Day 17: Yosemite

Yosemite National Park, California

We had to get up very early in order to get a campsite in Yosemite. This was necessary since it would be hours in travel time if we stayed this far from Yosemite Valley. We were up by 7 A.M. It was a cool, clear morning. We left Bass Lake and drove back to the park arriving at the Bridalveil Creek Campground on Glacier Point Road. We drove around looking for a spot but people were still eating breakfast and stumbling out of their tents in long underwear and flannel. Looking around, I could see steam rising from people cooking breakfast; people seemed to be doing the usual morning things. We got a site but it was crammed in the inside of a loop, we waited for this group to leave across from us and took their spot. This was an excellent spot. Number 108. There was a family on one side of us (this kid actually brought weights on their trip), flat, level rock on the other side of us, and a pine forest behind us. We were going to stay here for two nights so it was nice to get a scenic site.

Today was a car sight-seeing day, tomorrow we would hike. First, we ventured out to Glacier Point but it was a bit foggy out. I figured it would burn off by this afternoon. So we went down to Yosemite Valley, which took about an hour! This park is almost too big. We went to Yosemite Village to get something to eat; it was 11 A.M. by now so that something was going to be lunch (no breakfast for us). We drove the loop road that circles the valley.

Our first stop was Yosemite Falls. This was a short walk to a huge fall. Unfortunately, the amount of water flowing is minimal since the winter snows have melted by now, but there was still a trickle. We made our way past all the toddler-raisin', cam-corder holdin' parents to the end of the trail where it's your job to climb, jump, and slide your way to the falls on the massive granite boulders that blaze a trail to the falls and the pool of cold water beneath them. This granite is called sliprock, named for the fact that it is relatively smooth and the chemical make up of the rock make it very slippery. You can't get a grip on it and neither can your reebok. It was quite an adventure getting up to the falls. There were many people in and around the pool. Some were swimming, some were climbing, some were sitting under the falls. We left this spot and continued around the loop road in the valley, stopping at all the vista points.

In the center of the valley is the Merced River which many people use for rafting, swimming, or sun-bathing on the rocky banks of. This park is one of the most-visited parks in the country. It receives over two million visitors each year and I would guess, judging from all the people in this place, that most of them come in the summer, around the end of July perhaps? The valley floor is in the 4000 foot range. El Capitan, a huge granite mountain, rises over 3000 feet above the floor.

We drove up out of the valley on Big Oak Flat Road to get an overall view of the valley and see the points we passed yesterday as we were coming into the park. These views were spectacular and are those seen in the postcard pictures. Talked with this German fellow who thought that this view overlooking the valley was the best in the park, he just stayed there and marveled it.

We marveled it ourselves for a while and had our picture taken by a friendly stranger and we soon were off, back to the valley. Now we were going to Mirror Lake on the eastern side of the valley. Had to park at the stables and take the trails out to the lake. On our way out there, we were walking along the Tenaya Creek and since no one knew what the lake looks like this guy in a group in front of us pipes up, "Is this the lake? Looks like the lake disappeared!" His friend congratulated him, for he was correct. Once we arrived at the lake's bank there was a sign titled DISAPPEARING LAKE. Apparently, the lake is slowly being filled by the sediment carried in the runoff water from the valley walls. Now there is barely a lake. It looks like a wide stream that just ends. I found this remarkable since I knew that when I came here with Mom & Dad in the mid 1970s there was a huge lake, which lived up to its name, reflecting the valley walls and the clouds in the sky. It's not often a geologic change like this can be seen on such a short timescale. So it will be Mirror Meadow soon, I guess. We walked up the banks of the river that fed the lake for a while and then turned back.

Headed back to our camp which was a little under an hour's drive from the valley. Stopped at the store before we went back to get some food. Once we arrived, we went into the woods and gathered wood for the fire we were going to build. We took our time tonight cooking dinner, we had chicken tonight along with carrots and one of those noodle mixes. It was a relaxing night, the stars were nice and bright tonight. I think the temperature was in the upper 30s tonight. I had to sleep with a sweatshirt and socks.

Day 18: Yosemite

Yosemite National Park, California

I awoke around 8:30 or 9 this morning. Had a great sleep, nice and comfortable. We made plans last night to hike up to Glacier Point from the Valley. This would involve getting up here and hopefully catching one of the many busses from Glacier Point to the car in the Valley. This was not going to happen. The Hiker's Bus, as it's called, did not fit our schedule since there were no busses later than 1 P.M. Andy was determined to cook breakfast one morning and today he was going to do it. We each had three fried eggs, not in sandwiches though, we were out of bread.

We drove down to the valley and parked at the stables again. Walked a mile to the Happy Isles Nature Center and the trailhead. We started on the John Muir Trail which parallels the Merced River. Then we took the Mist Trail which makes its way to the Vernal Falls. These trails are primarily in the up direction and I think I was finding the altitude change taxing. Also, the pace in which we were going on these trails probably didn't help too much either. The trail approaching the Vernal Falls is vertical - steps the entire way. After many rests, I finally made it to the top. The falls were beautiful with the yellow-green grass, the dark granite, and the rainbow in the mist of the falls. Above these falls is a large lake called Emerald Pool where people were swimming. On one side of the lake is forest all the way up to its banks. On the other side is granite. The entire bank of the lake is one sloping bank of rock-sliprock.

