Crater Lake National Park

After we left Portland our plan was to go straight to San Francisco but on the way we saw signs for Crater Lake National Park which we heard from a few people that it was just amazing.  So we decided to take a detour to see the lake.  The detour ended up taking us a lot longer than we had expected because we didn’t take the main road and had taken smaller roads that wind through the Umpqua National Forest.  We camped out one night in the forest before taking the small dirt road winding through the mountains.   We stopped along the road to see Toketee Falls in the Umqua National Forest.  The falls were awesome and the hike out there was beautiful.

We finally arrived at the park and the first view we had of the lake was just breathe taking since it was a beautiful day. 

Here you can see Wizard Island.  It is possible to even take a ferry out to the island but these weren't running the day we were visiting due to the weather.

The lake was created from a giant volcano that erupted thousands of years ago taking out two giant mountain peaks that crumbled under ground leaving behind a giant crater almost 2000 feet deep.  This filled with water and snow over the years to create Crater Lake.  The lake is one of the most purist bodies of water in the world and is known for its dark blue color that comes from its depth and clarity.  We took the road that winds around the rim of the crater before setting up camp in the nearby park campground.  That night we went to a ranger program that talks about the constellations above Crater Lake.  The next day we packed up camp and headed out to do a trail that climbs to Beaver Peak overlooking Crater Lake.  The hike was quite the climb but it was definitely worth the view!

The little spec of an island in the picture is known as Phantom Ship.

Portland

One of the coolest things about Portland is the system of public transportation.  It is possible to be far outside the city center and within a half an hour on the train you are dropped off right in the middle of the action.  We got a great price on a hotel near the airport of Portland with an awesome breakfast, shuttle service and pool included!  We could then take the shuttle to the train station and the train into town within a half an hour.  The first night we got there kinda late in the day so we decided to relax a little at the hotel and get settled before taking the car to go out to dinner.  The people that we had met at Olympic NP had recommended this restaurant called the Montage which is just at the southeast corner of the city.  Since it wasn’t downtown then we were able to park the car easily nearby.  If someone hadn’t told us about it, we never would have known about this place or even thought to stop here.  It was tucked under a highway overpass in the corner of a building filled with bars that were spilling out on the sidewalks all around.  When you walk in the door the first thing you see is a sign indicating ‘Please wait for your table in La Merde’ which I assumed was the name of the lounge area next door.  The restaurant was crowded, loud, and cluttered with all sorts of different people and styles.  The waiters were wearing white doctor looking overcoats with a red rose on the front and most of them had tattoos covering their arms.   Even though we arrived after 9 there was an hour wait to get a table in this tiny little restaurant.  The front of the restaurant was animated with people talking loudly with martinis in their hands.  There were people from all walks of life, including Portland’s hip 20 somethings, families with children, parents, and friends.  Everyone had one thing in common – they came here to have a good time with good food that didn’t cost a fortune!  We had a couple beers before finally settling into a table along the wall where there were a long string of tables all pushed together.  There was a group of 5 friends sitting next to us that enlightened us on what a ‘hushpuppy’ is on the menu.  They were a lot of fun and gave us one piece of advice that proved to be so true throughout our time visiting Portland: The best part of the city is not downtown.  The food was really good, fresh and surprisingly inexpensive, including the amazing frog legs as a starter!   We had a really good time talking about Portland and talking to our neighbors (If you guys are reading this – Portland was awesome, thanks for the advice!!!).



These were the restaurants crazy 'doggy bags', each individually designed....Elisabeth got a little kitty cat.



The next day was our big day to visit the city so we tried to get an early start and after breakfast we took the train into the city.  Since it was Saturday our first stop was at the famous Saturday Market.  It is not a farmer’s market (This is in a different part of the city) but it is a crazy maze of local vendors selling their handmade items, food, and crafts.  It was a lot of fun to see the street musicians and all of the different cool stuff to buy.  There is also an international food market where they sell different types of dishes from the kiosks.  The market ends at the riverfront where there are a wide variety of street performers and people picnicking in the park. 

The famous Voodoo Donuts...there was a line out the door (even if we didn't go there)!

Elisabeth joining in with the street musician

Apparently, today there were record high temperatures for Portland (in the high 90’s) and so all of the kids were running in the fountain that is near the river.  Elisabeth had fun running through there and ended up completely drenched!!  But it was it was a nice way to cool off on such a HOT day. 

We walked down to China town a few blocks down before deciding to go to the true downtown’s mall to cool off.  The mall was HUGE and very beautiful inside.  We didn’t spend much time here since shopping really isn’t in our budget, but we did enjoy walking around.  We stopped off at Starbucks for an ice coffee before heading to a MUST-SEE in Portland – Powell’s Books.  This is the largest independently owned book store in the world!!  And it doesn’t look like much from the outside but once you get in you have to literally use their printed maps to get around. 

It’s a cool place because they have both new and used books for sale so there are good deals to be found.  We found a whole section of books in French and bought a couple children’s books for Elisabeth and a Stephen King in French for Antoine.  Coming out of the store we ran across a vintage clothes stores that had a lot of resale clothes as well.  We found a few new things for Antoine and I, including his cool new hat!    We went back to the hotel to have a swim in the pool and freshen up before going out for dinner. 

We went to an area of the city called Alberta that was just outside the city center.  It was pretty hype and an up and coming area with lots of restaurants and bars.   We had a really tough time deciding where to go.  First we stopped at this sushi restaurant just to have a drink because they had a beautiful terrace.  Then we ended up going to this Sicilian pizzeria right off the strip.  I had one of their amazing salads and we split a pizza.  The food was delicious and the staff was really nice and we had a great time chatting with them. 

