The tour left from the Hult Center in Eugene – from there we went straingt to Salt Creek Falls. Salt Creek Falls is Oregon’s second tallest waterfall (Multnomah Falls is the tallest). The falls are gorgeous, and the park has several viewing platforms for different vantage points – many of which are wheelchair accessible.

From Salt Creek Falls, we hopped back on the bus and headed  to Willamette Pass where we were handed box lunches and then sent to board the Gondolas. I’ll admit – I was a little bit scared to ride the gondola. But, once I saw the view on the way up, I was less focused on how high off the ground we were and more focused on all the beautiful landmarks I could see.

We ate our lunches high atop Eagle Peak, which sits at 6,666 feet! From our picnic tables, we could see Odell Lake, as well as the mountain biking trails that Willamette Pass offers in the summer.

After lunch, it was finally time to go to Crater Lake! The last time I visited Crater Lake was close to 20 years ago (EEK!), I remember thinking that the lake was pretty, but I was far too embarrassed at that time to be seen with my family, so I refused to enjoy myself. This time, sans my pre-teen attitude, I was ready to soak it all in.

I was amazed at the amount of snow still on the ground – in June! We were given some time to explore the lodge and relax in the giant rocking chairs on the lodge’s patio. After about an hour, it was time to head back home,  but I was glad to discover Crater Lake again as an adult! On the way back into Eugene, we stopped at Shelter Cove Resort to stretch our legs and as if they had been cued, two eagles swooped down from the sky to grab a fish from the lake. It was the perfect ending to a fantastic day.

The Oregon Skyway – Crater Lake Scenic Bus Tour runs each Friday through the end of August. For more information, visit http://www.willamettepass.com/

McKenzie River – Jewel of the Cascades
East of Eugene and west of Sisters lays the McKenzie River Valley. From the headwaters at Clear Lake to its confluence with the Willamette River, the McKenzie offers 70 miles of rafting, fishing, mountain biking, hiking and rustic lodging. Swift and exciting, but moderate and manageable, the upper McKenzie River’s crystal clear waters, deep turquoise pools and continuous whitewater offer an exhilarating getaway for seasoned rafters and active beginners alike. The section of the McKenzie from Paradise Campground to Blue River offers 15 miles of active and splashy class II rafting and beautiful forest scenery. You can extend your rafting trip with a visit to Sisters or take advantage of the many rustic lodges along the river.

Deschutes River – Sunshine, Splashes & Smiles
The Deschutes River is the recreation life-blood of central Oregon, running for over half the length of the Oregon Cascades from Little Lava Lake south of Bend to the Columbia River near The Dalles. The last 100 miles of the river are an extremely popular destination for rafting and fishing with the centrally-located town of Maupin rightly holding the title of Oregon’s Rafting Mecca. The “Maupin Run” is Oregon’s most popular one-day rafting trip delivering big (but not too big) class III excitement at Wapanitia, Box Car and Oak Springs Rapids. Numerous other rapids and the opportunity for an adventure swim at Elevator Rapid provide the perfect active day-trip getaway. This high-desert rafting venue offers dependable sunshine, beautiful desert canyon scenery and professional photographers at the major rapids to capture your mile-wide smile. You can extend your rafting trip with a visit to the Columbia River Gorge or Mt. Hood.

North Umpqua River – Paddle Rafting Challenge
The post-card-perfect North Umpqua River is one of Oregon’s most scenic and exciting river trips. Off the beaten path, the North Umpqua sees far fewer rafters than the McKenzie & Deschutes, but the extra time it takes to get there is well worth it. Tucked away in the Cascade Mountains east of Roseburg, the North Umpqua offers plenty of class III rapids with a class IV climax at Pinball Rapid. Adventurous beginners and veteran rafters alike enjoy the active paddling, old-growth scenery and wilderness feel of the river canyon. The section of the river from Boulder Flat Campground to the Gravel Bin boat launch provides the best concentration of exciting rapids and stunning scenery. The North Umpqua River is a “one-tank-getaway” from Eugene, Bend or Grants Pass. You can also extend your trip with great local options for camping, hiking and fishing, a visit to nearby Crater Lake National Park or a night at historic Steamboat Inn.

Brian Sykes is the General Manager at Ouzel Outfitters in Central Oregon. The day trips listed above can be booked at http://www.OregonRafting.com

We hope you’ll come see for yourself. While you’re here, check out one of the 150th birthday bash celebrations we have planned. It’s sure to be a fun time!