We made our way over to the granite bank which involved going above the lake and crossing through the rushing waters that feed the lake. Above the lake is where the stream is thin and the rock it travels on is relatively level. Because it is virtually impossible to walk on the wet rock without slipping, the only place to cross is where the rock is level, and even here you must be very careful not to slip and let the water carry you away. While we were crossing, one girl thought she could walk out into the flowing water, she slipped and took a little trip into the pool below. It's nature's version of the waterslide.

We crossed successfully and got a spot on the huge stone bank. The water was extremely cold but we were both determined to swim since a shower was not in our immediate future. Andy was brave and dove right in, I chose the gradual approach but this back-fired. This huge sliprock bank extends into the lake and after my legs were submerged, I lost my footing and fell in the water, Nestea plunge style. This caught everyone's attention, it also caught mine, in a big way. The temperature of this water took a few minutes to get used to, it was cold, the kind of cold that's painful for about five minutes until your body gets used to it. The kind of cold that gives people heart attacks. Got out in about five minutes and stretched out on the rock bank for a while.

I decided to part ways with Andy. I let him continue the hike and decided I would meet him at the top - it was no longer fun for me. So he left going in the up direction and I in the down direction. Talked to some Mexican folks on the way down. Stopped in the Nature Center and browsed for a bit. It was nice to be alone for a while and I'm sure Andy was thinking the same. Ended up wandering around the valley floor lost, trying to find the car, and walked into the housekeeping camp. I eventually did find the car and went back to our camp to change my clothes and the four day old underwear I was wearing. After this, I made my way out to Glacier Point where Andy would be coming 'round the mountain.

I had brought a bite to eat and a book to read but I ended up talking with a guy from New Zealand the entire time. He had just climbed the 8,842-foot Half Dome, which was standing in front of us like a monument. We were sitting at a picnic table talking about each of our travels. He was into backcountry sight-seeing and had no car in the states. He took busses as close to the parks as he could and walked the rest of the way. He had walked the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, and seen other parks in California and the southwest.

Andy got back within an hour and we went back to our camp. Andy went off to get some food and got back around 8 P.M. We had hot dogs tonight along with a Lipton noodle casserole and green beans. By the time we finished it was about 9:30 and we went to bed straight away. It was cold out, hope I'm warm enough tonight.

Day 19: Sequoia

Yosemite National Park—Sequoia National Park, California

We made no effort to get up early today. We packed our things and left the campground around 9 A.M. Swimming and the cool temps hide the fact that we haven't had a shower since Fitz's.

We exited the park going south on CA 41 through Fish Camp and Bass Lake again. This is not a road that you should expect to gain time on. There are so many hills, curves, and busses that you hit 45 miles per hour and you think you're going to fly off the road. Eventually we came out of the Sierra National Forest and the large pines began to disappear. The hills became flatter and were now covered with brown grass instead of the greens that we were used to. By 11:30 A.M. we were in Fresno, CA and the hills were long gone. We were now in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley and it had become hot, dry, and dusty. Fresno is a flat, spread-out city. Not the nicest looking place I must say. The populace looked primarily Hispanic and both English and Spanish were seen and heard everywhere. We found a Denny's and ate something there (I asked for the non-smoking section in the restaurant, the quickest way to detect out-of-staters in California). We then got gas and got the hell out of Fresno.

The San Joaquin Valley is a shocking contrast for the eye when just this morning we were in Yosemite. We headed east on CA 180, a straight shot over to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This valley is one huge farm. They grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables here. Passed many orchards, grapevines, and, of course, fruit stands, where Andy bought two bags of plums and pears for $1.53 - about the only cheap thing we've encountered in California thus far. Soon the grassy hills were returning and the hills were getting bigger and bigger. The elevation in Fresno is 296 feet. Once into the Sequoia National Forest and the parks, the elevation is around 7000 feet.

Sequoia National Park has the highest peak in the lower 48 states; Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet. The park resembled Yosemite, nice to see the evergreen trees with the fluorescent green moss again. The road first enters Kings Canyon National Park where we stopped at the Grant Grove Post Office. There was some guy listening to some religious radio station in the post office which was only a shack really. Anyway, this religious station sounded so fanatical that it was worth mentioning here. If it weren't for the separation of church and state, I'd wonder if the station was being broadcast right out of this little shack in the park.

We decided to concentrate our efforts on Sequoia Park since we'd seen plenty of canyons on this trip and we'd also seen Yosemite, so we figured you put these things together and you'd have Kings Canyon to a certain extent. We headed for Sequoia on General's Highway, the only main road in Sequoia. We arrived at Dorst Campground around 2:30 P.M. and I must say we got another nice spot. Not as nice as Yosemite but there was a pine forest behind us.

Here, as in Yosemite, were bear boxes, large, metal storage containers for food and other bear desirables. There was a ranger at the campsite next to us leaving them a nice little note about leaving their coolers and bright colored objects out. Apparently bears go for bright stuff, like coolers, even if it has no food in it they'll still destroy it looking for something. There was a nice picture in the Yosemite paper of the top half of a car door totally bent down. Bears are determined creatures.

