Motor Home Trip to Jasper National Park of Canada – Week 2, 21-27 May 2007
This week our travels have taken us from southern Oregon at Ashland, through Crater Lake National Park, Bend, OR, and Mt. Hood and into the state of Washington. In Washington we stopped at Mt. St Helens were we saw the incredible destruction from the volcanic eruption twenty-seven years ago and the still steaming peak. From there we went to the almost equally impressive Mt. Rainier which towers over the Seattle area. After leaving Mt. Rainier we are staying three nights on the Olympic Peninsula where we took a ferry to Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada, and the Olympic National Park.
Ashland, our first stop in OR, is known for its excellent theater company, and in particular it’s Shakespeare Festival. We arrived at the RV Park late in day and the next morning (Sunday, 20 May) we arrived in town at about 11 AM to just stroll and have lunch; instead we found, quite by accident, that there were two matinee plays scheduled for a 1:30 PM with half price tickets going on sale at 12:30 PM. So, we had time to browse Ashland’s lovely main street, had a wonderful lunch at Pangea and we each saw the play of our choice. Lance saw “As you like it” a Shakespeare comedy, and Dahlia saw “A Rabbit Hole”, a sad but wonderful play. They were both really well done; it was a beautiful crisp day and life was good.
Late in the afternoon we set out along a scenic but very narrow twisty road thorough Klamath Falls to Colliers State Campground near Crater Lake National Park. Purple wild flowers carpeted large patches of the green steep mountain slopes adding to the beautiful views.
Monday morning (21 May) we drove up the steep climb to Crater Lake. The sky was clear and snow capped peaks were appearing ahead of us and as we ascended higher and higher. Soon there was snow on the side of the road and getting deeper, and when we arrived in the Park we were told that only an eight mile segment of the 32 mile rim road was open. The good news was that day was crystal clear and the lake was visible in all its glory and had we come a day earlier it would have been socked in fog clouds and snow. When we got to the rim road, the view was breathtaking; the water was a deep blue color and there was snow from the high rim all they way to the water. Near the center of the lake was the red cinder cone called Wizard Island. The snow at the rim was higher than the RV, over ten feet deep. We parked at the edge of the overlook and had our lunch with a perfect view of the lake. Since hiking was out of the question with so much snow on the ground, we decided to continue north towards Bend, OR. The state park near Bend was full so we stayed at a fancy RV park near town, called the “Crown Villa RV Resort”. The place had nice paving everywhere, not a spot of dirt to be seen, manicured lawns, bistro table and chairs on the patio, a spa. They even bragged about granite counters in the bathrooms, but we didn’t inspect. Way over the top, in price as well!!! It was OK for the million dollar bus RVs, but wasn’t our cup of tea.
Tuesday (22 May) was a “housekeeping” day. Unfortunately The Newberry Lava park, which we were hoping to see, was closed on Monday and Tuesday so we visited the High Desert Museum just south of Bend which was really interesting with wonderful displays documenting the history of the pioneers in this part of Oregon and had a “desertarium” with a small zoo with native plants and animals including Bobcats.
From here we continued north and west and stayed at the really pleasant Kah-Nee-Ta RV Park at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It was quite hot here when we arrived, ~ 80F. The desert scenery was beautiful with bright red cliffs, a meandering river, and sage green vegetation; it was pretty enough for a painting. For those without RVs, the park had nicely decorated Tepees that can accommodate up to 10 sleepers with a fireplace in the center. As you may have guessed there are hot (110 F) springs here which are used to warm up the pool which at the adjacent resort and casino. A shuttle van was available from the RV Park to the resort so we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant.
Wednesday, (23 May) we left Warm Springs, balmy and warm at 85F, and within two hours we were at the foot of Mt. Hood, the highest peak in OR (11,230ft). We drove up the mountain to the historic Timberline Lodge, which this year celebrates its seventieth anniversary. The Lodge has a beautiful elegant rustic design, right at the foot of the ski slopes; with skiing all year round we’re told. We had some chili and hot chocolate and watched the skiers going by in this winter wonderland snowy scene from a huge picture window. A really cool place!!! From here we headed north via Portland, to neighboring Washington state and arrived at Mt. St. Helens RV park for the night.