Also this month, we have a fantastic giveaway to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as a very special birthday recipe from Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene.

See you in Oregon, where we’re taking a walk through Oregon’s history, and Crater Lake.

-The Editors

Serenity on Crater Lake

Fresh powder is dumping on Oregon’s mountains so get out and enjoy the fluffy stuff. We put together a few ideas that will take you beyond the lifts and into the peaceful backcountry.

Wallowa Alpine Huts
Snowshoe or cross-country ski through the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area surrounded by Oregon’s stunning Wallowa Mountains. Wallowa Huts offers weekend and mid-week trips that will have you marching through the backcountry from hut to hut—and these are established, large yurts that offer most of the comforts of home. All trips are led by certified guides who have years of backcountry experience. >>More

Cascade Huts
Explore the backcountry of Mt. Hood National Forest with a three-hut system run by Cascade Huts, who will personalize your itinerary depending on your level of fitness and experience in the backcountry. Each of the three huts is stocked with heaters, lanterns, stoves, kitchen utensils and sleeping pads and bags so all you need to bring is personal gear, food and a sense of adventure.
www.CascadeHuts.com/winter.htm

Crater Lake on Snowshoes
Bundle up and explore Crater Lake National Park on a free, ranger-led snowshoe walk, which lasts about 90 minutes and is family friendly—if your kids (ages 8 and up) are adventurous enough to strap on snowshoes and brave some chilly weather. You’ll learn about the flora and fauna of this spectacular national park, while seeing it in one of its most serene forms—covered in snow.
www.nps.gov/crla, 541.594.3100 (Steel Visitor Center)

SEE SOMETHING SPECTACULAR…
From Crater Lake to Painted Hills and the Rose Garden to Cape Perpetua, there are plenty of spectacular places to explore in our beautiful state.

And what’s more, through April 30, incredible views at Oregon’s hundreds of day-use and overnight parks come at great values with special “Discovery Season” rates and packages.

Got a hankering to explore Oregon’s spectacular scenery? Here are some ideas to get your started….

Crater Lake National Park
Home to the deepest lake in America, Crater Lake National Park is an 183,224-acre vacation wonderland. Visit and experience the awe-inspiring first look from the edge of the six-mile wide caldera into the lake that is known for its azure waters. Hike the old-growth forests, take a boat ride to Wizard Island, fish and camp—or stay and dine at Crater Lake Lodge (open May to October). See Crater Lake…

Cape Perpetua Scenic Area
Part of the Siuslaw National Forest at the central Oregon coast, Cape Perpetua sits high above the Pacific Ocean and offers stunning views all around. More than 20 miles of forest-view and seashore-view trails weave through 2700 acres of preserved land. Here, you can hike to see a 500-year-old Sitka Spruce Tree, among other spectacular specimens of nature. Visit Cape Perpetua…

Painted Hills & Fossil Beds
Trails running through the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Eastern Oregon offer up close looks at the colorful hills and huge collection of fossils in this area. Nearby, the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center has nearly 40,000 fossils on display, including early cousins of Rhinoceros, Saber Tooth Tigers and other exotic animals. Experience the Painted Hills and Fossil Beds…

International Rose Test Garden
From May through October, you can see for yourself why Portland is called the Rose City. Venture to Washington Park to experience the huge spectrum of colors and splashes of fragrant blossoms from more than 10,000 rose plants. On a bright and sunny day you can see the cityscape with Mt. Hood, Oregon’s tallest peak, as backdrop.

Giddy up…you’ve got some exploring to do!

Sunrise over Crater Lake

Editor’s Note: Serena Becker and Jeramy Vallianos are avid hikers who work for Walk for Wildlands, a company that raises awareness for preserving the environment. Serena and Jeramy have also participated in a program that educated troubled teens in the wilderness of Scio, Silver Falls State Park etc. Read below to hear about their hiking experience on the Pacific Crest Trail:

Our first stop out of Ashland was one of the most incredible places in the world, I believe. Crater Lake. Massive, peaceful and breath-taking. We were able to spend a day walking along part of the rim of the lake and spent the night on a bluff overlooking it. In the morning we woke as the sun was rising. One of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. The clouds quickly moved in though and the rest of the day was spent getting glimpses of the lake through the clouds as we stood in the frigid wind.

