Photos: Weekend Trip – Central Oregon

Not fog….smoke.  This was on our way up through the pass.  We felt bad for the cyclists who were having to breath it in as they rode.

Mt Hood looked great – above the smoke line.

We drove up to Timberline Lodge – the lodge used for the outside shots in the movie The Shining. It is up on Mt Hood – above the timber line.  I wanted a photo of the smoke as it drifted through the valley.  This is one of the other mountains in the Cascade Range.

Weirdest Native American Festival ever. They had two teepees setup. And no Native Americans. Just a bunch of white guys with Native American looking art.  Kind of odd.

The creek that ran beside the park where the Native American Festival was held.  The girls and I stood in in while waiting for the others to wander.  Felt great.

The Shadow Lake Forest Fire near Mt Washington.  It was quite amazing to see the fire planes flying in and out of the smoke.  I could not capture it, but there is another mountain that would peak out through the smoke too.

A view of the jagged lava field we were standing next to.  This is who it has looked for a thousand years or more.  It’s quite an amazing, stark site.

The Dee Wright Observatory which was made out of the lava rock from the filed above.  Each window lines up with a mountain.  Below the window, it tells you the mountain you are viewing. It was a neat place.  I guess my niece refers to it as the castle.

I believe this is Lava Camp Lake – a tiny lake near the observatory.  Walking through the trees and onto the narrow shores, the view was just gorgeous.  Crystal clear mountain water.

This lake is Three Creek Lake at about 6000 feet.  It is only open a few months of the year as the rest of the time it is snowed in.  There was still snow around the ridge.  It was heaven – but after leaving 93 degrees and finding it 66 degrees up there, it would feel like heaven even if it looked bad.   We had a lot of fun hanging out there.

My dad and the girls had fun catching tadpoles of various ages including some that were almost frogs.  The water was crystal clear – but few people around and the no-motorized boats rule will help with that.

We decided we are definitely going back there again to camp.  Such a gorgeous lake – and surrounding area.

You can see Mt Hood through the haze.  But more importantly, about a week ago, this area had a forest fire go through it.  Look at the charred earth on the left of the road.  Thankfully it never jumped the road – and they were able to contain this portion of it.   As we drove home, we saw three fire planes headed into the smoke.  And a chinook helicopter took off and headed that way to fight the fire too.  There is another week of hot, dry weather coming up – hope the fire continues to be contained.

Oh, and how did the fire start?  Lightning.  Every one of them was started this way.  It is quite amazing that it all happened recently though – that until then, there were no fires in Oregon.  Couldn’t make it a full season without at least one.

2 Comments Add yours

  1. OsShirt says:

    Love these! No big volcanic mountains in our skylines.

    I immediately knew that was Timberline, too! Did you get any pics of the lodge?

    No fires nearby, but we had our first smoky day today from fires about 150 miles away. Also lightning caused. Three years fire free around these parts–when it happens, it’s gonna happen big… 🙁

  2. Topaz says:

    I would have been creeped out to go to Timberline, but how could I miss it? What an experience. You captured some wonderful highlights in these photos. The marketing group for national parks should hire you – you do one hell of a job! You even captured the intrigue with the un-native Native Festival, lol. I love the observatory – who would have known anything like that existed?

    Again, great shots.

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