The next morning (Thursday, 24 May) Mount St. Helens was really awesome! We could see the mountain from many angles as we were ascending the long road leading to it from the town of Castle Rock, WA, where we stayed. At one of the visitor centers, we chatted with a volunteer ranger who lived through the eruption of the mountain 27 years ago, and heard how her house got washed away in the flood and how she was able to save only the upper story and move it to a different place down the river. Her house was some 25 or 30 miles away from the mountain. We saw several movies about the eruption and heard stories of survivors. It is really hard to believe the magnitude of the destructive force unleashed by St. Helens during the eruption. It was incredible to see the crater that remained after the top collapsed. There were two vents of steam rising from the crater and changing in magnitude as we were watching. It really made us realize how real the danger of volcanoes can be and what goes on under those seemingly serene silent white mountains. Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Mountains are all part of the “Ring of Fire” a belt of dangerous volcanoes responsible for most of the volcanic activity around the globe. From Mt. St. Helens we drove to Mt. Rainier National Park and stayed at a very nice RV park, just outside the National Park entrance.
The next morning (Friday, 25 May) we got up early and, after breakfast, drove into the Park through old growth forest with huge Douglas fir trees, waterfalls and steams everywhere. Through occasional openings in the forest we were treated to the glimpses of the huge snow capped volcanic peak looming above us. We finally reached the Paradise Visitors Center and the parking lot was filled with climbers who were starting on a two or three day climb of the mountain on the Memorial Day Weekend. A fox walked around the lot within ten feet of us looking for a hand out. We later took an hour and a half hike through the forests of enormous trees filled with moss, ferns and huge rotting logs that had fallen. The hike included a walk around bubbling mud ponds and a beaver pond; it was a highlight of the visit to Mt. Rainier. We had changed from our original plan and decided to visit Olympic National Park and Victoria, British Columbia. To do this our next stop was Port Angles, WA on the Olympic Peninsula were we plan to spend three nights (we had hoped to see the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA along the way, but it was closed).
On Saturday, 26 May, we waked three blocks from our RV Park to the ferry to Victoria; we had breakfast on the boat and arrived in Victoria in about an hour. We rented a car to explore Victoria and our first stop was Butchart Gardens, a world famous garden that was magnificent, particularly since it was at the peak of flowering. The garden was begun over 100 years ago and has an incredible collection of plants, with an emphasis on azaleas and rhododendrons that grow in the wild here are perfectly suited to the cool moist weather here. The colors were mind boggling and the garden layout into a sunken garden (built in an old limestone quarry), and Japanese and formal Italian gardens was wonderful. After leaving the garden we drove for about two hours along the coast to downtown Victoria. We saw some beautiful waterfront houses and gardens along the way with very nice vistas of the sea and rugged coast with large logs wash up on shore. After returning the car we walked through the compact downtown where we did some shopping and mingled with the Memorial Weekend crowd before returning the US on the ferry.
Ashland, our first stop in OR, is known for its excellent theater company, and in particular it’s Shakespeare Festival. We arrived at the RV Park late in day and the next morning (Sunday, 20 May) we arrived in town at about 11 AM to just stroll and have lunch; instead we found, quite by accident, that there were two matinee plays scheduled for a 1:30 PM with half price tickets going on sale at 12:30 PM. So, we had time to browse Ashland’s lovely main street, had a wonderful lunch at Pangea and we each saw the play of our choice. Lance saw “As you like it” a Shakespeare comedy, and Dahlia saw “A Rabbit Hole”, a sad but wonderful play. They were both really well done; it was a beautiful crisp day and life was good.
Late in the afternoon we set out along a scenic but very narrow twisty road thorough Klamath Falls to Colliers State Campground near Crater Lake National Park. Purple wild flowers carpeted large patches of the green steep mountain slopes adding to the beautiful views.
Monday morning (21 May) we drove up the steep climb to Crater Lake. The sky was clear and snow capped peaks were appearing ahead of us and as we ascended higher and higher. Soon there was snow on the side of the road and getting deeper, and when we arrived in the Park we were told that only an eight mile segment of the 32 mile rim road was open. The good news was that day was crystal clear and the lake was visible in all its glory and had we come a day earlier it would have been socked in fog clouds and snow. When we got to the rim road, the view was breathtaking; the water was a deep blue color and there was snow from the high rim all they way to the water. Near the center of the lake was the red cinder cone called Wizard Island. The snow at the rim was higher than the RV, over ten feet deep. We parked at the edge of the overlook and had our lunch with a perfect view of the lake. Since hiking was out of the question with so much snow on the ground, we decided to continue north towards Bend, OR. The state park near Bend was full so we stayed at a fancy RV park near town, called the “Crown Villa RV Resort”. The place had nice paving everywhere, not a spot of dirt to be seen, manicured lawns, bistro table and chairs on the patio, a spa. They even bragged about granite counters in the bathrooms, but we didn’t inspect. Way over the top, in price as well!!! It was OK for the million dollar bus RVs, but wasn’t our cup of tea.
