Three Days in the Oregon Outback

On Tuesday, June 25, we set off for Eastern Oregon. Our major goal was to visit Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a vast complex of wetlands in Oregon's high desert.

This refuge is one of the top birding destinations in the US. It is famous for its tremendous diversity and concentrations of wildlife. One thing we can say for sure about Eastern Oregon and this refuge: IT'S HUGE!

The Auto Tour alone is 42 miles one way. It's not a loop! We did see a lot of birds. A new one for us is the Bobolink. We also saw several families of newly hatched red headed American Coots.

The area is very remote, with few accommodations. We found Hotel Diamond, circa 1898, a B & B in the historic town of Diamond (population 7). We rented a small bedroom upstairs with bathrooms down the hall.

We enjoyed a home cooked roast beef dinner served family style. The next morning a deluxe continental breakfast was served in the dining room.

Thursday on our way west, outside Burns, we stopped at the BLM Wild Horse Corrals. This is part of the National Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Wild horses are gathered from public lands and brought here for adoption. The day we were there about 650 horses were in the corrals. We were surprised that there are about 40,000 wild horses in the western US.

The adoption fee is only $185. These horses are very wild and need a lot of gentle patience. We considered hitching one to our bike rack, but that didn't meet their stringent criteria.

Oregon Caves National Monument

Tuesday, we drove west about 200 miles to Oregon Caves National Monument up the mountain from Cave Junction, OR. Due to all the mountains in Oregon, there are no direct, east/west roads. This was a very scenic drive. The monument offers 90 minute ranger guided tours through this three mile long marble cave. You must be in good physical shape and over 42 inches tall to take this tour. There are over 500 steps and many places where you have to walk bent over to pass through the twisting, low narrow halls. The monument also has a charming lodge and restaurant. Built in 1934, the Chateau is a National Historic Landmark.

We have been through many caves, but this marble cave was exceptionally beautiful and highly active due to abundant moisture. At the end of the cave tour, we exited more than 200 feet above the entrance. We took this opportunity to take the long way back to the visitor center via the Overlook Trail. This was a quiet forest trail through the lush vegetation, tall trees and flowering rhododendrons. From the top we had exceptional views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

Redwoods National Park - A Three Day Tour

We put our days off to good use this week. Monday, June 10, we began a three day adventure to the northern California coast from Crescent City to Eureka. Our main focus was to visit Redwood NP to see the dramatic coastline and the coastal redwoods.

Coast redwoods, with heights up to 370 feet tall, are the tallest trees in the world. They grow in a narrow strip along the Pacific coast of California and southwestern Oregon. Not to be confused with giant sequoias which grow only on the Sierra Nevada's western slope (inland). The giant sequoias have the largest mass of any tree, while the coast redwoods are the tallest. Both of these trees live a long time, giant sequoias up to 3,200 years and coast redwoods up to 2,000 years.

Thankfully this rugged coast was set aside as either National or State Parks. We watched from the cliff as a mother whale and her calf frolicked in the surf.

Our first night we stayed in Crescent City, CA. After dinner we took a walk along the beach and out to the still active Battery Point Lighthouse. Battery Point Light was one of the first lighthouses on the California coast.

We were just in time to catch the sunset as the rather cool night air began to breeze in from the Pacific.

We took a one hour self guided loop trail through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. This is the site where Lady Bird Johnson dedicated the National Park in 1968.

Along the trail we came across hundreds of blooming rhododendrons among the tall trees. Quite a contrast.

Our second night we stayed in Eureka, CA. Driving around town we saw the fishing fleet and proceeded across the bridge to the barrier island discovering the historic Samoa Cookhouse, circa 1893. This is the last lumber camp style cookhouse in operation in North America.

It was a very unique dining experience. All meals are served family style at long tables. We were served hot tea, vegetable soup, salad, fresh made bread, red skinned potatoes, peas, both roast beef and chicken parmigiana and strawberry cake.

