Reflections...
Well, today is my last full day before packing up to head back to Portland for the return flight to the UK.
The intention is to do minimal driving and undertake some light walking “locally”. First stop, Trillium lake for a gentle 2 mile circumnavigation. I get there quite early and am just in time to beat the canoeists and dog walkers who will harsh my mellow by disturbing the stillness of the lake, thereby once again foiling my chances of a good lake reflection shot. I think the results are acceptable.
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There is a weird acoustic effect here. A dog barking echoes so much that it sounds as though someone has unleashed the hounds of hell. You can also hear people talking from across the lake, so I’m guessing that folk staying here would have to be very careful to not bad mouth each other.
My appetite whetted by a short walk on the level, I decide to go for something a little more challenging and head for the Tamanawas Falls Trail Head. This turns out to be a fairly pleasant and only mildly tiring riverside climb, until I come to a fork in the path. I am faced with this in one direction and a fairly innocuous looking path in the other.
I think something kicked in to trigger the brain fart that sent me off in the wrong direction - probably my body taking over and refusing the very idea of scrambling up the rock fall. This was of course the route that I should have taken. Shout out Nate and Stacey from Florida who intercepted me higher up the wrong trail and steered me back on to the right track.
Having managed the ascent, it turns out to be well worth it. The falls are spectacular and the cooling spray very welcome! The descent back down the rock face was a tad challenging, but I shall blank that from memory!
So back to the hotel to do some packing before picking the hostelry of the evening for food and a few well earned beers.
So, almost at the end of the road.
Stats:
Distance: ~2500 miles
Best Av. MPG: 33.9 (yes, I broke the beast - although this was without all of my luggage and largely coasting downhill)
Deers Saved: 4
Volcanoes visited: 5
Photos Taken: 1350
Regrets: Not visiting the humungous fungus. This was on my original itenerary, but was a little out of the way. Obviously as a fungiphile, I was tempted to go and commune with the world’s largest living organism (3.4 Square miles!) in the Malheur Forest of Oregon. Apart from it being out of the way I suspect there is not much to see other than a clearing in the forest where the honey fungus has killed all of the trees. On reflection, communing with an organism whose sole purpose is to wipe out everything in its path might not be such a miss!
High Points: Crater Lake, Dry Falls, Mount St. Helen’s, Cicely(!), Rialto Beach, Bigfoot sleuthing…
Take Aways:
As ever in the US, being constantly surprised by the kindness of strangers
Come with proper walking gear for future trips
Do more walking rather than just jaw exercises - the constant changes in altitude have me constantly yawning and swallowing to get my hearing back. I now have a jaw like American Dad. I should be in fine form for the flight back!
Stick to hand-washing clothes rather than buying tokens for the laundry in hotels (£23 for a single self-service load! Bandits…)
Still, I’ve had a great time and very much leaning towards the regular visit for a month each year. The costs are not prohibitive (at least for food and fuel, laundry notwithstanding), so its just a matter of optimizing accommodation.
I may have to get my research assistant on it!