Village on Blake Island begins at Pier 55 on Seattle's waterfront with a one-hour cruise to the island. When you arrive at Tillicum Village, you make your way up to the longhouse along the pathway strewn with clam shells bleached by the sun. Before you enter the longhouse, you are offered an appetizer of clams and nectar. Inside the longhouse you can watch the whole Chinook salmon cook over an alder-wood fire on cedar stakes in the traditional Northwest Coast Indian style.The meal is served buffet-style which includes Traditional Indian-style Baked Salmon, Warm Tillicum Whole Grain Bread, New Red Potatoes, Long-Grain Wild Rice, Fresh Salad Bar, Boehm's Chocolate Salmon, Coffee, Tea, and Lemonade. As you finish the meal, the lights dim in the dining room for the performance featuring the Tillicum Village dancers. The 30-minute show explains the customs, beliefs and dances of the Northwest Coast Indians. After the show, there is approximately 30 minutes of free time to watch carving demonstrations, browse through the gift gallery featuring artwork of local artisans, or walk the forest trails before boarding the boat back to Seattle.

I left the Seattle area and headed down I-5 taking WA-16, WA-3 and WA-104 around Puget Sound over to Port Angeles.

The Olympic Peninsula has been the home of eight Native American tribes. Their food came from the sea and rivers as well as berries, roots and land animals. Cedar was their most important material used for house planks, canoes, clothing, baskets, towels and diapers. Olympic National Park has glacier capped mountains, wild Pacific coast and old-growth forests including temperate rain forests. 95% of the park is designated wilderness which helps to protect the ecosystems. Olympic is also known for its diversity of plants. Isolated for eons by glacial ice, and later the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympic Peninsula has developed its own distinct plants and animals. Eight kinds of plants and 15 kinds of animals are found on the peninsula, but no where else on Earth. The Hoh Rainforest has an annual rate of precipitation over 150 inches making it the home to vegetation including western red cedars, douglas firs, sitka spruce, and bigleaf maples. Ferns, mosses and lichens cover the trees, the ground, and any other stable surface with a thick, almost fantasy-like growth that looks like it belongs in a fairy tale. It is also possible to spot deer and elk along the trails.

I left Port Angeles and headed down the 101 towards Olympia, taking WA-8 to US-12 back to US-101 south to Seaside Oregon.

The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular river canyon cutting the only sea-level route through the Cascade Mountain Range. It's 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep with the north canyon walls in Washington State and the south canyon walls in Oregon State. Most of the waterfalls can be found on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge because landslides modify the steepness on the Washington side. The entire region's bedrock material is tilted slightly southward. When it is water saturated, the upper basaltic layers on the north side of the river slide into the Gorge. The river and trails through the gorge supported a trade network of the Native Americans in the area. When the Oregon Trail brought settlers to the area, they built portages, canals and locks to move people and goods through the rapids and cascades. Later they built railroads and eventually roads, all the while balancing trade needs with the beauty of the area. Today the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Highway is being restored. You can still drive segments of the highway, others you have to bicycle or walk.

I took US-26 from Seaside to Portland, then I-5 south to Junction City OR. While I was getting warranty work done on the motorhome I had a chance to see the local area. Most larger towns in OR have Saturday Markets where you can shop for local crafts and farm fresh foods, and listen to live music. I went to Eugene's Saturday Market with Nita. We picked up all sorts of fruit and veggies for ourselves. We also got a few things for supper tonight to celebrate Bonnie & Charlie getting a new rig.

The state of Oregon has somewhere around 50 covered bridges still standing. Lane County is the home of 20 of them with 16 bridges listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Cottage Grove is known for its six covered bridges that have helped earn it the title of "Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon" with building dates from 1925 to 1987. There is a Covered Bridge Loop Drive which goes around Dorena Lake crossing the Row River and can be completed in a few hours. All these bridges are Howe Truss design and most are closed to vehicles and several are open to foot traffic.

