Eagle Crest - Redmond, Oregon

Leaving our trailer behind at the Refuge, we took a one week Condo vacation to The Eagle Crest Resort just west of Redmond, Oregon.

We had a homey two bedroom/two bath newly renovated Gold Crown unit overlooking the Deschutes River.

The living area along with spare room and laundry were on the lower level. The Master Suite and a balcony was upstairs.

Kurt loved the new Weber Gas Grill and proceeded to delight us with some tasty meals.

The High Desert Museum just south of Bend has a variety of indoor and outdoor exhibits set in a 135 acre forest. Nature trails feature trail side exhibits about wildlife, forestry and settlement in the area.

There is an optional rapture show as part of their summer program. We got to be up close and personal with a Barn Owl, Peregrine Falcon, and a couple of hawks.

We stopped in Bend for a short factory tour and tasting of Goody's Ice Cream and Candy.

Pilot Butte is a lone cinder cone rising 511 feet above the city of Bend. From the summit there is a fantastic view of the Cascade Range as well as a bird's eye view of the city.

A short hike down the Deschutes River leads to the Benham Falls.

Benham Falls is more of a boiling rapids down a narrow chute than an actual falls. The river drops 95 feet in less than a half of a mile.

Bend, Oregon, is the home of Deschutes Brewery, a craft brewer. At least a dozen other micro or craft breweries call this town home. They even have a beer tour bus that takes visitors around to seven breweries.

We took a 45 minute tour of the Deschutes Brewery. There we sampled the eight varieties of beer that were on tap in the tasting room.

Smith Rock State Park, north of Redmond, became world famous in the 1980's as a rock climbing destination for beginning to expert climbers. We didn't climb but we enjoyed the scenery and watching others navigate the rock walls.

Cove Palasades State Park, north of Redmond, encompasses Round Butte Dam and its reservoir, Lake Billy Chinook.

Three canyons have been carved by the Deschutes, the Crooked, and the Metolius Rivers.

Collier Logging Museum

On Monday we visited the logging museum at Collier Memorial State Park, about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls.

This is an outdoor museum that displays antique logging equipment from 1880 to current. There is also a pioneer village with nine log cabins that were relocated to the site.

It was a beautiful day for a walking tour of the museum in the forested foothills of Crater Lake.

Critters Among Us

A friendly bat chose our rear sunscreen for his roost.

This gopher snake preferred the cool shade under
our gas grill propane bottle.

This doe likes to hang around and sometimes taste our flowers.

This elegant Blazing Star wild flower sprouted
within eight feet of our hummingbird feeder.



A Mountain of Glass

Not far from where we live is a little known geologic formation called Little Glass Mountain. This mountain is accessible by traveling about 20 miles of California back roads, some gravel, through the Modoc and Klamath National Forests. Little Glass Mountain is not really that little. Just over a thousand years ago lava oozed from the Medicine Lake Volcano forming this mountain almost 8,000 feet tall. As lava moved slowly down slope, it built up a spectacular high flow front of broken obsidian and pumice. Glass flows are an uncommon and intriguing phenomena. As pictures commonly cannot show we stood in amazement looking at more obsidian than we had ever seen in our lifetime, in fact more than we ever thought existed on the planet. This place must be a geologists dream come true.

The one mile trail head begins at the edge of a Forest Road
The flow is thick, nearly 100 feet high.

The summit of Little Glass Mountain in the background. 



The black glass is obsidian and the grey rock is pumice. We stayed on the trail for safety, since the glass is as sharp as razors.



Red hues are the result of weathering or oxidation during eruption.



A large chip out of an even larger obsidian boulder

Virginia had a hard time not over collecting rocks.
Her nickname was Lucy (The Long Trailer).

Obsidian mounds piled up as if by African termites.

We ended our tour with a late lunch at Medicine Lake
inside the caldera of the same name.

Oregon Coastal Loop Trip - Columbia River Gorge

After driving through Portland we started our tour of the Gorge driving east. The Vista House on Crown Point was built in 1918 as a rest stop for travelers on the old Columbia River Gorge Highway.

It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. At 733 feet above the river it provides one of the best views of the River Gorge.
The inside of the dome was painted to simulate marble and bronze. The Rotunda is surfaced in rare Alaskan Marble.

View of the Gorge from Vista House

We drove up a spur road to Larch Mountain, elevation 4,055. After hiking the last half mile to the top at Sherrard Point, we had views of five Cascade Mountains; St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood and Jefferson.

View of Mt. Hood from Sherrard Point 
on Larch Mountain

One of the main attractions of the Gorge is its scores of cascading waterfalls. Many can be viewed from the river road while others require a hike.

Latourell Falls

Wahkeena Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Horsetail Falls

We spent a few hours touring the Bonneville Dam and Locks. There are two powerhouses on this dam, the south one completed in 1938 and the north one completed in 1982. There are two fish ladders with

underwater viewing windows. We also took a drive through the volunteer campground located on an island. We noticed they had seven very nice full hook up pads. This may be an opportunity to consider for the future.


Parts of the Columbia River Gorge can receive consistent 30 mph winds for days on end. That's why windsurfers and kiteboarders gather here.

On our second day in the Gorge we took a Fruit Loop side trip in the scenic Hood River Valley. The Fruit Loop took us by 35 miles of orchards and over 30 farms. Some farms let you pick your own.

The Hood River Valley produces Anjou, Bosc, Comice, and Bartlett pears, as well as apples and peaches, and a full assortment of berries. We hit peach season dead on but were a little early for the pears.

Panoramic view of the Hood River Valley
with orchards and Mt. Hood in the background.

The Dalles Lock and Dam

We turned south from the Gorge at The Dalles and returned to our home base at Tulelake via US 97. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Peter Skene Ogden State Park and viewed side by side the historic and the new bridge over the Crooked River Gorge.
This concluded a fabulous ten day loop tour.

Oregon Coastal Loop Trip - Mt. St. Helens

Many of us remember the eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980. It is a 52 mile drive from Interstate 5 to the end of the scenic road and the world renowned Johnston Ridge Observatory. We spent an entire day stopping at all four visitor centers, picnicking and hiking.



Trees splintered by THE BLAST

Coldwater Lake
Created by the eruption.