More Waterfalls then on to CA; Sept 28, 2007

It has been a while since I have made a posting, so I will give what I hope is a brief synopsis of our travels the last several weeks.

We returned from Canada on the fourth of August (Gee, nearly four weeks ago), stopping for a couple of night in Bellingham, Washington, This is a small city on the coast about 15 to 20 miles from the Canadian border. There we met some of our RV friends we have been traveling with on and off and on through our trip to the Yukon and Alaska. For me there was a bit of cultural shock --- getting used to all the traffic, all the people, the preoccupation of TV news on the Iraq War and American politics (sorry to say almost the exact same story with no progress, as when we crossed the border going north ten weeks ago), and distances now stated in miles rather than kilometers. For Madie, there was a great relief to have reliable telephone service to check on the family and grandchildren.

We returned from Canada on the fourth of August (Gee, nearly four weeks ago), stopping for a couple of night in Bellingham, Washington, This is a small city on the coast about 15 to 20 miles from the Canadian border. There we met some of our RV friends we have been traveling with on and off and on through our trip to the Yukon and Alaska. For me there was a bit of cultural shock --- getting used to all the traffic, all the people, the preoccupation of TV news on the Iraq War and American politics (sorry to say almost the exact same story with no progress, as when we crossed the border going north ten weeks ago), and distances now stated in miles rather than kilometers. For Madie, there was a great relief to have reliable telephone service to check on the family and grandchildren.

From Bellingham, we journeyed south and stopped to visit my sister-in-law who resides in an assisted living home in Bainbridge Island, across the strait from Seattle. This necessitated a pleasant ferry ride and a trip down west side of Puget Sound. From there we traveled on to Eugene, Oregon, to visit our relatives, and then on to Bend, Oregon.

Bend, Oregon is on the west side of the Cascade Mountains, about 120 miles west of Eugene. The drive between Eugene is very pretty, up fairly steep mountains, which are covered with dense spruce forest on the east side of the divide. Once you cross over the mountains, there is an obvious climate change, with the west side obviously much dryer. Although the area around Bend is heavily forested, it is obviously dryer.

We went to Bend, Oregon to visit a friend, Paul K, who was one of my mentors during my working life. We had a very nice visit and he showed us the sights around Bend. One day we visited Tumalo Falls, a very pretty water fall, up in the Cascade Mountains, which is the source of Bend’s water supply. See the picture of Paul and me with the waterfall in background.

The following day Paul took us to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. The Cascades must be relatively new mountains, as there is much evidence of volcanic activity everywhere. As one drives down the highways, one see fairly high cinder cones from old volcanoes, as well as extensive lava beds. The Newberry National Monument features Paullina Peak, whose summit of nearly 8,000 feet overlooks a huge caldera. The peak of the mountain can be reached by a reasonable dirt road. From the peak, one can view two lakes, Paullina and East Lake. See the photo of a view of one of these lakes and the Obsidien Flow, described below.

Photos of chunks of obsidien. The picture is the edge of the flow. These rocks are about one and a half to two feet in diameter.

There is also a view of a lava flow named, Big Obsidian Flow. This is a lava flow with huge chunks of obsidian, a glass that apparently forms when lava cools so quickly, the silica can not crystallize. We drove down to the Obsidian Flow, and hiked on a trail made through it. The obsidian was black in blocks ranging from a few inches many measuring perhaps eight to ten feet on a side. The sides of many of the chunks were sharp. I am told that the material can be knapped, and was used by Native Americans to form arrowheads, spear points and cutting tools. I am sure the obsidian must have been traded by Native Americans, since deposits such as this while not extremely rare, are not to commonly found either. On the way back from Bend, we stopped and looked at Salt Creek Falls. This is a beautiful waterfall, dropping over the edge of an old lava flow into a valley below. See picure.

After our Oregon visits, we went to the Bay area in California, where we visited family. We are now in Sacramento, continuing family visits. Next week we will start toward Albuquerque to attend the Balloon Festival.

Prince George and Wells Gray Provincal Park; Sept 4. 2007

We drove into Prince George, BC on Friday Prince George is a small city of about 70,000 that lies just about in the middle of British Columbia. We stayed spent a day there, getting caught up with our shopping, and visiting a manufacturing plant the makes paper pulp.

I should say, before continuing, that Prince George is a center for processing lumber, being pretty much in the middle of the spruce forest of British Columbia. The chief products are lumber (boards and stuff like that) and plywood. However, in making these materials there is a lot of scrap that is made into chips and then into pulp, which is sold to paper companies.

We were able to take a tour of a pulp plant. I won’t go into the details, but only make some observation. The plant was relatively odor free, and not at all like the paper plants I recall that had a disgusting odor that could be perceived twenty miles away. The second interesting thing was the degree of automation. The process of making pulp, in this plant is a continuous one. The whole process is monitored by several people looking at computers. The process runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

There is an amazing amount of recycling and use of waste. Sawdust and bark, which can’t be used for pulp, are used for fuel to help heat the dryers. The digesting liquor is rejuvenated, using quicklime, I think. The limestone is then rejuvenated with kilns.

The final product is paper pulp dried into sheets that could remind you of blotting paper. These sheets are cut in squares of about four feet square, and baled into packages weighing about 500 pounds each. These bales of pulp are the final product sold to paper companies.

The most interesting thing about our visit was the widespread concern expressed by nearly everyone about the pine beetle. The pine beetle is killing just about all the spruce in British Columbia. This is obvious to just a casual observer, driving in the countryside. Acres and acres of dead and dying trees are apparent in many of the forest, and apparently it is spreading. Right now the surplus of dead and dying trees is providing lots of work for the lumber industry, trying to salvage what they can. However the future of the spruce forest is problematic!

It is thought by people here that global warming is causing milder winters. This mean that it does not get cold enough to kill the pine beetles. Of course, people here worry as do people everywhere, that the global warming is irreversible and will get worse.

Monday, September 4

On Saturday we moved on from Prince George, starting to work our way to the US border. We First we headed west toward the Canadian Rockies, and then traveled south in deep valleys that lie between the Canadian Rockies and the Caraboo Mountains. This was a beautiful ride through forest with views of mountains capped with white snow or blue-white glaciers. We stopped overnight in this area, and the next day drove less than one hundred miles to Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Wells Gray Provincial Park is the largest of the Provincial Parks in Canada. It is not well developed, in that most of the park is not accessible to automobile. There is one road that extends about 40 miles into the park, which is probably about one third of the way across the park. The park is especially well known for its waterfalls. Although we have seen lots of very beautiful waterfalls on our trip, we had to admit that those in
The Wells Gray Park were spectacular. Although the pictures do not do them justice, I am including three, to at least give readers an idea of what we experienced.

There is hiking, whitewater rafting, and biking at the park. To get to many of the interesting areas would require backpacking. We will only be in the park for a day and a half, so we only had a chance skim the highlights. Oh yes, we saw a black bear, at the end of our last stop. It was a rather reclusive black bear, so we did not get a very good photo --- but it was a thrill!

Photos of Glacier and Totem Poles, Sept 4, 2007

Here are a couple of photos that would go with previous posting. The totem poles are relatively new and were at the Native American Museum. The glacier is by the road into Stewart, BC and is a particularly beautiful one.