Here is exhibit A regarding why I have this obsession:

This is Mount Hood reflected in Trillium Lake.

My Mom and Dad were here all the way from Mendham NJ, my hometown, so of course I had to take them on the “Mt Hood Loop” that I blogged about here. This time though, in deference to their delicate constitutions (ahem), I left the motorcycle at home. Not to mention the fact that riding three up would be awkward to say the least.

We drove up to Timberline Lodge, which is apparently Chipmunk Heaven:

There were thousands of these little guys running around.

Also amusing is that there is snow in September up on Mount Hood:

I guess these guys gotta keep the ol’ cat tracks mobile even in the summer. Kinda fun, that.

And here are Mom and Dad, drinking in the view. It is very tranquil at this location. Fabulous.

I took a nice photo of them actually facing the camera…with Mom’s camera. Maybe if I’m really nice she’ll send it to me and I can post it here.

While I did bring my camera, my first priority was to just experience the trip without too much emphasis on capturing everything on pixels. Thus, there are less photos per day on this trip…but there are still some good ones I think.

The photos in this first post are not going to be in any particular order.

Here is sunset on the third day of my trip, as seen from the Redwood National Park scenic coastal drive, near Klamath CA:

Here’s what I did according to Google Maps:

View Larger Map

If you click the “view larger map” link right there at the bottom left, you will see my route.

You people are totally going to think I have an obsession. Yes, I saw yet another herd of elk. The sun was on his way down, so this critter was kind enough to pose during the “golden hour”:

I stayed several days at the International Hostelling “Redwood Hostel“, which is right across the Pacific Coast Highway from the ocean. I had been meaning to do this for years, so finally got one more check mark off the list of things to do before I die! There are several fun “oh my god where did this person come from” stories from that time. But additionally, there are a lot of great hikes that are readily accessible from this place. One of those hikes was in what’s known as “Stout Grove”. I thought when I heard the name that it was referring to the girth of the trees…but no, this grove was named after a guy called Stout.

A photo of me, standing in the Stout Grove. This was taken by a German woman (whose name is escaping me at the moment) who was staying at the hostel. I kept running into her and her friend at several different hiking locations.

Big trees! Hooray!

I went on a long hike that same day during which time I didn’t take any photos at all…well, no keepers anyway. I took four of a woodpecker that didn’t turn out. Ergh. Carried the damn camera 2 hours in and 2 hours back, and turns out I coulda left it behind. But, good news is I got the idea for a new song during that hike…which was part of the idea behind getting out of town anyway.

And one more, this one of the lovely Klamath River. I took a different route down to the redwoods this time, and most of the third day’s drive was a lovely winding road along this river. I think it’s called the Klamath River Highway.

There are some good stories from this trip…those will be coming soon.

A totally unrelated aside: I’ve been listening to an internet radio station called Radio Paradise. Y’all should check it out. Last three tunes? Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, Neil Young backed by Pearl Jam. OMG, I’m in heaven!

Anyways, after camping in the Redwoods at Elk Prairie, we moved on the next night to Patrick’s Point. Fabulously beautiful park, very severe coastal scenery. Really pretty mediocre campsite…non-functioning showers…lots of noisy neighbors…ah well. It was lovely just the same.

We watched the sunset from the seastack rock formation that is the “actual” Patrick’s Point:

It was summer then, but not only does it never exceed 65 degrees in that region, also seems like it’s always windy there…thus the level of clothing:

During the night, we heard sea lions barking, so in the morning we went to try and find them. After bushwacking down to a cliff, we finally saw them….there they were, off the coast, hanging out on a rock outcropping. Just hanging out, barking. I guess that’s what you do if you’re a sea lion! They were still quite far away…this is the best I could do with my 300mm zoom.

One final image from our hike through the redwoods. And of course, I’m thinking of my cousin Suzie as I post this, who has a PhD in bugs. ( ! ) Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe these critters are called Banana Slugs. By gawd they are huge! This one was not the largest specimen we saw, but he (she?) was nearly as long as the span of my thumb to pinky.

On the way back to Michigan from Oregon, we saw a bunch of fabulous sights. On the first day of our drive, we stopped at many of the falls along the Columbia River Gorge. It was a lovely day for it, and many good photos were captured.

Here’s one:

There was a book written by Stephen R. Donaldson some time ago by the name of “The One Tree“. The book, if I can recall it at all, was forgettable, but the image of the One Tree has stuck with me. Perhaps that’s more to do with U2 and The Joshua Tree, I don’t know. Anyways, this photo (taken near Multnomah Falls) made me think of these things:

Many things on the west side of Oregon become moss covered, given the temperate climate and the prodigious rainfall. Not the least of which is this bridge:

There is a very interesting story that happens once we crossed over the Columbia River into Washington State. However, for the moment, I’ll leave you with this anticipation of Yellowstone:

More stories and more photos to come…

Click the image!

This bison was no more than car-door width from the passenger side of my car. Had Stacy opened her door, she would have surely bumped him in the side. ( ! ) It was very soon after I took this photo that I was urged to get the car moving again. (OK, it’s time to go…go, go, go, let’s go!)

In this instance, the bison were acting very much like large, herbivorous mammals that they are: slow and steady, taking their time pacing across the road. It was very much a “we were here first, you can just wait” kind of vibe.

And, here’s one for a sense of scale. The green truck is a full size GMC Sierra pickup.

So, have you guessed it yet?