The elevation here is 6,720 feet so the cool weather was back. We set up camp and drove to the Giant Forest part of the park - sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? We parked at the General Sherman Tree, the largest and oldest tree here. How large and how old? Here are the stats and facts about the park: this is the second oldest national park (Yellowstone is the first). John Muir was one of the first white men to discover the park but American Indians used the area for hunting and fishing centuries before he came along. The sequoia is the largest and one of the oldest living things on earth. General Sherman is 275 feet tall, 36 and a half feet wide at the base, 103 feet in circumference, and has branches that are 8 feet in diameter. Their soft bark is 31 inches thick and is very fire resistant, it does scar but usually will not die in fires - this accounts for their old age. The fire does, though, open the cones on the tree, releasing the seeds to spawn new trees. So without forest fires the tree would cease to exist. Kind of ironic. The age of these giant trees can be in excess of 3000 years, usually dying by toppling over. With over 2 million pounds of tree, combined with their shallow root system, they are vulnerable to toppling over. There are only three places in the world where these trees are found, some lady, who appeared to be an expert, was giving an amateur question and answer session beneath the giant General Sherman. California has the largest number of them with 75 groves on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas. I tried to get a picture of the giant general but people would not move out of the way so we got a picture of the tree with strangers in front of it. It took two shots to get the tree and probably could have used another.

We walked on Congress Trail, a two-mile stroll through groves of giant sequoias. Some of the trees were scarred from fires of the past, one had toppled over - its roots exposed. By now it was around 5:30 so we decided to head back to camp. As we were driving back I saw a bear crossing the road about 2000 feet in front of us. It was going slow like it owned the road. By the time we were able to drive up to its crossing point, it was about 200 feet up a hill and into the woods, but we could still see it. Of course, we took a picture of it.

Cooked an interesting one tonight, spaghetti and corn. Played a little "May I" while these guys across the way from us tried unsuccessfully to get a fire going. They would douse it in lighter fluid, throw a match in for a rousing combustion and within a minute it would die, then they would douse it again and it would die again, this went on for a while.

Day 20: The Pacific Coast

Sequoia National Park—Pacific Coast Highway—Big Sur, California

Today we were going to see the rest of the park then head for the coast. We had saltines and peanut butter for breakfast today, what a way to start the day. Ventured further into the Giant Forest, driving up the narrow side that goes to Moro Rock. Passed by the Auto Log, a fallen tree that you can drive on top of, drove through the Tunnel Log, a fallen tree that has a tunnel dug through it, and parked at Moro Rock. This is a dome shaped granite monolith with a quarter mile trail up to its top. The elevation is 300 feet from the parking area or 6,725 feet. From Moro Rock, the high snow-capped Sierras can be seen to the east while the smog-filled San Joaquin Valley is below us to the west. The trail is very narrow making its way up the rock but once on top there is a large open viewing area. This is the highest view for miles around.

Next we went to the Crescent Meadow, a crescent-shaped meadow surrounded by forest and a nice trail. This trail looks out upon the thin meadow filled with flowers of all colors and the yellow-green grass blanketing the ground. No one is allowed to go in the meadow since it would ruin the grass and chase off the animals that live in it. The trail led us through the surrounding forest which was covered with ferns and soft, mulchy soil. Along the trail were Lodgepole Pines and the occasional Sequoia grove, each having a name. Many of the sequoias had burn scars and some were just charred towers, no longer alive. We followed the trail to Tharp's Log. This is a fallen tree that Hale Tharp, a cattle rancher in nearby Three Rivers, CA, built a house in. He was the first white man to see the giant forest in 1869 and spent his summers in this carved out shelter. He did this until his death in 1912. We eventually made our way back to the car and were on our way around noon.

We exited the park on the road we spied from Moro Rock earlier. It was very steep and curvy. This was CA 198 and it takes us out of the park and once again into the yellow-brown grassy foothills. The first town is Three Rivers and is on the Kaweah River and Lake. Now we were back in the agricultural parts of the valley. Went through Vasilia, CA and Hanford, CA, two large towns and our elevation was back to normal, 300 feet. After Lemoore, we turned southwest on CA 41. The farms began to disappear as we approached the Sierra Madre coastal range. It was sort of desert-like out here except for the fact that everything was covered with this yellow-brown grass. At Cholame we turned on to CA 46 which took us west to Paso Robles and back to CA 41. The hills were becoming higher now as we continued west. We hit US 101 and went south for a few exits to follow CA 41 to Morro Bay. We traveled over a steep ridge, part of the Los Padres National Forest.

Soon we were in the town of Morro Bay, a seaside community. We drove around the town trying to find a beach. Driving up this seemingly deserted road took us to the wide beach and the Pacific Ocean. Down the beach a ways was Morro Rock, a huge stone mountain sitting on the beach. There was a lot of fog in the area and on top of the rock was a small cloud just sitting in place over the top of this huge stone mountain. We came to this town to find a grocery store. After searching and almost giving up hope, we found Vons. This store guarantees that everything is overpriced, we spent 70 bucks in this place! Once we got our food we traveled up the Pacific Coast Highway, CA 1.

Both Andy and I were not in the best of moods today and I think we were quite sick of one another. This was a shame since the scenery along the coast was so beautiful. We were quickly running out of gas and the gas stations were very few and extremely far between. The prices were so high that I convinced myself that I'll never come back to this part of the state again. We paid $1.99 for the cheap octane gas and this harmonica-playin', hermit pumped our gas for us. The higher grade was $2.19! This certainly took my breath away! It is especially aggravating that there are no roads connecting this highway with civilization for a 150 miles. So we were stuck. We put a couple gallons in and took off.

The coast is mountainous and filled with flowers and grass. It was unfortunate that Andy and I were so mad at each other today but we would make up by the day's end. The Sun was on its way down and I could not keep it out of my eyes. It was at such a level that the damn visor didn't help so this became annoying real quick. Looking for a place to sleep tonight, we stopped in San Simeon State Park, but it was too RV-ish for us. The Hearst Castle is here but we didn't stop to see it. Kept going north into another part of the Los Padres National Forest. Stopped in the Lucia Campground, which was perfect. It looked right out on the Pacific and was really beautiful. Unfortunately, it was full. We were not in a position to be discussing options with one another. We were holding on to our grudges tightly.

