The Southern Cascades

The mist swirled around as we drove into Mt St Helen's. We laughed when we stopped at a pull out and all we could see was mist then while we sat having a cup of tea a gentle breeze began to lift the clouds and we got a fleeting view of the valley below before the cloud covered it up again.

Windy ridge Road, Mt St Helen's

The devastation from the eruption was everywhere from the thousands of dead trees fanning out from the blast zone to the pumice and volcanic rock covering the embankment beside the road as we made our way up to Windy Ridge.

Erosion along Windy Ridge Road

Still in the process of recovering

We stopped at another viewpoint overlooking Lake Helen saw hundreds of logs covering a large expanse of the lake.

Logs from the blast covering parts of Helen Lake 

At Windy Ridge the mist had lifted enough that we could now see the valley below, Lake Helen and the base of Mt St Helen's. This gave us hope that it was going to clear so we hiked up the stairs to a higher viewing area. But it wasn’t to be, the clouds descended once again and the chilly air had us scrambling back down to seek shelter in Dude.

We waited until late in the day for what was now total white out and around 5pm we headed back down the ridge and camped the night in a snow mobile park at its base.

The next day it was raining when we left and headed south enjoying the autumn colours of the forests on our way to Colombia River. We found a lovely campground across the road from “Beacon Rock”. The rain stopped long enough for us to climb Beacon Rock and then walk back to the campground through tall Douglas Firs, snow berry bushes, maple vines and ferns that covered every inch of the ground.

Beacon Rock, Columbia River

We called into the underwater viewing area at Bonneville Loch and Dam to watch the Salmon making their way upstream through the specially made fish ladders to spawn.

Afterwards we crossed the mighty Colombia River into Oregon and drove southwards through the fruit growing area. We called into one of the fruit stands and tasted the yummiest pears freshly picked from their orchard. In the distance Mt Hood was clocked in clouds and for the next few days the rainy cold weather accompanied us as we traveled through the thickly forested South Cascade Mountain Ranges. In the mountains we found lots of hot springs to soak in (clothing optional) that kept the cold from seeping into our bones.

Lush forests

After awhile the thick canopy of trees and continual rain had me pining for open spaces and it was with a sense of relief to arrive at Crater Lake. The road crews had just finished clearing snow from the roads from a storm earlier in the week. The contrast of snow against the deep blue water was beautiful and as we explored various viewpoints the clouds gave way to blue sky.

Crater Lake

During the day the Park Ranger opened up the Rim Road so we got to drive all the way around and we made the most of the sun coming out and hiked down to the water along the way.

A mixed weather day at Crater Lake

Mist covering the Rim Road

We had arrived back in California and conscious that our Road Trip was coming to an end and lots of places to explore on our way back to Pleasanton we wasted no time in making our way to Lava Beds NP.

Lava flows at Lava Beds NP

We stopped on the way in and watched as the fog lifted revealing fields of lava flows and native bushes and a strong aroma of sage bushes filled the crisp morning air.

Mist clearing on our drive into Lava Beds NP

It was an interesting place to explore and we had lots of fun descending into the many lava flows and caves that covered the area. 

Exploring lava flow tunnels

More exploring of the tunnels

We inquired about a forest road that would take us directly south instead of having to backtrack. The lady in the Visitors Centre exclaimed that road was full of pot holes and not a good  road to be driving on. A day later when we hiked up to a fire lookout and got talking to the ranger manning the tower he advised the forest Road we inquired about would be just fine if we took it slow and advised he uses it to commute to work.

Hiking through Lava Beds

Our drove south on the pot holed part dirt road turned out to be a nice drive through the forest. We arrived at Medicine Lake and found a lovely spot overlooking the water. We promptly got Aqua Dude out and went for a paddle. 

Paddling Medicine Lake

To our delight as we paddled to the other side we saw a Bald Eagle sitting in the upper branches of a dead tree and paddled over to take some photos. While circumnavigating the lake we came across some deer stopping for a drink at the water’s edge.

Our sighting of a Bald Eagle

With the weather improving we stayed a couple of nights enjoying the tranquil scenery and taking walks along the water’s edge where every step had tiny sized frogs scurrying out of our way.

It was time to continue southwards to Mt Shasta and on our arrival it only took a few minutes to realize we were out of place in this wacky community. It seemed we had entered the twilight zone and the Capital City for crystal rock enthusiasts. On our drive to a campsite in the mountains we encountered the Alien believers. One believer was wearing an animal vest and both were adorned with feather earrings and bear necklaces. They exuberantly regaled us with their belief of the alien’s landing circle “man nothing grows their and did you see the strange twisted trees”.

Twisted trees around a circle....

Their happy enthusiastic energy was infectious and we smiled at each other as they drove off in their 70’s type RV amused at how it was clearing the precariously rocky road….maybe they had some help from the aliens?

Mt Shasta

There's got to be snow here somewhere

We've just been up there..

We drove into the township and sought out a Coffee House with free Internet. Sitting down to enjoy my coffee and update my Blog I was immediately entertained by a beanie clad, curly haired man who was busy chatting away as he walked around the coffee shop examining the walls. He had white headphones in his ears and held an antenna in his hand up to his face and by all accounts was very knowledgeable on other realms.

A realm of possibilities here....

We did some hikes and eventually came across the alien landing area and other interesting characters practicing yoga. One in particular for some time I thought was an odd looking tree stump but ended up being a shirtless, tight wearing yoga guru in a head stand pose.

Sierra Club hut at Horse Camp

This truly was an inspiriting place and fitting that our journey had come full circle.

Celebrating completing our journey

I was sad our journey was complete but I was also excited that we were returning to Australia……where our new journey would begin.