When the warranty work was completed and I could leave town, I took OR-126 west to Florence. I had some great clam chowder at Mo's.

I spent an afternoon at the Sea Lion Caves. It was an interesting drive up US-101. The road is heavily wooded most of the way with just a small area where the road got close enough to the coast to see the ocean. First I walked to the overlook where you could see the seals swimming in the ocean and laying on the rocks. There were probably 50 or so out there. Then I walked to the other side where I took the elevator down 208 feet into the cave. The cave has several shafts and tunnels. The elevator goes down one of the shafts, then you walk through a tunnel where there are various sea lion displays. At the far left of the tunnel room they've erected a fence to stop you from going farther. But you can get right up to the fence to see the sea lions playing in the cave. There must have been another 50 or so sea lions in the cave. At the far end of the tunnel room is a lookout to the Heceta Head Lighthouse. When I returned to ground level there's a whale watching platform; however, I didn't see any whales. Apparently this is the largest sea cave in the world. The sea lions use it for breeding.

Wind-sculpted sand dunes towering to 500 feet above sea level provide plenty of recreational fun including off-roading, hiking, photography, fishing, canoeing, horseback riding and camping. There are thick tree islands, open dunes, marsh-like plains and beaches. From Florence to Coos Bay, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area extends for 40 miles along the Oregon Coast. Formed by the ancient forces of wind, water and time, these dunes are like no others in the world. This is the largest expanse of costal sand dunes in North America. There are three main off-roading areas ... whether by sand rail, motorcycle, 4x4, quad or guided trip, it was lots of fun.

From Florence I took OR-126 back east to I-5 where I went south to Sutherlin OR.

I took a 220 mile drive on OR-138 from Roseburg through Diamond Lake to Crater Lake National Park and back. The lake is unbelievable!!!! I've never seen water so blue. I drove the rim road which is only open during the summer months. In the winter, the park averages 533 inches of snow each year. The lake rests in remnants of a volcano called Mt Mazama which erupted and collapsed into itself 7700 years ago. The lake is 5 miles wide and ringed with cliffs almost 2000 ft tall.

Local Native Americans witnessed the collapse of Mount Mazama and kept this history alive in their legends. One ancient legend of the Klamath people closely parallels the geologic story from today's scientific research. The legend tells of two Chiefs, Llao of the Below World and Skell of the Above World, pitted in a battle which ended up in the destruction of Llao's home, Mt. Mazama. The battle was witnessed in the eruption of Mt. Mazama and the creation of Crater Lake.

The Klamaths honored the lake and the surrounding area, keeping it undiscovered by white explorers until 1853. That year three gold prospectors, John Wesley Hillman, Henry Klippel, and Isaac Skeeters, came upon a long, sloping mountain and at its highest point they could see the lake. They reportedly named it Deep Blue Lake, but gold was more important to them at the time and they soon forgot the lake. Captain Clarence Dutton was the next man to make a discovery at Crater Lake being the first to determine it's depths. From the stern of a boat he used a piece of pipe on the end of a spool of piano wire to sound the depth of the lake at 168 different points with the deepest being 1,996 feet. This was amazingly close to the sonar readings made in 1959 that officially established the lake's deepest point at 1,932 feet. William Gladstone Steel devoted his life and fortune to the establishment and management of Crater Lake National Park which was awarded on May 22, 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill giving Crater Lake national park status.

OR-138 is part of the Oregon Rogue Umpqua Scenic Byway. It follows the North Umpqua River and is known for its waterfalls. On the drive back I stopped and hiked to 4 of the 5 waterfalls. That was a total of about 3 miles hiking. I didn't hike to the last waterfall because it would have been another 2 miles and my mashed toe was already screaming at me for all the walking I did up to that point.

What is Umpqua? There's no one explanation, but here are a few I came across. Oregon pioneers thought Umpqua meant 'ferry me across' or 'across the waters'. When they needed a lift, they would shout Umpqua! Umpqua! to the Indians. Some historians believe the word means 'rushing waters' or 'thunder water' which refers to the region's waterfalls and whitewater. Others think that since Native Americans found such a lush land filled with game and water, that Umpqua is Indian for 'full tummy' or 'I am satisfied.'