It was getting later and later and we both were getting anxious to find a place and settle in. Everything was full up to Big Sur, CA. Big Sur is a touristy area and the prices reflected that. We did find a place to stay here and we decided to settle with it even though it cost $21 to stay a night, over twice the price of other campgrounds where we've stayed (of course, we got a free hefty bag here). This whole area was a rip-off and I was getting tired of it. The people running this place looked like bikers and were not that friendly. It was dark by the time we pulled in. There were a lot of kids running around too. Where do these people come from and why do they bring their kids? This campground was deep in the woods and our neighbors were two bikers, I figure this place is known in biker groups, they must advertise to that market. I took a shower before going to bed. Andy and I decided that there wouldn't be another day on this trip that we would be mad at each other, we've come to far to let a thing like this detract from our trip.

Day 21: San Francisco to Shasta

Big Sur—San Francisco—Castle Crags State Park, California

Today felt like a new beginning since Andy and I decided that there was no point in getting angry at one another anymore. From now on there were no grudges, it was as though we had reset our minds last night, forgetting about the things that we found annoying about each other. I think this had been building for a few days and yesterday we reached critical emotional overload, resulting in the explosion.

We were heading for Oregon today. Continued up CA 1 through the residential parts of Big Sur, Carmel, and Carmel Heights, bypassing the Monterey Peninsula. Passed the Del Monte farms growing vegetables like peas and many others, so close to the beach? At Santa Cruz we got off CA 1 and picked up CA 17 north to San Jose. This was a narrow, two lane road that wound its way over the hills against the coast. We got on I-280 north to San Francisco. This was nice as far as interstates go. It was very scenic and is called the Junipero Serra Highway. It goes through the San Francisco State Fish and Game Refuge. It also runs right next to the San Andreas Rift Zone (this is comforting). In this zone are several reservoirs that are supplied by the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. This water flows from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, over 150 miles away. The aqueduct even travels over (or under) the San Francisco Bay to the east.

Passed by the familiar towns of Mountain View, Stanford, Palo Alto, and San Mateo, CA. Soon we were in San Francisco and off I-280 and onto 19th Street and CA 1 again. We went through the western part of the city with the downtown part to the east of us. This road took us through Golden Gate Park and on Park Presidio Blvd. Then it was into The Presidio, through a tunnel, and joining up with US 101 over the Golden Gate Bridge. On both sides of the bridge is the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We pulled off the highway and parked at a place for tourists located just over the bridge. There were so many people here that it was impossible to get a spot against the wall overlooking the bridge and bay. We decided to walk out onto the bridge. There were a lot of people out on the bridge and bike riders are also allowed to ride across the bridge. Many of them ride so fast that someone's going to get hit one day. We walked out about half way and looked out upon San Francisco to southeast, Alcatraz Island to the east, the Bay Bridge to Oakland, and the interesting design of the Golden Gate Bridge itself. We walked back to the car and left.

By now it was about 1:30 in the afternoon and it was looking like we would be sleeping in California again tonight. We continued up US 101 till CA 37. This road went east over the north part of the bay, the San Pablo Bay (part of the San Francisco Bay) and goes into Vallejo where we got on I-80 toward Sacramento. We traveled on this till I-505 north, which took us to I-5 north. We would be on this road for the rest of the day. It was very flat up here and still grassy and dry too. We were now in the Sacramento Valley and could see the Sierra Nevada Range to the east and the Coastal Ranges to the west.

The dry, grassy hills were slowly becoming pine covered hills until we eventually found ourselves in the lower part of the Cascade Range. Redding was the last large town we drove through before entering the Shasta National Forest and the Whiskeytown Shasta-Trinity Recreation Area which surrounds Shasta Lake. We were now back in the mountains and out of the scrubby, dry climate of the California Valleys. We decided to camp in Castle Crags State Park which was in Castella, CA, just south of the 14,162 peak of Mount Shasta. This was a nice park with nice people.

We ate well tonight; hamburgers, hot dogs, and carrots. I-5 was a little too close, we could still hear it, and an occasional freight train would pass through the area, but it was a very nice park.

Day 22: Crater Lake

Castle Crags State Park, California—Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

We both heard this scream last night in the middle of the night. It sounded like some demon child screaming. I asked the ranger as we were leaving and she said that everyone was asking her about this scream last night. She said it was probably a baby fox crying for its mother to bring food. Whatever it was I knew I didn't need to hear it again; you never know when you're in California, it could have been anything!

We drove around Mt. Shasta today, up I-5 until Weed, CA. Then we turned northeast on US 97 and drove into the Klamath National Forest. This was a desolate road, only two small towns to the Oregon border one of which had a central intersection called Malfunction Junction. Oregon was our 18th state. It was very agricultural so far, with many farms and a cow now and then. There were also many aqueducts along the side of the road and trucks everywhere. The first large town was Klamath Falls, OR on the Upper Klamath Lake. The road was wedged between the lake and the mountains and went through the Fremont and Winema National Forests. There were barriers to keep the falling rock off the road. After the town of Modoc Point, we turned up OR 62 which leads directly into Crater Lake National Park.

