Tillamook County, well-known for beaches, wild headlands, sand dunes,
fishing and dairies. Hidden away in the rugged mountains are several waterfall
gems. There are others, so keep looking.
Waterfalls abound throughout the State of Oregon, especially in the western hills. Abundant rains fall throughout the forests filling streams cascading over lava cliffs. To catch these falls at their height means an off-season journey. Summer season can mean little or no rain for a month or more at a time making the falls seem much tamer than when they are at their fullest. Here, a small collection of waterfalls taken from the area around the Lower Columbia. This area gets pelted with rains out of summer. Astoria averages 86 inches of rain a year – Portland, by contrast, averages a mere 36 inches.
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Another season has come and gone now. My supply was drawing thin from the last few seasons of little luck. But early fall rains drenched the forest floors encouraging a small flush of porcini – Boletus edulis – to crawl forth from the timbered duff. Out into the forests, I went, combining a quick visit to waterfalls with a myvological hunt. Six bags of dried little pigs later, my mushroom supply has replenished.
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Long-distance paths have acquired quite a following in the past few decades. In the US you have ways like the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail standing as the Big Three. There are plenty of other long-distance paths to spend days upon days on, as well, such as the Arizona Trail, the Green Mountain Trail, and on and on. Of course, the American examples pale in number when compared to the Old World.
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In the past, I have not been a big fan of vacationing on huge cruise ships. A few friends and I watched from the shore of Glacier Bay as cruise ship after cruise ship made their way up the large fjord. We were happy experiencing the wilderness of one of the America’s most magnificent national parks on a more personal scale. Just us and the grizzly bears. Could the Bays of Kotor change that feeling?
Another time, I stayed at a hotel in Kusadsi for almost a week a few years ago. Every day brought several behemoths to dock at the waterfront. Buses lined up for the inevitable bus pilgrimage to nearby Ephesus. And then, at sunset, the giant ships would set sail into the sunset for their next day’s destination – Bodrum, Mykonos, Santorini, Istanbul. Again, I was happy to be staying behind. This year, I bit the bullet joining a cruise taking in the Adriatic and western Mediterranean. The cruise turned out very enjoyable. The highlight, the slow entry into the wondrous fjord system making up the Bocche di Cattaro, known locally as the Boka Kotorska or simply, the Magic of Kotor.
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Travelling along at 70 mph along Interstate 84 along the Columbia River, it is easy to think Oregon’s mid-19th century pioneers just shuttled along rambling into Portland on Sandy Boulevard in no time at all. Drive out to Well Springs and that idea disappears very quickly. The long drive out here on the south side of the US Navy’s Boardman Bombing Range gives one the best example of what it must have been like to drive a wagon along the Oregon Trail with the end coming finally into view.
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Following the deaths at the Whitman Mission in December 1847, emigrants travelling the Oregon Trail elected to bypass the jaunt of the trail to the north following the descent out of the Blue Mountains. Instead, the new path led down the Umatilla River before heading out across the dry Columbia Plateau roughly parallel to the river about 6-8 miles to the south.
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Pioneers on the Oregon Trail found the crossing of the Blues to be a taxing affair, especially so late in their journey. Some writers have declared the passage over the Blue Mountains as the last big challenge faced by the Overlanders.
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Driving down Interstate 84 today, you might be forgiven for thinking your route follows that taken by the pioneers of the middle 19th century coming to the new lands of Oregon. The hardest part of the Oregon Trail came at the end, from The Dalles through the Cascades. Before the Barlow Trail became a viable alternative in 1847, pioneer families put their wagons onto handmade rafts floating them through Columbia Gorge, whitewater of the Cascades Rapids and all. The river served as a highway for Lewis and Clark in their journey to the Pacific Ocean. It did not serve as such a fine route for the settlers who came later. But today, we focus on the Trail crossing the arid Columbia Plateau.
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Oregon City is packed full of history. The first city of Oregon features two fine museums – Oregon Trail Museum and the Museum of the Oregon Territory – besides being home to the houses of two pioneers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, John McLoughlin and Forbes Barclay. Beyond that, the dramatic power of the Willamette is on display from roadside vista points off Oregon Highway 99E and Interstate 205. While the views are dramatic enough, that will change in the near future as the plans of the Grand Ronde Tribe come to fruition as the former industrial area reinvents itself to take advantage of the sheer magnificence of Willamette Falls. Two other nearby sights are not as well known to those outside of Oregon City – Singer Falls and the McLoughlin Promenade.
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