Historic home once owned by the Lumber Mill owner in Eureka, CA

This old home is currently owned by
an architect according to the shingle.

Wednesday afternoon, on the way home, we had a picnic at Wiskeytown Lake, which is a unit of the Wiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. Then we stopped at the Lake Shasta Dam site. This dam has the second largest mass of any dam in the United States after the Grand Cooley Dam in Washington State. Tours of the dam are offered. Although we missed the last guided tour of the day, we did enjoy the visitor center, orientation film, as well as a walk across the dam.

Mt. Shasta, at 14,179 is the 5th tallest peak in California

The sun was beginning to set as we drove north passing Mount Shasta on Interstate 5 to US 97 returning home.

A Day at Lava Beds National Monument

We are fortunate to have the 46,000 acre Lava Beds National Monument adjacent to Tulelake NWR. It is a mere eight miles south to the entrance.

Lava Beds offers outstanding volcanic terrain including more than 450 lava tube caves, the greatest concentration in North America.

Picnic Lunch at the Fleener Chimneys Splatter Cone

Short Hike to the Splatter Cone

Hepner Ice Cave

There are approximately two dozen lava tube caves developed for public use. They range in ability level from walking upright on smooth surface to crawling on your hands and knees. The caves range in length from 120 feet to over a mile long. All caves are self guided. The monument loans lanterns free of charge. Due to our close proximity to the National Monument we are able to attend their evening camp fire programs.

Golden Dome Cave

Sunday Afternoon at Crater Lake National Park

Sunday after worship at Zion Lutheran in Klamath Falls, OR, we drove north to Crater Lake NP. On the way we stopped for a delicious lunch at the Lodge on the piney shores of Lake of the Woods.

Crater Lake was formed over 7,000 years ago when Mt. Mazama errupted leaving this hugh crater over six miles across and almost 2,000 feet deep. The lake holds nearly five trillion gallons of very pure water.

There are no rivers either in to or out of Crater Lake. The lake maintains a constant level. There are two islands, the large island, Wizard, and a small island, Phantom Ship.

A rim road surrounds Crater Lake. However, the East Rim Drive does not open until July due to deep snow. We plan to return later in the summer to drive the East Rim and take the boat tour of the lake.

Working at Klamath Basin, Tulelake Refuge

Well, we have already completed two weeks of work. Our primary job here is to staff the visitor center and run the bookstore three days a week. Our trailer pad is just about 200 yards from the visitor center, so it's an easy walk to work each day. The Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges is a complex of six refuges, all managed out of the office in Tulelake, California. Four of the refuges, Tulelake NWR, Lower Klamath NWR, Upper Klamath NWR and Klamath Marsh NWR are open to the public. Bear Lake NWR and Clear Lake NWR are closed to public access. The visitor center ranger, has given us plenty of road time to explore the area and learn about all six refuges. The primary emphasis of the Klamath Basin Refuges is on migratory birds. Over 350 species of birds have been observed in the Basin. The Discovery Marsh Trail, a one mile loop trail through riparian wetland, is just across the street from the visitor center. We particularly enjoy taking this walk in the evening. We have seen many interesting birds including American Avocet, Tri-colored Blackbird, Yellow Headed Blackbird, California Quail, California Towee, Black Crowned Night Heron, Bullock's Oriole, Ring-Necked Pheasant, American Bald Eagle, both chicks and juvenile, and a full assortment of ducks. We are impressed with the scores of white faced ibis that fly overhead moving to their evening roost. The Clark, Western and eared Grebes are abundant out on Tule Lake. We have a family of yellow bellied marmots living in the rocks behind our trailer pad. Of course, we have frequent sightings of mule deer and other furry creatures. So we are learning lots and are happy to spend our summer here in this beautiful area.

This doe smelled our flowers and decided they would
make a better head scratch than a meal.
That suits us better too!