There was only one campground open; Mazama. We picked out a site and were ready to see the park. By now it was about 2:30 in the afternoon and our first stop was the Steel Visitor Center. Here we learned about some of the local history and picked up some information on the boat ride around the lake. Today we will explore around the rim of the lake, tomorrow we'll do the boat.

Our first stop was the Sinnott Memorial Overlook. The Crater Lake Lodge is here, built at the turn of the century. It is in danger of slipping into the lake if there is another major earthquake. The last big quake was in early fall of 1993 and was 6.0 in magnitude. This caused many landslides around the rim, including one near the lodge. The lake is the most amazing and unique thing I've laid eyes on. The color is deep, deep blue going on violet. The deepest blue sky does not compare to the color of this lake. The green trees contrast with the blue color of the lake which makes all the natural colors vibrant.

We continued along the Rim Drive to The Watchman, a high point along the rim of the lake. We climbed 400 feet to the top of the 8,013 feet peak. From the top, Mt. Shasta could be seen on a clear day as well as the lake's Wizard Island, and many other Cascade volcanoes.

Our next stop was Cloudcap, at 8,070 feet, overlooking the lake from the eastern side. After this were The Pinnacles. These are not near the lake but on a side road down a bit from the lake. They reminded me of the Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. The Pinnacles are odd formations jutting out of the canyon walls of Wheeler Creek. The difference here is that they are gray in color and made of volcanic ash instead of rock. They were formed after these glacial valleys were filled with ashflow. Fumaroles, or steam vents, formed, cooled, then erosion uncovered them to the odd gray spikes sticking out of the ground today. Some of them are hollow which makes sense if they were once fumaroles. We continued driving on the Rim Drive passing the Vidae Falls that pour down the side of the rim away from the lake into Sun Creek. By this time the sun was getting low on the horizon.

We completed the rim overlooks and went back to camp, built a fire, and ate dinner. During this time, darkness had fallen and rangers were warning campers over loudspeakers that bears roam the area and to be extra careful how we take care of our food storage. Andy and I talked for a bit around the fire then decided to put the rest of the stuff in the car. One of those things was our trash from dinner. As I was about to open the car door something moved about four feet from me and all I heard was the low pitched sound of feet thumping away. I shined the flashlight to see the tail end of a bear running away. For some reason this did not scare me and, thinking about it, there could have been more of them all around our camp, but this did not freak me out. I walked back to camp and nonchalantly told Andy what I'd seen. He was more excited than I was. Were there more out there?

Day 23: Crater Lake

Crater Lake National Park—Eugene, Oregon

Today was boat day! We woke up leisurely and got ready. Had PB&J for breakfast, which always hit hard this early in the morning.

Here's a summary of what I learned yesterday about Crater Lake. To begin with, the lake was not always a lake. It was a large volcano named Mount Mazama equal in size to those that surround it in the Cascade Range. It began forming half a million years ago and grew to about 12,000 feet. Like any mountain of this size, glaciers formed on its sides creating the signature U-shaped valleys which can be seen today along the rim. About 7,700 years ago, the volcano blew itself apart spreading six inches of ash over 5,000 square miles. The magma chamber was emptied leaving the mountain with no support. The result of this was the collapse of the mountain forming a cauldera. This cauldera cooled and filled with water creating the lake we see today. The lake is the deepest in North America at 1,932 feet (seventh deepest in the world), and is on average six miles wide. The area gets 66 inches of precipitation a year, most of which comes from the average of 588 inches of snow that falls between October and June. The lake has no inlets or outlets, so it is a closed ecological system; evaporation balances the precipitation. The elevation of the lake's surface is 6,176 feet and the rim around is about 1,400 feet higher. This is what we were going to tackle today.

There is only one trail down to the lake and it is a 1,400 foot elevation difference, therefore, most people that visit Crater Lake do not even touch its waters. Because we were going to do the boat trip around the lake, we would have to take this trail down to the lake. We made it down there in time for the noon boat. While waiting, a few hummingbirds thought my bright, red sweatshirt was food and hovered next to it. Their wings sound like a little model airplane. We were off with Steve Robinson serving as our "Naturalist Interpreter." The trip was about two hours taking us around the steep slopes of the walls and stopping at Wizard Island, the current volcanic cone that will someday grow to a sizable mountain. Unfortunately, we forgot our sunscreen and I roasted up quite nicely. There were small patches of snow near the lake's edge, in direct sunlight too. Steve said this was snow left from two winters ago when they had a bad winter.

We got off on Wizard Island for a few minutes and debated whether to stay and play for a while, catching a later boat. But we planned to make it to Eugene at a decent hour so we decided against it. The island does have trees and plants and animals on it but its soil is primarily made up of volcanic rock. These rocks are hard to walk on but great for those chipmunks to hide in.

We got back on the boat and took it over to the Phantom Ship, a small rock formation sticking out of the water. Its name comes from the fact that the small island blends right in with the cauldera walls behind it from certain vantage points. This is actually the old volcanic core that has cooled into rock, like the buttes of the southwest and Monument Valley. We returned to the docks where we walked on the boulders that make up the banks of this lake and I waded in the lake. Steve said the water in the lake is the cleanest in the world, since there are no inlets, and the temperature of the water (around 53°F at the surface and a constant 38°F below 200 feet) does not allow plants to grow in the water. The only animals in the water are fish that were introduced into the lake between 1888 to 1941. Only two of the species survive today and they aren't doing too well since there's no food for the fish to eat. Andy dove right in the water joining this old, Asian-looking man. I decided it was too cold for me. After this, we climbed back up the trail to the rim and then climbed into the car.

