Crater Lakeanyth

As we left Roseburg we drove through undulating grass covered hills until they soon morphed into pine covered mountains. We followed the Umpqua River valley most of the time as as we headed toward it's source and the junction with the Rogue River. These are classic mountain rivers racing over rapids through rugged basault valleys churning through rapids as they wear away at the rocks in their path.
Unfortunately the magic became muted as we encountered heavy smoke and fire warning signs. As we drove we were wondering if we were going to get through to Crater Lake. When we were halted at by a woman waving a stop sign there was no effort made to tell us what was happening but after three or four minutes an escort vehicle appeared around the bend. After a brief chat with his co workers he lead us through the next 5 to 10 miles. This area still had the river on our right most of the time but the fire had been right down to the road with occassional jumps across. There was also occassional fire blackened debrie lying where it had been cleared away. By the time our escort left us we were quite a bit higher and the smoke had thinned. We drove on to Diamond Lake which is Crater Lakes neighbour.
We stopped for a break and to have a look at the lake which is huge and vanishd into the smoke haze. We chatted to a fisherman who had just pulled his boat out of the Lake and he told us that they had caught 18 Rainbow Trout but only kept four to eat as the others were too small. He said we could see them if we went ino the fish cleaning shed where his partner was preparing them. The shed turned out to be a very sophisticated,  fly screened building with stainless steel sinks and plenty of running water from well positioned outlets. The trout were beauties, by then all ready for the pan. The man described his boat as a "river boat". It was sturdy metal with a curved flat bottom to slide over river rocks. He admitted that it rocked a bit if the Lake was anything except glassy smooth. The breeze had come up and that was why they had stopped fishing,
We drove on  to the North entrance to Crater Lake only to discover it was closed due to the fire which was in the National Park. We then had to drive around to the western entrance which was fortunately closer to our overnight destination. When we arrived at the Park and stood on the caldera of the old volcano overlooking the Crater Lake it was all worthwhile. The Lake was 1900 feet below us, 4 miles by 6 miles in diameter, 1900 feet deep and clear blue. The smoke haze detracted from the colour slightly but couldn't spoil the effect. We couldn't drive around the West Rim due to the fire but the East Rim was accessible right around to where the Northern access road came in. We drove and walked taking in all the explanatory signs. The volcano has a history going back 400,00 years forming a mountain 14,000 feet high. 7700 years ago the accumulation of magma below was so great that when it erupted it blew the mountain away across about 6 states. The crater base solidified except for a couple of minor eruptionns  and gradually filled with snow melt and rain water. They receive at least 15 feet of snow per year so this plus rain keeps the water level stable.
When we headed to Medford we made one further stop at the Canyon of the Rogue River. This is near the headwaters and is where the water has forced it's was through old lava tubes on its way to join the Umpqua. The result is a fiercely contrained river which had earned it the title of the "wild" Rogue.
Our receptionist recommended the Irish Pub Downtown for dinner so we had a leisurely walk and a goood meal to round off the day

More photos, the scenery was so lovely I can't help myself.

Lighthouse Bay.

Defoe Bay.

Tsunamis are a real threat. This informaton board shows all the nearby fault lines. Amazingly people still build in vulnerable spots like the house in the photo above.

Photos from the 101

Elk in the Pasture.

Descrption of Captain Cook's visit.

View of Foul Weather Cape from the 500 foot cliffs.

Beautiful view from our picnic table at Elktown.

To Roseburg down the 101. Mon 11/9

Today we headed south again along the Pacific Scenic Hway. The first overlook we stopped at was at Foul Weather Cape. We discovered that this had been named by Captain Cook on the first leg of the journey which ultimately brought him to Australia. He named it after he had battled the wind for seven days and was in exactly the same position. While we were there we read the sign board about the local wildlife including the Grey Whales whose juveniles often spend the Autumn months in the Bay. Then we saw one. He/she was mooching along surfacing every so often and spouting as it surfaced. The further South we traveled the fewer rocky headlands there were and more beaches. There were lots of lakes and the rivers all had huge deltas where the  birds were feeding. At Reedsport we turned West to go over to Roseburg to be closer to Crater Lake which is our goal tomorrow. Soon after the turn we saw a wildlife viewing roadside bay with people using binoculars. We surmised they were looking for elk since there had been a warning sign. Assuming that they were up in the tree line we did not stop. Imagine our delight when about 5 miles down the road there was a small herd grazing in a pasture quite close to the road. Photos in the next posting. We had the usual hunt for a lunch spot but fortunately we weren't famished. However after watching for a picnic spot for a while we were pleased to find that the small town of Elktown had a city park beside the river with tables under shady trees. The weather has warmed up again today so we were grateful for the shade. We have discovered that Roseburg is a very sprawling town so when our host recommended the Chinese restaurant next door we took him at his word. We ordered a dish each and even there the meals were HUGE. We had no chance of finishing them but it was not because we didn't enjoy them.