Oregon Caves National Monument is small in size, about 488 acres is located in the heavily wooded Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon. Above ground, the monument encompasses an old-growth coniferous forest with four hiking trails and a historic lodge. Below ground is 3.5 miles of active marble caverns and an ice-cold stream created by natural forces over millions of years. The cavern tour covers a 1/2 mile section of the caverns that make up Oregon Caves. I've toured many caves in the eastern US, but this one is worth seeing too. It's one of the few, if not the only, marble cave system. Most cave systems in the US are limestone.

I drove north on I-5 to Eugene where I took OR-58 east to US-97 north to get to Bend/Sunriver OR.

The High Desert Museum brings to life the history of the people, plants, and animals of the arid Intermountain West, also known as the High Desert. It includes 28,000 sq ft of exhibits in the main building, while paved outdoor trails wind through acres of life size dioramas and live animal habitats. There are also live animal interpretations and living history demonstrations daily.

In November of 1990, Newberry National Volcanic Monument was created within the boundaries of Deschutes National Forest. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, this monument provides a unique opportunity to view the Lava Lands of central Oregon. I went to Lava Lands Visitor Center which has displays of central Oregon's geology, history, archeology, and wildlife. The ranger talk was very interesting. She explained the history of this area, the geology and the local Native Americans. I walked the Molten Trail through the lava bed. The volcano last erupted about 7000 yrs ago leaving a 9 mile lava flow, where not much is growing even today.  Then I drove to the top of Lava Butte which is the cinder cone of the volcano. It's 500 ft above the visitor center with a 360 degree view. I got to see the crater itself and walk the rim. There's a lookout tower up there too. It was an interesting afternoon.

I drove up to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to see The Museum as Warm Springs. Boy is that some pretty land. The museum there is wonderful! No wonder they've won awards for it. Definitely worth the drive. The 25,000 sq ft museum is located along the Shitike Creek with the building resembling a traditional encampment.

The 3 tribes - Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiutes -  had all the land from the Columbia River around The Dalles all the way down across the mountains to central Oregon. In the mid 1850's under the treaty, the Warm Springs and Wasco tribes relinquished approximately ten million acres of land, but reserved the Warm Springs Reservation for their exclusive use. The tribes also kept their rights to harvest fish, game and other foods off the reservation in their usual and accustomed places. Salmon wasn't as plentiful as it had been on the Columbia, and the harsher climate and poor soil conditions made farming more difficult. They quickly found that their former economic system was no longer workable so they abandoned many of their customary ways in favor of modern schools, sawmills, and other infrastructure foreign to the tribes. The settlement of the Paiutes on the Warm Springs Reservation began about 20 years later when 38 Paiutes moved to Warm Springs from the Yakama Reservation. They wanted to move back to the lands where they had come from. Eventually more of them came, and they became a permanent part of the Warm Springs Reservation. The treaty has always been intact. Their land wasn't slowly stripped from them until there was practically nothing left. The reservation has the same boundaries today as it did 150 years ago. It wasn't until the 1940's or so that they started into the lumber industry. They log their land and have a few other lumber related businesses to support the tribe along with the casino and resort. Despite the great loss of traditional culture that occurred as a result of settlement on the reservation, the people of the Warm Springs Reservation have succeeded in holding on to many of their ancient traditions and values. The longhouses still ring with prayer songs that have been handed down for generations. Traditional feasts are still held each year. Indian languages are still spoken, and the old legends of Coyote and the other Animal People are still told.

