Fall in Vermont seemed a bit slow to come. Way back in August there were some trees changing, but not a lot. September offered a hint of color with more coming on towards the end. Then the brilliant colors came and went. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's time to roll back time to September. Spectacle Pond, early colors We visited Island Pond and Spectacle Pond along with Brighton State Park for an overnight…
There’s the Cascades, and then there’s the Old Cascades. Those weather worn non-descript “hills” west of the flashy snow capped peaks everyone knows about. The Old Cascades are filled with trails, small lakes and wildflowers, and lack the wilderness designation that bring the crowds. We went to explore in July hoping to catch a few wildflowers and find a quiet ridge with a view. We were successful, although the truck has a few new pinstripes from the brushy roads to prove it.
Spring in Oregon was wet. That’s relevant here for a couple reasons. When planning out our early summer we put a couple river trips on the calendar. We had already cancelled a trip on the John Day due to high flows, and as we approached our dates for the Grande Ronde flows were similarly high. What could we do instead? We decided to still head to the northeast corner of the state, but we morphed our plans into a road trip.