Tuesday (22 May) was a “housekeeping” day. Unfortunately The Newberry Lava park, which we were hoping to see, was closed on Monday and Tuesday so we visited the High Desert Museum just south of Bend which was really interesting with wonderful displays documenting the history of the pioneers in this part of Oregon and had a “desertarium” with a small zoo with native plants and animals including Bobcats.
From here we continued north and west and stayed at the really pleasant Kah-Nee-Ta RV Park at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It was quite hot here when we arrived, ~ 80F. The desert scenery was beautiful with bright red cliffs, a meandering river, and sage green vegetation; it was pretty enough for a painting. For those without RVs, the park had nicely decorated Tepees that can accommodate up to 10 sleepers with a fireplace in the center. As you may have guessed there are hot (110 F) springs here which are used to warm up the pool which at the adjacent resort and casino. A shuttle van was available from the RV Park to the resort so we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant.
Wednesday, (23 May) we left Warm Springs, balmy and warm at 85F, and within two hours we were at the foot of Mt. Hood, the highest peak in OR (11,230ft). We drove up the mountain to the historic Timberline Lodge, which this year celebrates its seventieth anniversary. The Lodge has a beautiful elegant rustic design, right at the foot of the ski slopes; with skiing all year round we’re told. We had some chili and hot chocolate and watched the skiers going by in this winter wonderland snowy scene from a huge picture window. A really cool place!!! From here we headed north via Portland, to neighboring Washington state and arrived at Mt. St. Helens RV park for the night.
The next morning (Thursday, 24 May) Mount St. Helens was really awesome! We could see the mountain from many angles as we were ascending the long road leading to it from the town of Castle Rock, WA, where we stayed. At one of the visitor centers, we chatted with a volunteer ranger who lived through the eruption of the mountain 27 years ago, and heard how her house got washed away in the flood and how she was able to save only the upper story and move it to a different place down the river. Her house was some 25 or 30 miles away from the mountain. We saw several movies about the eruption and heard stories of survivors. It is really hard to believe the magnitude of the destructive force unleashed by St. Helens during the eruption. It was incredible to see the crater that remained after the top collapsed. There were two vents of steam rising from the crater and changing in magnitude as we were watching. It really made us realize how real the danger of volcanoes can be and what goes on under those seemingly serene silent white mountains. Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Mountains are all part of the “Ring of Fire” a belt of dangerous volcanoes responsible for most of the volcanic activity around the globe. From Mt. St. Helens we drove to Mt. Rainier National Park and stayed at a very nice RV park, just outside the National Park entrance.
The next morning (Friday, 25 May) we got up early and, after breakfast, drove into the Park through old growth forest with huge Douglas fir trees, waterfalls and steams everywhere. Through occasional openings in the forest we were treated to the glimpses of the huge snow capped volcanic peak looming above us. We finally reached the Paradise Visitors Center and the parking lot was filled with climbers who were starting on a two or three day climb of the mountain on the Memorial Day Weekend. A fox walked around the lot within ten feet of us looking for a hand out. We later took an hour and a half hike through the forests of enormous trees filled with moss, ferns and huge rotting logs that had fallen. The hike included a walk around bubbling mud ponds and a beaver pond; it was a highlight of the visit to Mt. Rainier. We had changed from our original plan and decided to visit Olympic National Park and Victoria, British Columbia. To do this our next stop was Port Angles, WA on the Olympic Peninsula were we plan to spend three nights (we had hoped to see the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA along the way, but it was closed).
On Saturday, 26 May, we waked three blocks from our RV Park to the ferry to Victoria; we had breakfast on the boat and arrived in Victoria in about an hour. We rented a car to explore Victoria and our first stop was Butchart Gardens, a world famous garden that was magnificent, particularly since it was at the peak of flowering. The garden was begun over 100 years ago and has an incredible collection of plants, with an emphasis on azaleas and rhododendrons that grow in the wild here are perfectly suited to the cool moist weather here. The colors were mind boggling and the garden layout into a sunken garden (built in an old limestone quarry), and Japanese and formal Italian gardens was wonderful. After leaving the garden we drove for about two hours along the coast to downtown Victoria. We saw some beautiful waterfront houses and gardens along the way with very nice vistas of the sea and rugged coast with large logs wash up on shore. After returning the car we walked through the compact downtown where we did some shopping and mingled with the Memorial Weekend crowd before returning the US on the ferry.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 6:12 PM
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