Mt. Jefferson

The wind rippling across the water combined with the clouds and sunlight trickling through created a surreal picture. It was hard to leave that place but the cold wind kept us moving. We hiked on towards Mt.Thielsen, tall, rocky and pointed. We decided against climbing it as it was covered in clouds and probably about 30 degrees on top.

As we approached Central Oregon I began to think back to my childhood spent at Waldo Lake in the summers and Odell Lake in the winters. The PCT hits the south shore of Odell lake and we spent and evening at Shelter Cove Resort. The next day we hiked up to Willamette Pass were Jeramy had been hoping to get some pizza for lunch at the ski lodge. Unfortunately they weren’t serving food that day and we had to resign ourselves to eating the same old tortilla and cheese wraps for lunch.

The PCT does not pass directly by Waldo lake so I was unable to go swimming at one of most beautiful lakes in Oregon. However it does pass by a myriad of smaller lakes just east of Waldo that I had never seen before, the three Rosary lakes, Bobby Lake and others that I can’t remember the names of. Our hike between Odell lake and Santiam Pass (Highway 20) also took us past the Three Sisters. WOW! I had never hiked near those mountains before, only seen them from a distance. What gorgeous mountains. South Sister with its red rocks we were able to catch the best views of. It turned out to be quite cold and stormy as we hiked passed the Sisters, but still absolutely amazing. We saw a rather large coyote carrying what appeared to be a rabbit in it’s mouth, a huge buck running across a meadow and a grey horned owl.

Mt. Hood

Luckily we made it down off the Sisters before the worst of the storm hit. As we descended toward McKenzie Pass, sleet and small snow flakes began to come down. We stopped by the Dee Wright Observatory and checked out the few mountains that weren’t immersed in clouds than pressed on through the lava fields and passed Mt. Washington. We were on a mission to meet my mom at Santiam Pass that evening. The cold aided us in getting there, as it was too chilly to stop for long. Just long enough to stop at the 2000 mile marker and celebrate! I told her we would be there at 7pm and we rolled in at 7:06 pm. It was such a blessing to see her there walking out on the trail to meet us. We went into Bend for the night, got warm, ate some good food and got cleaned up. As seems to happen often in town we ended up staying longer than expected. We visited with some friends who lived there and Tuesday evening (Sept. 2nd.) got back on the trail.

This last stretch in Oregon we hiked passed Three Fingered Jack, Mt.Jefferson and Mt. Hood. All three mountains that I have also seen from a distance but never up close. Jefferson still had quite a bit of snow on it and we hiked over snow banks for the first times since we left the Sierra’s way down in California. I imagine there will be more of that to come in Washington as it was such a big snow year. Unfortunately when the snow sticks around so too do the mosquito’s. And there were a surprising amount of them for the Cascades in late August.

Our hike between Jefferson and Hood was relaxing and warm. The sun had decided to show her face again and we’re hoping to have a few more of these days as we finish this amazing journey though Washington. We stopped at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. You may remember the outside of the lodge from the movie “The Shining”. The inside is even more incredible, built some time in the thirties and still looking very much the same. Our good friends Jody and Eli met us up there, brought our food box and hiked out with us for a night, we had a huge feast. It’s always wonderful to have friends join us out here.

From there we hiked around Mt. Hood than began our decent to the Columbia River gorge. Down we went walking along the ridge with the wind whipping by as the sun set. It was a warmish wind but it was strong and camping was minimal and not too appealing with tall trees swaying above us. So we walked later than usual until we found a semi flat spot out of the wind to sleep.

The next morning we hiked into the gorge and took a detour from the PCT, down the Eagle Creek Trail. One of the most astounding trail in the gorge. Countless enormous water falls, some over 100 ft. tall splashing down into huge clear blue pools below. The trail itself in unbelievable. It was literally blasted into the side of a vertical cliff so at times you are walking next to a ledge that drops off 100 or more feet into the water. They have installed a cable to hold onto as you walk the most dangerous part. And the tunnel blasted through the rock behind a waterfall! Amazing. If you ever have the chance, check it out. And with that to finish up Oregon we hiked into the small town of Cascade Locks, where the Bridge of the Gods spans the Columbia River. Soon we will walk over that bridge and begin the home stretch of our hike: Washington. Only 508 miles to go.

For more information on hiking in Oregon, please visit our Outdoor Recreation section.