Photos from Oregon Sun 10/9

View from a lookout on the highway.

There are some amazing bridges of this style because there are lots of estuaries  and marshes.

Nice caravan park tucked in under the trees by the beach and in a tsunami vulnerable spot. We have been following the events of cyclones Harvey and Irma and contributing in  a minor way in supermarkets by allowing them to "round up " our change. Very glad we are holidaying in the NW not the SE of USA.

Lincoln City Oregon Sun 10/9

We were up early this morning and had walked to the car park and brought the car back to the Hostel by 8am in time for breakfast. Wonder of wonders the sky was clear and the sun was shining. We were on the road by 9am and being Sunday morning it was easy to leave the city. We drove the main highway south to leave Washington State and enter Oregon because this was the most direct path. The highway was busy enough but not frantic because there were few trucks. As one loomed up beside us doing more than his 60 mph Bob commented that it felt like being the lettuce leaf in a BLT.   Not far out of Seattle Mt Rainier appeared ahead of us. At 14,411 feet  it reared above it's low personal cloud bank. I was just disappointed that it's misty cloak at that hour of the morning meant it was pointless to try for a photo.
 The first 40 miles were just a continuous urban sprall from Seattle. I forgot to mention yesterday that Seattle is the home base for Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing. We were told when travelling on the Trolley that Amazon employs an estimated 20% of the city's work force and it is expected to rise to 25% next year. They have purchased apartment blocks for their employees so that they can live close to work. Bill Gates is dog friendly and their head quarters have a floor set aside for employees dogs while they are at work. How the other half lives.
We were able to leave Hway 5 after two hours of steady driving and moved to the quieter Hway 101 which follows the Pacific Coastline all the way to the California border. We had a few tense moments when we pulled into a State Park to have our lunch and discovered the usual fee. Bob said he was not b----  well paying a day use fee  for half an hours use of a picnic table. We decided to detour to the boat launching area prior to the honour box and and found picnic tables there. The other slightly disconcerting feature was the roadside warnings that we were driving through tsunami vulnerable areas.
The coastline is beautiful with sandy beaches not dissimilar to ours interspersed with rocky headlands, pines right to the water and holiday towns. As we drove further south the towns were more spread apart by rural activites such as cattle and pigs. We couldn't see the latter but we could certainly smell them. At one stage we passed through a very threatening cloud band but this didn't last for long and the day remained cool but sunny. A nice change.
Tonight we are comfortably ensconced in a motel a stones throw from a seafood restaurant.  Photos separately.

Seattle Day 2

This was the morniing set aside for the "hop on, hop off " troĺley. The bus stops were not particularly  well marked so we had another walk past the markets before we tracked one down. The day was cool and even threatened rain so it was good weather for sitting is the enclosed area. The commentary was interesting and we saw most of the run by the time we decided to hop off at the waterfront for a cup of clam chowder and a shared fish (halibut) and chips. By then it was attractive to wander through the shopping area and we found some bargains in Maceys. This then requird some rest and recuperation and we retired to our room and spent some time planning the route down through Oregon and northern California for our last week.
Bob still hadn't found a pair of sneakers he had been hunting so we checked out Google and walked back up to Downtown to Nordstrum Rack. Nordstrum's is the swankiest shop in Seattle but Rack is their outlet store next door. The shop was packed with their last seasons unsold items. Bob quite quickly found a pair of sneakers that he was delighted with at a very low price. Then he suggested I take a turn even though I knew I had done my dash with shoes. Wonder of wonders I found a pair of Sketches golf shoes for $20. Irresistible.
By then it was late evening and we headed for the waterfront looking for somewhere to eat. It was beautiful down there with everything from the ferris wheel down brightly lit in neon. By the time we walked up to the markets we discovered that they close up early even on a Saturday night. We chose a nearby restaurant and had  a pricey and our

first disappointinng meal. You can't win them all.

The photo is of an amazing building housing a museum of Pop Culture.

A fantastis playground for children.

The famous Space Needle built for the World Fair in the 1960's