Oregon east to Idaho

Tuesday August 5th We left CA this morning and arrived in Roseburg OR to visit with Aunt Fran. Her daughter Claire and son in law Mike also came over. We went out to dinner and had a real nice visit. Headed back to camp a few miles south of Roseburg afterward. Wednesday morning we fueled up and got groceries then headed to Diamond Lake. Missed two photo opportunities while leaving Roseburg. The first one was a man riding his bike going downhill playing his guitar. By the time I found the camera he was at the bottom of the hill just riding again and we were about to turn left away from him. Wished I’d got that one lol. The next shot was a few miles out from there. I guess I thought we were in a more urban area and what do I need a camera for? Surprise. This time it was a man carrying/dragging a wooden cross. The cross had to be at least 12’ and he was dragging it along with a red cloth on the bottom end of it. Too weird, but again, I didn’t have my camera ready.

At Diamond Lake we got very lucky and got a beautiful site right on the water.

Reserved it for 4 nights to take us through the weekend. Walked around the campground (Natl) and settled in to relax. We spent our days biking around Diamond Lake, hiking around, driving up to Crater Lake and just plain relaxing. On our bike ride I didn’t take the camera again. I’m really getting bad about that. About half way around the lake MM stops right in front of me and I almost run into him. There, about 30’ just off the trail is a bear. MM says that when he stopped it was just about to cross the path, when I stopped it was on its’ hind quarters looking up at us. Anyway, he sat and looked at us for a while and we looked at him. He finally got down on all four and crossed the path. We waited a few minutes to make sure there wasn’t another one then continued on our way. I remember he was black with some reddish on him and he had a white diamond on his chest. When reporting the siting to the ranger he said it was probably a very old bear. Wish I’d had the camera. We were amazed also by the swarms of butterflies and dragonflies. We would ride through them and they would just scatter. Lots and lots of butterfly kisses lol.

The afternoon and evenings were spent watching the sunset across the lake behind the mountains, reading and just plain relaxing.

Our trip to Crater Lake was very interesting. At 2,943 feet deep, it is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the deepest in the world.

The eruption that collapsed Mt Mazama was the largest in North America for hundreds of thousands of years. The lake that formed in its shattered remnants is one of the purest and most pristine in the world. Snow blankets the landscape for eight or nine months of the year. Wildflowers bloom late and disappear quickly in the harsh pumice soil, thriving only along streams. As well as the beautiful Crater Lake, we saw a beautiful waterfall and many deer.

Vidae Falls

The area was positively beautiful, but this morning (Sunday) we had to continue our journey east. We travelled all of Oregon from Diamond Lake, about 350 miles. Lots of miles, but at least not bad roads in any way. The vistas along the way were absolutely beautiful. I think they describe it as "high deserts". Desert scape on the mountains. Then what I can only think of a a "great basin" - lots of mountains coming together to form a "great basin". Absolutely breathtaking travels today.