The next day was our last day in Portland before heading to Newburg to see Diana, Justin, and Gabriel.  We took a dip in the pool before packing it up to the southwest side of the city.  They have a whole section of the city here that are parks, the zoo, and the children’s museum.  Since it was again a very hot day then we decided to go to the children’s museum.  It was a lot of fun and Elisabeth had a lot of fun playing in the various make believe lands. 

After leaving here we went down to Newburg and had dinner with Diana, Justin, and Gabriel in their new home.  Elisabeth and Gabriel played really well together and it was a lot of fun to see them.  (Thanks again guys!!)  We stayed the night there and headed out not too late the next day to get an early start to our next destination…

A gold metal for Olympic National Park!

On our way out of Seattle we got a late start with all the laundry and grocery shopping, so we got to our first campsite at Olympic around 7:00pm.  Well since it was Saturday night all the campsites in the park where already full.  So we headed to a campsite just outside of the park to spend one night there.  The next day we went first to the visitor center of the park to decide where we wanted to camp.  We ended up going to the Sol Duc Campsite since it has the reputation to be very beautiful. We found an awesome site and quickly set up camp before heading out to our first hike.  This hike left right from the campsite and went to Sol Duc Falls, it was about 6 miles round trip.  This hike was totally different than any of the mountain hikes we had done before.  The trees are primarily Douglas Firs and are HUGE.  Since we are so close to the rainforest then it really feels like this type of landscape.  So we enjoyed the hike out and the falls were amazing.  We took the ‘Lovers Lane’ hike back which follows the river where sometime salmon can be seen spawning. 

We passed by the lodge at the end of the hike where they have hot springs pools that you can swim in.  That night we went to the ranger presentation that talked about how they are going to be tearing down the two dams that are blocking the Elwhar River.  These were built early on in the 1900’s and now it is known that these are preventing the salmon from coming upstream to spawn.  The electricity that these dams are producing are so minimal that it will not have an huge impact to tear them down.  The next day we decided to take the car and go exploring around the area.   First we stopped at the Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc river where the salmon can be seen jumping out of the water to make it to the top of the waterfall. 

We drove on to the oceanfront outside of the park.  We were hoping to find a nice seafood restaurant with a view on the ocean but surprisingly there was nothing but two diners serving fish and chips.  So we decided to do a picnic on the beach instead.  There was a stand selling fresh smoked salmon so we picked up this along with some bread, white wine, beers, and homemade salsa.  We set up our little ‘restaurant’ on the beach and had an awesome feast.  It was a beautiful day so we spent the afternoon on the beach (I even took a little nap!).  It was really nice and we had this spectacular view all to ourselves!  We had the view on the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the mountains in the distance surrounding Victoria, BC.  Tomorrow we are heading to another campsite that is on the beach on the west side of the peninsula that is also within the park. 

The next day we headed to Mora Campsite that is near the ocean front.  The campsite was nice but when we headed out to the most picturesque beach in the area, Rialto Beach, it was immerged in a giant cloud of fog.  So we couldn’t really get a good view but it was pretty cool anyhow. 

We saw the city that is inside an Indian reservation called La Push which is basically just fisherman and not much else, then we headed to a nearby hike.  All along the coast line there is a continuous trail that goes from just hiking on the beach to the forest and back again.  We hiked out to second beach which brings you first through the thick forest and out onto this big beautiful beach which is only accessible on foot.  There are quite a few back country campers that hike and camp along the coast here which looked pretty cool to spend the night on the beach.  The sun was hot but that water was FREEZING!!  Antoine jumped in anyways and was surprised to see a seal swimming nearby.  Looking out in the water you could see the seals poking their heads up here and there, it was very cool.  We walked along the beach and Elisabeth found a starfish.  It was a beautiful spot so we hung out for a while before heading back down the trail. 

The next day we headed out to the next campsite, anxious to go see the rainforest portion of the park – Hoh Rainforest.  This is a temperate rainforest and is well known for its elk population.  We did see a whole herd of elk when we first came into the park but these were the only ones we saw here.

  The first day we were there we did a ranger led hike on the spruce trail.  It was really interesting because he talked about the way the ecosystem worked in a temperate rainforest and also the various trees.  There were a lot of spruce, Douglas Fir, and some maple.  The forest was covered in a thick layer of moss and lichen which made it very green and beautiful. 

We had met the family next to us earlier that day, they had a little girl, Piper, who would turn 4 the next day and a 10 year old boy named Kelly.  Monte and Brit were from Portland so they gave us some good pointers on places to see in the city once we got there.  We got back to the campsite not too late so the kids could play, which freed up some time for Antoine to go running and me to read my book (The Kite Runner – An awesome read!). 

The next day we did a long hike on the Hoh River Trail which you could potentially take for over 26 miles or something crazy, we didn’t go this far!   But we did go about 7 miles out which made for a good hike around 14 miles round trip.  Antoine carried Elisabeth a good chunk of that hike and so we were happy to get back to the campsite that night to relax!!  The trail was really pretty and there were a lot of back country campers that go out there and hike out to Mount Olympus.  We were hoping to come across some elk but the only wildlife we saw was a snake on the trail.  Now on to one of my most anticipated parts of the trip – Portland!!    

Our tent on the Hoh riverfront