We were now on our way to Eugene to visit Andy's friends who had just moved there a week ago. We drove out through the Pumice Desert, regions where ash from the eruption is 50 feet deep, preventing the growth of anything but grass. This eventually connects with OR 138 east. Around here, in the middle of the Winema National Forest, the road cuts a straight path directly through the forest. The problem up here: beetles. There are signs all over the place warning drivers to watch out for fallen timber due to beetle kills; apparently they're killing all the trees up here.

Turned north on US 97 briefly then northwest on OR 58 which would take us to Eugene. It was a nice clear day and the colors in the mountains were nice and crisp. There were many recreational areas and parks along this road and almost the entire road goes through National Forests like the Winema, the Deschutes, and the Willamette. This road ducked in and out of passes and valleys, a real treat. We eventually made it back to I-5 and hopped on this highway north for a couple of exits. We were now in Eugene and it was about 5:30 or 6 P.M. Andy called his friends, Mike and Catherine, and we cruised to their place. They were having friends over, Mary Lynn and Valerie, and we all had dinner and hung out for a while. Later we watched the 11 o'clock news. The big story: trees. The first half of the news was spent on tree and tree related stories. Interesting.

Day 24: Mt. St. Helens

Eugene, Oregon—Mount Saint Helens, Washington

I woke up today around 9:30 and everyone else had gone to a meeting. They all got back around 11 A.M. and Catherine and Mike decided to come with us to Mount Saint Helens. We needed to eat somewhere and they chose the perfect place; something that characterizes the city of Eugene. The place is called the Rainy Day Café and in addition to the name, the menu also characterizes this place. It was extremely crunchy, examples: Granola... $2.75, several types of water including diet water, this baffled all of us but we didn't ask. I had the Homemade Garden Burger which was a paddy of fused vegetables served on a 7 grain bun and, of course, alfalfa sprouts. It wasn't too bad, but you had to laugh. Picked up two free papers here. I realize these free papers are usually the outlet where the outrageousness of the city presents itself. So, when I saw advertisements for 100% Hemp clothing and Sundance Natural Foods telling me how to homeopathicly cure my dog or cat and displaying the founder of this type of healing, Dr. Hahnemann, reincarnated as a black labrador retriever, I concluded that this place takes the cake.

We were on our way up I-5 by 1 P.M. We drove through Salem (haven't been through a Salem in quite some time), through Portland, and over the Columbia River into Washington State; although we almost didn't get there because some idiot decided to stop in the middle of the bridge for some inexplicable reason nearly causing an accident. All the Washington state road signs have Washington's profile on the sign with the route number stamped on the side of his head. We stopped the convoy at a rest stop where they serve free coffee, imagine them doing this in Pennsylvania. Actually, I may as well mention here that this entire region is coffee and espresso crazy. There were signs for espresso bars everywhere, from McDonalds to Subway hoagie restaurants. Out in the middle of nowhere too, very weird.

It was not long before we were at the exit for the Mount Saint Helens Visitor Center. This place was far from the volcano. It was just a few miles in from the interstate on WA 504 in Castle Rock, WA. The Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument was established in 1982, two years after the eruption. It was a cloudy day and pretty cold. Everything about this park is brand new. The buildings are modern and the roads have just been completed within the last couple years. The visitor center has a lot of interesting stuff, a film about the eruption in May of 1980 was the most interesting though. Several exhibits were about the geologic past of this region and how the recent eruption affected the people and animals surrounding the volcano.

We continued toward the volcano on WA 504. This entire area has been logged. It is a mountainous region still and the trees are taken in patches. Often there are signs with the year of the harvest and when the next harvest will occur. Now the logging companies have to replant so they take out a section of trees, replant, then harvest them in 100 years. It's odd, driving along you would see fully-grown trees for a bit and then no trees, then small trees, and it just goes on and on. The worst is seeing these entire mountains stripped of trees and all that's left are a bunch of stumps and the miles and miles of twisted dirt logging roads covering the mountain. Not a pretty sight.

It was wet out and there was a bit of mist in the air. We went out to the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center which is as close as one can get to this side of the volcano. This was a brand new center and there was a nice viewing area, even though the volcano was in the clouds. Mike and Catherine left after a while because it was going on 6 P.M. and they had a nice little drive home to Eugene. Little did Andy and I know we also had a nice little drive in front of us tonight.

We decided to try and get to the other side of the park tonight to camp. We had to go all the way back out WA 504, which was about three hours according to the Volcano Review, the paper given to us at the Visitor Center. These roads weren't made for speedin', especially when it's raining out and you're driving through clouds. Got on I-5, went north four exits, then off on US 12. The towns along this route look small and sleepy, not much action. Passed through Mossyrock, Morton, Glenoma, and in 48 miles the turnoff in Randle, WA. We stopped at the (only) store to get some food and in doing this we missed the turn. So we went ahead for a few minutes before realizing we missed WA 123 south going into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This is where we would be camping tonight, hopefully.

Once in the forest we were on National Forest Road 25. It was dark by now and I was having a hard time seeing the narrow, curvy road with all the water vapor in the air. We pulled in the Iron Creek Campground around 9 or 9:30 P.M. We couldn't see what we were doing and had to shine the car lights on everything if we wanted to see. We chose a site, paid the fee to the hosts, set the tent up, and hit the sack.

