TR: Oregon Cascades Part 2, The Sisters
Cascades part two: The Sisters
So after 4 days on the road we made a side trip in to Bend then on towards the area on the north side of the Sister. We really had no other plans other than it looks interesting over thataways...my kind of plan!
We actually fueled up in Sisters then took a look at a map...State route 242 the McKenzie hwy looked interesting...it was
Then we headed up into the woods. Miles of climbing in a dense forest driving in a lane just wide enough for my truck, the jacks hung over the shoulder.
We came around a corner and the trees were replaced by vast lava beds and Volcanic peaks. I would really like to come back when the smoke and haze from the fires weren't here but it did add to the fire and brimstone feeling
The road wound through the lava fields
As we summited McKenzie pass at 5325' a blackened stone castle loomed out of the smoky haze. It seemed like something out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I half expected to encouter a snide French Knight
Actually its the Dee Wright Observatory, a very cool place
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Wright_Observatory
The views from the top are spectacular
It was getting dark so we headed down the mountain with our intended camping spot only 25 miles away. In reality with the mountain roads twists and turns we realized that was going to be way after dark so we looked for an alternative. The first was Scott Lake off NF road 260
It looked Promising to me
but alas there are only two places that you can camp near the lake and the flat one was taken and the other would have take twice the amount of leveling blocks I carry to only be 10* nose up ( I tried and shattered 5 plastic dominoes in the process.
So we drove back out to the road and continued until I spied a sign that said Alder Springs Campground. It had three primitive sites. One had a car but no people, the second had a SUP pulling an A frame pop up trailer. It the fading light we backed into the last space among the towering trees. It was pitch black when I shut the engine off.
this is what it looked like in the morning
if I only had a brain...awesome Fungi
Which gave us the brilliant insight to head for Coos Bay and part 3
So after 4 days on the road we made a side trip in to Bend then on towards the area on the north side of the Sister. We really had no other plans other than it looks interesting over thataways...my kind of plan!
We actually fueled up in Sisters then took a look at a map...State route 242 the McKenzie hwy looked interesting...it was
Then we headed up into the woods. Miles of climbing in a dense forest driving in a lane just wide enough for my truck, the jacks hung over the shoulder.
We came around a corner and the trees were replaced by vast lava beds and Volcanic peaks. I would really like to come back when the smoke and haze from the fires weren't here but it did add to the fire and brimstone feeling
The road wound through the lava fields
As we summited McKenzie pass at 5325' a blackened stone castle loomed out of the smoky haze. It seemed like something out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I half expected to encouter a snide French Knight
Actually its the Dee Wright Observatory, a very cool place
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Wright_Observatory
The views from the top are spectacular
It was getting dark so we headed down the mountain with our intended camping spot only 25 miles away. In reality with the mountain roads twists and turns we realized that was going to be way after dark so we looked for an alternative. The first was Scott Lake off NF road 260
It looked Promising to me
but alas there are only two places that you can camp near the lake and the flat one was taken and the other would have take twice the amount of leveling blocks I carry to only be 10* nose up ( I tried and shattered 5 plastic dominoes in the process.
So we drove back out to the road and continued until I spied a sign that said Alder Springs Campground. It had three primitive sites. One had a car but no people, the second had a SUP pulling an A frame pop up trailer. It the fading light we backed into the last space among the towering trees. It was pitch black when I shut the engine off.
this is what it looked like in the morning
if I only had a brain...awesome Fungi
Which gave us the brilliant insight to head for Coos Bay and part 3
