The John Day River is the longest undammed river in Oregon. We were able to get out and enjoy a few pieces of it this spring. Our first stop was the South Fork, catching up to it flowing north toward Dayville. The South Fork is a decent sized stream, especially during spring runoff, surrounded by a picturesque canyon through most of it's run before it spills into the main fork of the John Day. Coincidentally,…
We started to narrow down the list of possibilities for an extended anniversary weekend. We’ve been to the top of Hager Mountain and out to the Lost Forest. What would it be this year? Choices are somewhat limited, and although we’d really like to check out a yurt in the mountains of Idaho that will have to wait for another year. How about the wildflower bloom in the California deserts? Well, you need some rain for that. A hike on the Olympic Peninsula? Sort of hard if the trailheads are closed. After lots of thinking and staring at the map we settled on the northern California Coast. We headed out on Friday and made it to the Smith River for our first night. Then it was off through the narrow band of the redwoods on the way to the coast.
Fall is the best time of year (and that's a statement, not a fact) and definitely the best time for hiking and camping in the high Cascades. The mosquitoes are gone, as are most of the crowds, and even though most areas are dominated by conifers there are still nice colors in the mountain ash and huckleberries to liven up the views. We stopped by Timpanogas Lake earlier in the year, and we were out…