Sunday, October 22, 2023. We’ve been home for nearly two weeks. One thing or another has put completing this blog on the back burner but today it’s going live! Hope you enjoy the read!
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Our drive home totaled 831 miles, mostly on US Highway 97 which parallels the eastern front of the Cascade Mountains. As with the Sierras farther down south the eastern slope is more protected from Pacific storms. We’ll be going through some dry grasslands which will transition to juniper, then pine as the elevation increases.
Our trek towards home began on October 5th. We left Wenatchee River County Campground around 0900 hours and chose not to backtrack on US 97 south towards Maryhill State Park.. Instead we headed east. Seems like the wrong direction, right? This seemingly wrong-headed route actually is a little longer, 13 miles longer, than taking the direct route, US 97, yet there is no twisty mountain driving up and over long grades which drops our speed from mach 1 to maybe 35-45 miles per hour- and no 20 minute road construction delays.
So we head over the Columbia River to East Wenatchee and head south on WA 28 which follows the east bank of the Columbia River for quite a ways. It then turns east towards Quincy WA, a town of 7800 folks that we didn’t drive into, then south on County 281 to Interstate 90. Heading west on the 90, we cross the Columbia once more and pick up US 97 southbound at Ellensburg. Even though we traveled 13 miles farther, travel time was cut by a half an hour. And no 20 minute construction delays either.
So now we are back tracking down US 97 traveling through Yakima and the Yakima Nation including Toppanish (8854 souls). Fuel is $4.49 a gallon on the Rez yet I don’t see a fueling station that has suitable access. Our destination today is Maryhill State Park, Washington, located adjacent to the US 97 bridge that crosses the Columbia into Oregon. The park is large, divided about equally between campground and a large day use area. Both are mowed green grass with most campsites sites under trees. We spend the night. Jim and Connie come to visit.
On October 6th we continue south on US 97 crossing the Columbia River bridge to Biggs, Oregon. Biggs isn’t much more that a couple of truck stops, maybe a couple of restaurants and now a hotel. We head up the hill out of the Columbia Gorge onto the steppe. We travel through rolling grassland for some distance drinking in the views of at least three snow capped volcanic peaks- Hood, Jefferson and Washington. We gradually climb into juniper, then pine country. We descend a very long hill and come into Madras (6100 souls) . It’s a little smokey…………
Madras lies in a fertile round valley- its very scenic with green grass and hay fields complete with horses, donkeys and cows everywhere one looks. Of note is a large company conducted a field trial of GMO bentgrass which resulted in pollen spreading the transgene, which is Roundup reistant over an area of 120 square miles. Because the grower could not remove all the the genetically engineered plants the US Dept. of Agriculture fined it $500,000. The town is home to the Erickson Aircraft Collection of airworthy vintage aircraft.
The Safeway store has an auto fueling station where we receive a small discount- and we’ll need it as we haven’t fueled since we left Hillsboro the last of July and the 100 gallon fuel tank is thirsty. Our 10 cent a gallon discount is only good for 25 gallons so the rest is full price. All told we purchased 79 gallons of fuel for a mere $4.799 a gallon or $379. Yikes!. Believe it or not, that was cheap compared to price of diesel in Washington where it was $5.79 a gallons everywhere except on the Rez!
From Madras we drove east on US 26 into Prineville (10,736 souls), a little town that has 4 traffic signals with cars backed up between all of them. Sheesh! Speed limit is 20 mph and we might have averaged 10 due to traffic. Prinevlle is located on the Crooked River. The town was founded in 1877, and snubbed by the railroad. Rather than die, the community built its own railroad! Its timber industry prospered for many years.
On the other side of town we take Juniper Canyon Road south 15 miles to Prineville Reservoir State Park, the last couple of miles is 25 mph twists and turns down into the canyon where the reservoir lies. The weather is a warm 80 degrees without the benefit of tall pine trees for shade, only small junipers and a few oaks. It’s a dusty campground but pretty nice. We are located a couple of hundred yards from the water. The reservoir level is down but that’s expected from a small reservoir that’s used for agriculture. There is no cell service so us electronic junkies have a backup- our Dish Network is not activated but I was able to access its DVR, so we have some old TV series and a movie or two to entertain ourselves when not exploring.
