… At The End Of The Road

Exploring sometimes pays off.  A friend told me of a boon docking site near the McKenzie River.  I stayed there for a night, then took my car for a walk up the forest service road by that site.  I found a jewel.

The road in is narrow and steep and, at times, tucked under tree branches.

At the end of the road, I found a clearing that fits Enterprise quite nicely.

The view is remarkable.  Last week I did my best to show the central Cascades to Alice and Andy.  Well, all within 50 yards of Enterprise I bring you:

Mount Jefferson and Three Finger Jack, to the north

Mount Washington to the northeast

and The Three Sisters to the east

For the botanists out there, can anyone tell me what this is?  These 3" diameter lacy flowers are scattered around at the base of the pines, all around my site.

Finally, the rhodies are blooming.  These rhododendron line the road in places up here.

Sweet site…

Blending Blue and Green

The McKenzie River flows past lava fields, dropping over waterfalls and forming the rainbows of my last post.  As it continues downstream, it sinks into the lava, eventually disappearing from the surface for a while, re-emerging in a stunning jewel called Blue Pool.

This very deep, very clear pool rises from the rock and reforms itself into a surface river.

Once on the surface again, it resumes its mad dash west toward the Willamette.

Rainbows

The McKenzie River rises high in the Cascades between Eugene and Bend.It runs south, then west to the Willamette.  On the southbound leg, it reaches a lava flow from Belknap Crater.  The lava flow forces the river into a series of precipitous drops including Sahalie Falls and Koosah Falls.

In past years I have photographed this area from the east side of the river.  I decided it was time to check out the other side.  I knew it would be a challenge to photograph.  The sun was strong on the white water, while the forest, wet and cooled by the spray and spring rains was in deep shadow.

The upper falls is Sahalie.  The river splits in two, then drops about 70 feet into the gorge.

I was delighted to find that, with the sun at my back, the mist formed a rainbow.

About a mile to the south, the second major falls is Koosah.

There was a rainbow here too - no, make that a double rainbow.

Well worth a two mile hike...

Green!

Six months in arid lands, and now I am once again home in Oregon.  At the moment, I am at the Delta campground, staying under old growth forest between the South Fork of the McKenzie River and the McKenzie River.  It has been raining for two days, and it will be another two days before the rain stops.  That's ok.

When photographers use darkroom techniques to intensify colors, either digitally or chemically, that is called saturation.  In this case, nature has saturated this area, and the intensity of the green is incredible.

First, right outside my door, ferns three feet tall border moss-covered wood.

Heading off on a short hike, I was impressed by the five foot diameter trees that are quite common here.

Streams are filtered by the forest, so the water runs clear.  Back east, after this much rain, most streams would be brown.

The trail continues, passing ferns and moss-draped giants.

So - which trail would YOU take?

I followed the nice, flat, wide trail on the right, but looking at the top surface of the fallen tree where the moss that should be there is not, I am sure that a lot of kids choose the long, cylindrical wooden platform provided by nature.

High Sierras, bye, Sierras

The eastern face of the high Sierras is topped by Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states.  Lesser peaks to the east keep the campground in shadow while the sun paints the higher peaks of Whitney and its surrounding massif.

Even at midday, the views of Mount Whitney from the Lone Pine Trail are breathtaking (or maybe that was a combination of steep slope and altitude?).

I was very fortunate to have a storm engulf Mount Whitney in the afternoon sun, while I was at a point where I could see and try to capture the magic of that moment.

Yeah, that's a keeper…

So now I am in the Cascades, approaching home, relaxing just south of Mount Shasta.  I don't expect to see the Sierras for another year.

I'm Goin' To Alabama...

…Hills, that is.  No banjo on my knee.

The Alabama Hills are a rocky formation in the high desert at the foot of Mount Whitney.  This is where I headed from the Sequoias.  They are about 30 miles to the west, and a 5 hour drive away.  The Alabama Hills have been used in a lot of movies.  Remember that opening shot of the Lone Ranger - black and white TV, "HiYo Silver, Awayyyy,"?  That was here.  Kirk and Picard dealing with the guy trying to redirect the nexus was here, as were some Iron Man scenes, lots of John Wayne stuff, Gunga Din, and so on.

The rocks are formed by weathering of a mix of hard and soft granites.

The result yields some interesting shapes.

One very well-known, oft-photographed spot is the Mobius Arch.

The desert is not just rock, however.  There are flowers here, especially in the spring.

But… time to move on.

A Sierras visit

Once in a while, I get to visit with folks from before I began full time RV living.  My most recent such was set in the Sierras, on the west side, at Sequoia National Park.

Home of the largest living things on this planet, the scale of a sequoia is hard to grasp.  Bree and David just look up, toward the top more than 300 feet above them.

We did some hiking,

but mostly just visited.

After they headed home, I did some more hiking.  These peaks rise above the Kaweah valley, across from Moro Rock.

A visit from loved ones is a joy, but saying goodbye is soo hard…