A LAND CARVED BY FIRE AND ICE IN CENTRAL OREGON

Carol writes:  As we transitioned across the Cascade Mountain Range into central Oregon, we entered vastly different topography.  The lush tree-filled landscape of the coast gave way to the high desert of an historically active volcanic region that was less forested, slightly higher and much drier than what we had seen on the other side of the Cascades. 

Our next temporary home 

was just outside of Sisters, Oregon.  We were 10 miles north of Bend, smack dab in the middle of the state.  Local tourism propaganda boasted having 300 days of sunshine a year, much like our climate in Colorado Springs, so we felt right at home.

Although heavily touristy, the tiny town of Sisters had a cozy, small-town atmosphere.  Sisters skyline was framed by a set of mountain peaks called the Three Sisters, each over 10,000 feet in elevation.  Not for the casual hiker, Three Sisters has 16 named glaciers that continue to sculpt its features today. 

It is no exaggeration to state that this region of Oregon has a world-class volcanic landscape.  Many of our activities over the next two weeks would revolve around exploring the volcanic features of this very special place on Earth.

We like to visit towns near our campgrounds to get a feel for what life is like for its residents.  At an elevation of 3600 ft, the moderate-sized city of Bend struck us as extremely livable.  Residents were friendly, obvious lovers of the outdoors, and appeared very health conscious.  

Bend was established along a “bend” of the Deschutes River in the early 1900s.  On this day,  the riverfront was more lovely than ever at the “bend.”

Pricey upscale “cottages” lined the shoreline.

A nice hike along the Deschutes River at Tumulo State Park revealed Ponderosa pine forests that were reminiscent of our former home in Colorado Springs.

Driving through miles of Ponderosa pines to the summit of McKenzie Pass led us to volcanic terrain along a road that was literally carved through the lava flow along the same pathway as an historic wagon route. 

Of interest at the top was Dee Wright Observatory, an open observation shelter built out of lava stone in the 1930s by the CCC.  

Cleverly, the builders positioned the tower’s viewing windows so that they framed nearby surrounding mountain peaks, like this one of Mt. Washington.

By a stroke of fortune for us, McKenzie Pass is along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), so seizing the chance to hike a few miles along the famous PCT was irresistible.

After a mile or so through a forested trail that was softly carpeted with sand and pine needles, we came to the beginning of an 8-mile section across a lava flow.     

At times, the footing was treacherous.  A few hundred yards on the trail in the lava flow was all we needed for the experience… 

At this spot along the trail, 

we met a young woman with a heavily loaded backpack.  She said she had just restocked and was carrying a week’s worth of water and food.  She was in great spirits and sounded proud to be nearing the end of her hiking adventure along the Pacific Crest Trail—a 2650-mile trek from Mexico to Canada!  Just like in the movie The Wild!  She said she had started at the southern end in April and predicted an early October arrival at the Canadian border.  We were in awe!

We can usually count on the National Park System to preserve some of our country’s most precious geologic landforms, and so it was at Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  With a lava flow covering nearly 1200 square miles in central Oregon’s high desert, Newberry Volcano claims to be an undiscovered gem, even though it is one of the largest volcanoes in North America.  The most recent eruption was only 1300 years ago, merely the blink of an eye in geologic time.  The abrupt border of such a “recent” eruption looked like the lava had stopped flowing only a few days ago…

To us, Newberry Volcano was an absolute geologic marvel!  Hiking through a wondrous giant obsidian flow was like visiting another planet.

Tiny magnetite crystals (iron oxide) give obsidian its black color.  Obsidian is considered rare and is found in only a few locations throughout the world.  At Newberry Volcano obsidian boulders were huge!

There were numerous reachable samples along the trail for visitors to hold for photographs, but no sample-taking was allowed.

There was the occasional artful rock cairn,

along with one astounding obsidian outcrop after another.

From the trail of the obsidian flow, we had a distant view of the caldera at Paulina Peak—our next destination.  

From a vantage point at nearly 8000 ft, we anticipated quite a view from the top.

Only a panoramic shot could capture the entirety of the stunning scene that lay below.

We could appreciate the enormity of the Newberry caldera, 5 miles in diameter, with two distinct lakes.  The impressive size of the obsidian flow we had just hiked on could be seen in the righthand corner.

A close-up of the obsidian flow was also dramatic.