Day 25: Mt. St. Helens to Mt. Rainier

Mt Saint Helens—Mount Rainier—Vashon Island, Washington

Because we could not see our surroundings last night I was quite surprised at what I woke up to. We were in a northwestern rainforest. I didn't know there were rainforests in this country and it turns out I slept in one last night. What made this different from the other forests? The ground and all the fallen logs were covered with the thickest blanket of moss I've ever seen. This stuff was softer than wall to wall. All the branches were covered in moss that dangled down like the Spanish Moss of the Southeast. You get a sense that there is a quick rate of decomposition here, all the fallen trees I could see appeared as though they were turning into mulch before my eyes.

We left our plush spot in the woods around 9:30 and it was still cloudy and raining slightly, very cool too - probably in the lower 60s. We took National Forest Road 26 to the monument. These roads are still heavily forested, very thick. The monument is small in terms of the amount of land, it doesn't even cover the blast zone around the volcano that occurred in the eruption. Eventually, as one drives closer to the blast zone and the volcano, the forest disappears and all that remains are fallen trees and low regrowth, like wildflowers. We turned on National Forest Road 99 which leads to Spirit Lake. Along the way there are several overlooks but because it's cloudy, all we could do is read the sign and use our mind. We got to Windy Ridge, the closest overlook of the volcano and the end of the road. It was still wet outside and we both had changed into jeans and long sleeves by now. It's hard to change your pants in the car.

We left and headed for Cedar Lake and then the Harmony trailhead. Here we hiked down to Spirit Lake. This is a short trail but it's a 600 foot elevation difference. The trail lets you see up close and personal the regrowth process and the devastating effects on the trees. Near Spirit Lake the vegetation disappears and it is very rocky. Pumice and other volcanic rock are scattered throughout the entire area here. The lake is still filled with logs, it looks as though it is more than 50% full of the trees that settled in the lake after the eruption. Trees also lie on the banks where the trail meets the lake. It is remarkable to think that before the eruption, Spirit Lake was 200 feet below where it is today. The eruption caused the side of the mountain to slide into the valley where the popular Spirit Lake was. It buried all the houses and the one old guy who refused to leave, Harry Truman (no not the former president, or his son). You could say he's two hundred feet under. All the soil is gray from the ash. We hiked up, narrowly escaping the rain, and headed out of the park and back to US 12 and Randle, WA.

We stopped to get some pizza at this country bar, which posed as a restaurant in the daytime. We were now heading for Mount Rainier National Park, continuing up US 12 through Packwood and then to WA 123. This park is just beautiful; the combination of the rainforests, the alpine meadows, and the many streams and lakes were spectacular. Unfortunately, it was still cloudy and the only way we were going to see Mt. Rainier was on a postcard. We missed the Visitor Center and were halfway toward the northern boundary of the park before we turned back. There are only two main roads going through the park and we get lost. Mt. Rainier is the highest peak in Washington at 14,410 feet and has the most extensive glacial system in the lower 48 states.

We finally got on the right track taking WA 706 west along the south side of the mountain. We stopped at Box Canyon where the Cowlitz River runs between two walls of rock. It's not wide but the rock is practically vertical. We continued on to the Reflection Lakes but nothing was reflecting today, still too cloudy. Our next stop was Paradise. There was a nice visitor center here at an elevation of 5,400 feet where we looked at the exhibits and then took to the network of trails through the Alpine Meadows. On average, this part of the park gets 630 inches of snow a year. The record is 1,122 inches or 93.5 feet of snow in the winter of 1971-1972.

There is a real sense of climbing in elevation on these trails. At the bottom were many bright green grasses and wildflowers of all colors. As we went higher, the flowers and grass were not as abundant, more stone and sandy soil is exposed and fewer people were around. Higher still and we were walking in snow. We kept going and there were only a few determined tourists left. It was very rocky now and there was little vegetation. We saw this furry thing scurrying about the rocks, looked like a light brown, long slender mop. We asked a guy about 100 feet behind us if he saw it and knew what it was. He told us it was a marmot; I've never even heard of a marmot! Onward and upward. Now we could look down on snowfields and the Nisqually Glacier. We were now in the clouds and could not see the trail below that brought us here. We finally made it to Panorama Point at 6,800 feet, climbing 1,400 feet from the parking lot. Now freezing rain was coming out of the clouds and the trail we had planned to take down looked like it was closed so we had to go down the way we came.

We came out of the clouds and it was just drizzling now. We decided against going to go to the 10,000 foot Camp Muir (laugh), the base camp for the nearly 10,000 people who climb the mountain each year. We also decided not to do the 93 mile Wonderland Trail that encircles the volcano (laugh again). It was about 6 P.M. by now and we still had to go to Sharon's tonight outside of Seattle. We took a change of clothes into the visitor center, changed quickly, and were off.

As we headed out it became darker and darker. We were on WA 706 through the Snoqualmie National Forest and then turned west on WA 7. We were beginning to re-enter civilization again. WA 7 took us to Tacoma where we got on WA 512 then I-5. We went to Ruston where we had to take the $11.85 ferry to Vashon Island, where Sharon lived. We drove around the island looking for a phone to get directions to her house. Once we finally found one, Sharon's phone was busy. It was busy so long that we got some food out and had a bite to eat while waiting to get through. Eventually we drove into the town of Vashon to kill a little more time and called again. This time we were able to get through.

She lives with a bunch about her age, male and female, who share the house together. When we got there they were just hangin' out. One of them cooked a homemade pizza and we all had a piece. We talked to her roommates for a while. At 10 they all watch Star Trek, but it was one they'd seen so we continued talking. We all went to bed around 11:30 or midnight.