It’s October 8th, and we are heading south on US 97,then east on the Volcanic Legacy Highway (OR138) to Diamond Lake RV Park located along side…… da,da,da,dah! Diamond Lake, Oregon!
After driving through the beautiful city of Bend (83,000 souls) we stop at Lava Lands Visitor Center, the interpetive hub of Newberry National Volcanic Monument. One can drive to the top of Lava Butte and hike some trails though the lava beds.
Once at Diamond Lake one can visit a lodge about 3 miles north of the campground. A couple of very large USFS campgrounds are located on the east side of the lake. We are back in tall pine country with the very prominent 9100′ Mt. Thielsen overlooking the lake. Again we find no cell service for a total of 4 days in a row. We are starting to go through withdrawals……..
The purpose of our stay is to visit nearby Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is truly a wonder of nature. Mt. Mazama erupted 7700 years ago, triggering the collapse of its tall peak. Scientists marvel at the lake’s purity- fed by rain and snow, its the deepest lake (1943′) in the USA, is approximately 6 miles in diameter, and one of the most pristine on Earth. Wizrd Island was formed by volcanic activity ceasing 4400 years ago. One can hike the strenuous Cleetwood Cove Trail which drops 700′ down to lake level- we pass. In-park accommodations include Crater Lake Lodge, The Cabins at Mazama Village and Mazama Campground. It’s cloudy and rainy during our visit so photos aren’t the best. The night we left it snowed up at the lake.
On October 10th we broke camp in a light rain, head back to US97 and head south for 247 miles to Susanville. We pass the very large Klamath Lake which measures 25 miles by 8 miles and skirt the city of Klamath Falls (21,813 souls). Heading down OR 139 we stop at Tulelake (902 souls) to stretch, then continue on. The Oregon highway designation of 139 changes at the California border and the road designation is now CA 39.
CA 39 leaves the flats near Tulelake National Wildlife refuge and gradually climbs back into the pines. At the intersection of CA 39 and CA 299 we turn left towards Alturas (2,715 souls) the seat of Modoc County. The city is located at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Pit River. The town was established shortly after the Dorris Brothers established a bridge across the river. The town was named Dorrisville in 1871 and later Alturas, meaning heights in Spanish.
We join US 395 southbound passing through the tiny burg of Likely (53 souls). The town was somewhat larger in its beginning (75 souls) and needed a name other than its given name, South Fork. The post office required a short name, the townsfolk argued over names as a rancher observed that it wasn’t likely that they’d agree on one. That’s how Likely got its name……. and the Likely post office opened in 1886. The Likely Peat Company operated in nearby Jess Valley strip mining high quality hypnum peat moss until 1987.
South of Likely are several establishments, none as large as Likely with names as Sage Hen, Madeline, Termo and Ravendale. If you blinked you’d miss civilization. We pass through arid country, enter an interesting volcanic area studded with junipers, then head downhill to Susanville CA (16,728 souls) for the night. Susanville RV Park is our go to overnighter in Susanville. The former logging and mining town is now home to two prisons with one in nearby Herlong. We are only 80 miles from home when we stop here for the evening.
On October 11 we pack up, pick up, jacks up and head for home. The ride is uneventful. We notice as we pass shallow Honey Lake that the heavy winter has been good for it. There’s plenty of water in the lake this year compared to last.
We travel through the interestingly named Hallelujah Junction allegedly named by emigrants back in the 1850’s as they rejoiced at the sighting of the low Beckwourth Pass and the easy passage beyond to California.
In less than two hours we were home, unpacking perishables and toting 3 months worth of accumulated canned goods and clothing into the house. A few neighbors see us and welcome us home. Now all we need to do is clean both the RV and toad inside and out and winterize the water system on the RV.
Oh yeah, the summer was good for growth in our gardens so we’ll be busy trimming and pruning plants, removing spent growth all the while watching the trees change into their beautiful fall colors, then drop their leaves. Fall in four season country is beautiful but messy. We’ll be raking leaves for quite a while but the color fall brings is worth it. And we have a lot of catching up to do with our neighbors……
Jil and I hope you enjoyed your ride along with us the last three months. Until our next adventure- Adios!