My early morning walk took me by the huge Boise Cascade Log Yard and Veneer Factory. They have forklifts big enough to unload an entire tractor trailer truck of logs in just a few seconds. Here is a short video showing this.
And here are a couple of photos of the log yard.
Interestingly, they prohibit weapons (even if you have a permit) and require steel toed boots - I guess they are truly concerned about safety.
At the entrance to the Brookside Inn where we are staying, there is a memorial to those who served in World War II.
White City has many businesses and residences, but it shows up online as an unincorporated area - no municipal government. I saw vehicles with this logo, so I will need to do more research.
The Brookside Inn is on Crater Lake Highway, Oregon Route 62 - so after breakfast, it was easy to navigate our way to Crater Lake National Park. We simply followed Route 62 and then turned onto the Volcano Legacy Scenic Byway which takes you into the south entrance to the park. Our first stop was at the historic buildings where the administrative offices and visitor info are located. These were outside of and at the base of the caldera of the volcano that formed the lake.
We then went west on Rim Drive to ascend up to the rim of the caldera. We parked near the Rim Visitor Center and explored the many things there. First, we looked at Wizard Island and the lake.
Then we learned about how they measured the depth in the 1880s and how deep they have confirmed to show that this is the deepest lake in the USA.
They get a lot of snow at the lake, not surprising since the Rim Visitor Center is at 7,100 feet above sea level. We saw snow at several locations. The north rim road does not open until July 15 because of the snow.
There are forest fires burning on the west side of the park, so trails there are closed. Here is a copy of the air quality outlook for the area. Our hotel was just outside of Medford.
We then went to the Sinott Memorial Outlook - an amazing building and trail built into the side of the caldera.
We had learned about Stephen Mather, the founder and first superintendent of the National Park Service when we visited the Great Basin Desert National Park in June - here was another plaque honoring his actions and vision.
We continued east, eventually getting to the historic Crater Lake Lodge.
We then got our backpacks and started out on the Discovery Point Trail. It is rated as easy - we found it became increasingly steeper and narrower as we went out. To the right, you could fall into the caldera and to the left you could fall down a cliff onto the road. Since I was not having fun, after a half mile or so, we decided to return back to our car.
We then went on the East Rim Road to Vidae Falls picnic area and found a nice place for our lunch. After lunch, we continued east to the Sun Notch for a nice mile hike that took us out to good views of the Phantom Ship Island.
We continued east to the Plaikni Falls Trail and hiked out to a beautiful area fed by melting snow (there is no outflow from Crater Lake) - a nice set of waterfalls and colorful wildflowers.
Then we drove to the Pumice Castle Overlook and learned about how the pumice was laid down, then compressed by higher levels of softer material that has eroded, leaving this orange shape on the side of the caldera.
Our last stop of the day was Cloudcap Overlook. At 7,865 feet, it is the highest elevation with a paved road in Oregon. We learned about the scraggly looking trees that manage to survive both the winds and the elevation (not to mention the snow and the many tourists).
We decided to not continue on around the lake, as the smoke from the forest fires seemed to be getting worse, plus they are repaving the road on the west side of the lake. So we backtracked along the east rim and headed back to the hotel, calling it a day after exploring these parts of Crater Lake.
And here are a couple of photos of the log yard.
Interestingly, they prohibit weapons (even if you have a permit) and require steel toed boots - I guess they are truly concerned about safety.
At the entrance to the Brookside Inn where we are staying, there is a memorial to those who served in World War II.
White City has many businesses and residences, but it shows up online as an unincorporated area - no municipal government. I saw vehicles with this logo, so I will need to do more research.
The Brookside Inn is on Crater Lake Highway, Oregon Route 62 - so after breakfast, it was easy to navigate our way to Crater Lake National Park. We simply followed Route 62 and then turned onto the Volcano Legacy Scenic Byway which takes you into the south entrance to the park. Our first stop was at the historic buildings where the administrative offices and visitor info are located. These were outside of and at the base of the caldera of the volcano that formed the lake.
We then went west on Rim Drive to ascend up to the rim of the caldera. We parked near the Rim Visitor Center and explored the many things there. First, we looked at Wizard Island and the lake.
Then we learned about how they measured the depth in the 1880s and how deep they have confirmed to show that this is the deepest lake in the USA.
They get a lot of snow at the lake, not surprising since the Rim Visitor Center is at 7,100 feet above sea level. We saw snow at several locations. The north rim road does not open until July 15 because of the snow.
There are forest fires burning on the west side of the park, so trails there are closed. Here is a copy of the air quality outlook for the area. Our hotel was just outside of Medford.
We then went to the Sinott Memorial Outlook - an amazing building and trail built into the side of the caldera.
We had learned about Stephen Mather, the founder and first superintendent of the National Park Service when we visited the Great Basin Desert National Park in June - here was another plaque honoring his actions and vision.
We continued east, eventually getting to the historic Crater Lake Lodge.
Some of the trees really struggle to survive at this elevation, especially with the winds that come.
We then got our backpacks and started out on the Discovery Point Trail. It is rated as easy - we found it became increasingly steeper and narrower as we went out. To the right, you could fall into the caldera and to the left you could fall down a cliff onto the road. Since I was not having fun, after a half mile or so, we decided to return back to our car.
We then went on the East Rim Road to Vidae Falls picnic area and found a nice place for our lunch. After lunch, we continued east to the Sun Notch for a nice mile hike that took us out to good views of the Phantom Ship Island.
We continued east to the Plaikni Falls Trail and hiked out to a beautiful area fed by melting snow (there is no outflow from Crater Lake) - a nice set of waterfalls and colorful wildflowers.
Then we drove to the Pumice Castle Overlook and learned about how the pumice was laid down, then compressed by higher levels of softer material that has eroded, leaving this orange shape on the side of the caldera.
Our last stop of the day was Cloudcap Overlook. At 7,865 feet, it is the highest elevation with a paved road in Oregon. We learned about the scraggly looking trees that manage to survive both the winds and the elevation (not to mention the snow and the many tourists).
We decided to not continue on around the lake, as the smoke from the forest fires seemed to be getting worse, plus they are repaving the road on the west side of the lake. So we backtracked along the east rim and headed back to the hotel, calling it a day after exploring these parts of Crater Lake.
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