The Cascade Mountains and Deschutes National Forest provide the backdrop for the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway and offer hiking, rock climbing, fishing, rafting, camping, biking and other outdoor sports. This area is also a winter playground with Mt. Bachelor's ski resort. As you drive by approximately 11 lakes, it is easy to see why this tour route was named after the Cascade Lakes. Many early explorers and trappers such as Kit Carson, John C. Fremont and Nathaniel J. Wyeth traveled this area. The original horse trails and wagon roads were first replaced by a main wagon road from Bend to Sparks Lake in 1920. Segments of other roads were joined to this wagon road creating the route that became known as Century Drive because it was 100 miles long. Today after road improvements the route is about 85 miles long.

I left Sunriver taking US-97 north to US-26 and drove through the Warm Springs Reservation and Mt Hood National Forest. I got on I-84 near Gresham and went west to Portland where I stayed across from the river for several days. Then I headed north on I-5 to Bow, WA.

I took a 230 mile round-trip to see North Cascades National Park. I first drove through Sedro-Woolley's antique row, past many apple orchards with farm stands then OR-20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, follows the Skagit River through the park. The river is emerald green since the water is glacier run-off. It was a little un-nerving driving through the park seeing large gouges in the roadway from rock slides off the mountains around you.

There are 3 parks that make up the North Cascades ecosystem ... North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. North Cascades northern boundary meets Canada's Skagit Valley Provincial Park and EC Manning Provincial Park. Native Americans used the land seasonally by hunting salmon, gathering berries, collecting mountain goat hair or harvesting chert. They traded these items over a wide area. There are over 260 archeological sites in the parks, but only 1 site is open to the public. These parks make up over 10 million acres of land and is the largest US protected parklands outside of Alaska.

The Skagit River is the largest river in western Washington, dumping 20% of the water that pours into Puget Sound. It's the 3rd largest river in the northwest and is home to all 5 species of salmon (sockeye, pink also called humpies, coho also called silvers, chum, and chinook also called king) and 2 species of trout (steelhead and cutthroat). Because of the abundance of salmon, the Skagit River Valley is the home to one of the largest wintering Bald Eagle populations with a Bald Eagle Festival held in February.

When I left Westport, I took WS-105 back around the harbor to US-12 east to I-5 south where I went on I-84 east to Snowville UT. Then I took the back roads up to Malad City ID.

I went back to my friend's house in Idaho where we visited the Oregon/California Trail Center and took a ride through Logan Canyon. At the Oregon/California Trail Center you can relive part of the epic journey of the Oregon Trail. Located on the very spot known as Clover Creek Encampment, the center dramatically recreates the trip from Missouri to Clover Creek. After paying the tour fee, you are escorted to the Allinger Community Theater to view a video and meet up with the wagon master. The journey begins in the outfitting area, and then enters a wagon, stopping to hear tales of the trail. Then the wagon master guides you through dioramas of a gun shop, mercantile and encampment to hear and see what life was like in the mid-1800s.

since the days of resident mountain man and trapper Jim Bridger is a smooth two-lane highway, 41 miles long --which makes exploring a lot easier. This byway is America's newest National Scenic Byway awarded in June of 2002. The route explores the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and runs along the Logan River past campgrounds, picnic areas, fishing spots and trailheads. At the mouth the canyon is 4700 feet and the byway is a steady climb to the summit resulting in a sweeping view of the water of 20 mile long Bear Lake. After about 20 miles the highway leaves the canyon and climbs past Beaver Mountain Ski Area to Bear Lake Summit at 7,800 feet. At the summit are great views out over the large, turquoise Bear Lake. From the summit the road winds down through sharp switchbacks.

I then drove south on I-5 to southern UT where I visited with another friend for a few days while the strong winds of Storm Javier passed through town. I took UT-9 east to UT-59 east which turns into AZ-389 east through the Kaibab Indian Reservation. Then US-89A south past the Vermillion Cliffs and through North Kaibab National Forest to US-89 south to Flagstaff where I took I-17 to Cottonwood AZ. When I got down to Cottonwood AZ the Verde River was flooded causing the campground to evacuate for a night as a precaution for the campground flooding. The river crested at 3 AM and we were allowed to pull into our site the next morning.

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