This house and these people really remind me of the 60s communal living thing to some extent. I mean, they're not milking their own cows or anything but there are at least five people living in the house and one's got a tent set up in the backyard for his bedroom. It seems like they're able to share so much without getting angry at one another, I really envy them and there's a part of me that could stay here, but I know another part of me would not like it and that's the ironic thing about it. It's one of those idealistic dreams I've had since high school but I know that I probably would not be able to deal with it too long.

Day 26: Seattle to Idaho

Vashon Island, Washington—Lowell, Idaho

Everyone goes to work at 9 A.M. in this house so it's a crazy time in the bathroom in the mornings. Sharon, Seth, and Andy went to Bob's Bakery at 7 A.M. while I slept. I woke up at 9:30 and Andy and I decided to do our laundry here, since they offered. While waiting we wrote postcards and we did a little planning as to where we were going to sleep tonight. Some of the people who live here work at this place that's only a stone's throw away. They trickle in for a short break now and then. As soon as the laundry finished we were on our way off the island. Before leaving though, I thought it would be nice to thank them and thought it would be funny to use the magnetic letters (the ones that kids play with) on the fan cover above the stove to do so. We stopped at the post office and then caught the ferry from the north side of the island. This ferry dropped us just south of Seattle. We were so close that we figured we would go into the city.

We took WA 99 into the city and got off at the Seneca Street exit, it looked like it would take us downtown. It was about three in the afternoon by now and our plans to get halfway to Yellowstone were not looking good unless we drove into the night. The car needed an oil change so we looked in the phone book for the nearest Jiffy Lube to get the car serviced. We had to call them for directions since all the maps of the area were ripped out of the phone books and we didn't know where anything was.

We left Seattle on I-90 east, we were now officially on our way home and would be heading east from now on - I guess it had to happen sometime. We got off the highway a few exits outside of Seattle and went to a McDonalds to ask them what town we were in. They didn't know (unbelievable) so I had to guess from the maps in their phone book (this one had maps).

We decided to go to the Jiffy Lube in Bellevue and called them for directions. Talked to this girl working the register while we were waiting for the car to be done. I think she was an American Indian, she had that type of complexion and facial features. She was very interested in the Pine Ridge Indians and the incident at Oglala. I had heard of the Incident at Oglala because it is a movie I've always seen in the movie store and thought about renting. Never did though. It's about a shootout that took place in 1975 between the FBI and members of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Leonard Peltier was convicted of the murder of two FBI agents in a case that many believe was unfair and corrupt. The federal government approached the Indian activists of the 1960s and 1970s with that Hoover style of law enforcement, a similar case a couple years back was dismissed because of misconduct by the prosecution. Peltier still remains in jail and the incident has become a rallying point for Indian activists.

We left Bellevue after trying unsuccessfully to find a post office. Got back on I-90 east around 4:30 P.M. and headed into the Cascade Range. The highway took us through the Snoqualmie National Forest again, not too far from Mt. Rainier. On the top of one of these mountains was a large statue but it was so far away we couldn't make out what it was. After we passed through the Cascades, we were now back in the dry, hilly climate. We continued on I-90 until the Columbia River, where we got off and got on WA 26 east. Out here a field of green sage looked completely out of place. It's too dry for farming so irrigation is necessary to grow anything. Towns are 50 miles apart and the scenery is beautiful. The sun was on its way down which really accentuated the rolling, brown hills.

We stopped in Washtucna after traveling on a straight road for miles and miles. We would come to the top of a hill and hope that the road would vary a bit in its direction or there would be a store or something but there wasn't. For the longest time it was just straight road for as far as the horizon would let you see. But in Washtucna there was civilization, people walking the streets, living in this small town in the middle of nowhere. Here we turned south on WA 260 and then in a bit, picked up WA 261 east. This road was curvy and took us through country that looked similar to what we had seen in Utah. We passed the Snake River on its way to the Columbia. Now it was beginning to get dark and we couldn't enjoy the marvelous sights anymore. The only town on this 30 mile road is Starbuck. Not much to it really, but an interesting name.

At US 12 we continued east, this road was a bit more populated. The towns on this road were older looking with old style buildings. At Clarkston, WA we were against the Snake River again and crossing the Idaho border into Lewiston, ID, a small city on the banks of the Snake. We soon were in the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. This area was filled with history. The road followed the Clearwater River closely and the hills were becoming mountains once again. This area is the site of several Indian battles. Lewis and Clark came through here in 1805 making contact with the Nez Perce people and the Nez Perce lived peacefully with the white man for nearly 50 years. But with the gold rush in Idaho and more and more whites coming out to settle, their land was disappearing. By 1877, the tribe decided to take action. This was the year they were forced to flee their valley on the Clearwater River and engaged in battles with whites. It would have been nice if we could have stopped to see the two parts of the Nez Perce National Historical Park but it was late. We passed through Orofino, Kamiah, and Syringa, ID and stopped at a convenience store to get gas and food. There was this kid in there who had this little, tiny dog (the kind of dog you see with ribbons tied in the tuft of hair on top of its tiny head) with bright red nail polish on its claws. It was different.

We pulled into a campground in the Nez Perce National Forest outside of Lowell, ID to spend the night. By the time we got in, it was about 11 P.M. and we were now in the mountains. It was dark out and we didn't see the transition between the dry Eastern Washington and the mountainous Northern Idaho. The Lochsa River was nearby our camp site, I could hear the water. It was interesting setting up the tent in the dark, I wonder what we'll wake up to tomorrow?