Turquoise-tinted Paulina Lake appeared cold, clear, and deep.

In any ranking of the best Oregon state parks, certainly Smith Rock State Park has to rank very near the top. 

Although it doesn’t appear obvious to the untrained eye, the geology of the park is volcanic.  Thirty million years ago, hundreds of feet of volcanic ash and debris filled a giant caldera that was formed by the collapse of rocks overlying an underground chamber of molten rock.  Erosion by the Crooked River has exposed sheer cliffs of this compressed volcanic ash, which now attracts rock climbers from all over the globe.  

Despite the ominous implications of the name, we elected to try the 4-mile Misery Ridge Trail, with the goal of hiking 500 feet up to the top of Smith Rock Tuff, the park’s dominant rock feature.

The trail began easily enough with a 1-1/2-mile stroll along the Crooked River.  So far, we were rockin’ this hike, enjoying the whimsical rock cairns placed in naturally pitted rock walls along the trail…

Eventually, however, some serious elevation gain had to be negotiated by means of a series of very steep switchbacks in the last surge to the top.

Just short of the summit, we had a great vantage point to observe some of the more expert climbers on Monkey Face.

We could appreciate why they named it Monkey Face…

The views from the top were thrilling.  Volcanic cones, interspersed with pricey homes, peppered the landscape.  The grandness of the eastern Oregon high desert was on full display, and we paused for a long time to take it in.

In many ways the climb down Misery Ridge was more difficult than the trail coming up.  Our pace was slow since we had to be mindful of the danger of slipping on gravel as our quads became more fatigued with each step.  Speaking for myself, I was glad to see the bridge over the Crooked River that we had crossed 5 hours ago back at the start of the hike. 

The joy of our visit to the “fire and ice” Bend/Sisters area was more than we had anticipated.  Even though geologic time moves at a very slow pace, in the world-class volcanic landscape of central Oregon, some cataclysmic events appeared as if they had occurred just last week.  Other geologic features, like Smith Rock, required a bit more imagination to appreciate its volcanic origin.  The glaciation taking place on Three Sisters isn’t discernible in a lifetime.  It was all good…  

LAYERS OF OREGON HISTORY AROUND SALEM

Carol writes:  The above meme was taken from the writings of Ken Kesey, one of the late writers of the “Beat Generation.”  In simple terms, the “Beat” movement consisted of a post-WW II group of writers and thinkers who challenged conformity.  The “Beat Generation” felt beaten down by the routines of their day and desired to step out of traditional lifestyles.  “Beat” author Ken Kesey chose the setting of an Oregon mental hospital to make his point in one of the seminal novels of the 1960s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The movie version of Kesey’s novel won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and ever since, Jack Nicholson’s leading role performance has soared to classical brilliance in Hollywood movie lore. 

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed over 3 months in 1975 at the Oregon State Hospital for the insane.  Ninety actual patients participated in the film, but in a brilliantly crazy turnabout, the casting directors decided that in most scenes patients would play doctors and doctors would play patients!

Our visit to museum of the Oregon State Hospital was a sobering one.  

Displays of equipment used in barbaric mental illness treatments, like lobotomy tables, along with personal stories of former patients that recounted heartbreaking practices,

demonstrated how far we have come in more modern treatment of mental illness.

One of the most dramatic historic displays was in an old hospital building from 1896.  The empty metal urns of former patients that were discovered on the hospital grounds were thoughtfully displayed behind a glass window.  The urns were preserved in their 2004 original state of recovery.

Unclaimed cremains of patients who died at the hospital between 1913 and 1971 were cemented into niches in the courtyard wall.

On a much more uplifting note, we decided to pay a visit to Silver Falls State Park when we read that the park has laid claim to being the crown jewel of the Oregon state park system.  By this time, having been to a fair number of Oregon state parks, I can say that although Silver Falls wouldn’t be my #1 pick, the waterfalls were pretty neat…

Ancient Oregon history from a time of volcanoes, lava flows and falling ash were instrumental in creating the landscape of brilliant waterfalls that is now Silver Falls State Park.

Along a winding creek on the canyon floor, the 7.2-mile Trail of 10 Falls more than fulfilled our daily tracker goal.  I must admit that the waterfalls were gorgeous and numerous…

Natural pathways behind some of the waterfalls made for interesting photographs.

The arrival of Oregon’s first European settlers led us to the story of Willamette Mission, which was established along the banks of the Willamette River in 1834 by Rev. Jason Lee.  Rev. Lee had traveled to Oregon from the east to minister to the Native Americans.  The original Willamette Mission has been rebuilt as a ghost structure at the original site on the Willamette River.

Flooding along the Willamette necessitated moving the mission to a locale known as the prairie of Chemeketa.  Here missionaries constructed a sawmill, two residences and a school which would become the nucleus for the city of Salem.  This story was beautifully illustrated at the Willamette Heritage Center, where an old textile mill,

with excellent displays featuring the turn-of-the-century textile industry, created an authentic walk back through time.

This old building housed displays on each step in the process of creating the Thomas Kay woolen fabrics that were so popular at the time.

A self-guided tour of a handful of historic structures that have been moved to the site nicely supplemented the tale of that era in Salem history.

We found the labor-intensive process of woolen fabric production to be a fascinating illustration of human ingenuity that just might have lit a fire in this quilter’s belly to get back to knitting again.  Certainly, the possibilities for creative expression in the yarn shop were tempting to me….

Oregon was admitted to the Union in 1959 as our 33rd state.  The architects of today’s Oregon State Capitol Building adopted a different architectural design than the typical classic dome style we are accustomed to seeing at other state capitols.  Salem’s first two state capitols burned down.  On the third attempt, an Art Deco design was chosen and was dedicated in 1938.

The typical state capitol tour took us through both legislative chambers

and into Gov. Kate Brown’s ceremonial office.

Impressive views of the Capitol grounds

and nearby historic Willamette University

made the 121-step climb to the outdoor observation deck at the top of the rotunda well worth the effort.

Down below, a short stroll along the ole mill creek running through the lovely  Willamette University campus,

with the aim of getting an afternoon coffee fix at the Student Union, gave us plenty of amusement as we watched groups of students participating in orientation for the start of their freshman year.

As we aim our travels toward the East Coast for Al’s October 2019 50th reunion at the Naval Academy, we are reminded of a turn of events that “made all the difference,” as the saying goes.  As a senior in high school, Al had received notice in the mail that he was selected for a naval ROTC scholarship at Oregon State University in Corvallis, so that was where he intended to pursue his college education.  Later, when the letter of acceptance for the United States Naval Academy arrived in the mail, Al’s life story took a huge turn in another direction.  

We have always wondered what difference a degree from Oregon State, as opposed to one from the Naval Academy, would have made in his life, but that’s a question that can only be settled with speculation.  Meantime, we thought it would be interesting to visit that Corvallis Oregon campus Al had never even seen before.

Located in the heart of the Willamette Valley, lies Oregon State University, with a student population of around 25,000.  In addition to being a major research university, OSU is also an athletic powerhouse.  On our campus stroll, one hundred-year-old athletic venues contributed to the sports nostalgia that is an integral part of campus lore.

The classic dome style of Memorial Union,

the neoclassical Valley Library,

and eye-pleasing Weatherford Hall

created an ambience fitting for such a storied university.

Even though our campus visit was a somewhat superficial one, it was Al’s feeling that he would have probably been happy at OSU had “the dice rolled” a different way…

And finally, that brings us to present-day Salem.  We took advantage of our only opportunity thus far to visit a state fair.  During our stay in Salem, the 153rd Oregon State Fair was in full swing.  Long past the age of enjoying carnie rides, the craft venues and barns of farm animals held the most interest for us.  Cows, horses, goats, adorable pigs,

and chicken judging kept us quite amused.  I still can’t understand why having a chicken walk a perfectly controlled straight line is part of chicken judging...

The subject of farming brings me to my last point of discussion.  On an excursion out of town one day, we spotted vast fields of very long vines suspended on trellises as much as 20 ft. tall!  We had never seen anything like this before…

Recalling that the Willamette Valley’s fertile soil, moderate climate and plentiful rainfall equals ideal conditions for growing hops, a closer look at one of those vines confirmed our suspicion—it was hops, those marvelous cone-shaped flowers that impart character to beer!

Vast impressive hop fields was further validation of a conclusion that we had already reached during our Oregon travels—that is, the state of Oregon sure has a lot of positives going for it.  Now, adding significantly to the positives was the fact that Oregon is among the top 3 states in beer production...