Memorial Day Mayhem 2010 Part 2

Aight, here's part 2. If you haven't read Part 1 you probably should. It's the post just before this one so I'm not going to include a link. Ah hell, maybe I should? Would it really make it all that much easier? Will people really struggle to figure it out without one? Do I even care? I guess I do.

So we woke up at the Elk Prairie campground and made some breakfast.



Now if you've never been camping in Northern California you might not be familiar with a "bear box". Every campsite has one. It's this metal box with a hidden latch that you have to store your food in and anything else that might attract a bear. It looks like this:



But enough about that. We tore down the camp and headed out to the visitors center. This is where we started off on our 11 mile hike. Now I should probably mention that I'm so far out of shape that I was definitely concerned about taking on this venture. The first bit of the hike was kind of strenuous. We started climbing immediately. This went on for about a mile.



SK and P were definitely handling it better than I was. But I kept on trucking. After a little while we came across a tree that had recently fallen over the path. Not too much of an obstacle, but more a minor inconvenience:



The trees were enormous and everywhere. It was pretty breathtaking. After a few miles we reached our destination: Fern Canyon. Now there were ferns everywhere along the trail and we continually questioned if we were there or not. Once we arrived there was no mistaking it:





The ferns were everywhere! We hiked down into the canyon and at first didn't know where the trail was. After some deliberation we decided that the little creek we were following was actually the trail. About half way through the canyon we stopped to have lunch. This is quite possibly my favorite memory of the trip. Little waterfalls trickled down the wall around us while we ate our sandwiches. The sun was shining and every once in a while you could hear bird or other forest creatures.

Leaving the canyon was equally as amazing. The creek spread out at the end and opened into a large area where you could see the ocean just over the hills.



Somehow we missed the cut off to go along the beach and ended up just walking along the road that accessed Fern Canyon directly. It was midday and the sun was intense. I'm pretty sure this is when I acquired a slight sun burn on my face. As we were going down the road there were amazing views of the forest fading off into nothingness:





This is when I started to cash out. I really wasn't a fan of the last leg of the hike. I just focused on the finish line and drudged on. When it was all over I was not in the most pleasant of moods. I was sweaty and ached all over. We took a short break at the end and then all piled back in the car and drove up to Jedediah Smith St Park.

I actually liked this campsite more than the other because there were actual redwoods in the site. We got all the tents up and then SK made spaghetti for dinner. P was determined to get a tarp up even though there wasn't really a place to tie to. After eating I was completely dead and called it an early night.

I woke to the sound of rain. Lots of rain. I mean LOTS of rain. This is when I was VERY grateful that P was able to secure the tarp. If he hadn't I would never have left my tent. I gathered my wits and decided that I'd grab a shower before everyone woke up. P got up while I was making breakfast, SK shortly there after. They both seemed to be hating the rain. It was slightly unpleasant but I was enjoying it for the most part. The view of the Redwoods in the torrential rain was beautiful:




Once breakfast was cooked we high tailed it out of there. Unsure what happens next we stopped at a coffee shop in Crescent City for a while. The rain steadily increased as the hours passed. I've only seen it rain like that twice in my life, once in Chicago and once in Seattle. At this point everyone's patience was being tested. We didn't know where to go next or what we'd do there if it was pouring rain. It was finally suggested that we check out the Oregon Caves. If nothing else it couldn't be wetter than where we were.

It was a couple hours to get there and the weather showed no signs of stopping. The only way to view the caves was by guided tour. Luckily they started all the time and we only had to wait about ten minutes. Now I don't have the best pictures of the caves because my batteries died on my camera but here's a little preview:




P however got a ton of great pictures from throughout the caves. I'll try to add some more once I get them.

When we left the caves the rain had stopped. Thank the maker. The last thing that I wanted to see was more rain. We drove out to Medford, so we'd be better positioned for our final plans, and got a hotel room. It was a pretty nice room. SK and P went swimming and I just chilled out reading Kafka on the Shore (you'll hear more about this in another post).

Thursday the sky had cleared a bit and I was trying to keep positive thoughts. Crater Lake was our first destination and it was a real possibility that when we got there we wouldn't be able to see the lake due to cloud cover.

The road to the lake took us through the Rogue River Valley. The river was swollen and appeared ready to spill it's banks at any time. This comes more into play after the mountain.

So we reached the lake and everything was still buried in snow. Literally:



However we did get lucky and the clouds lifted just enough to give us a view of the lake:





After the lake we took the advice of the Les Schwabb guy (we had to stop and get chains just in case) and went to Wallace Falls:




Our final destination was the Umpqua Hot Springs. We ran into a bit of trouble though. The Umpqua river is usually pretty shallow and tame that far up, but the recent rain turned it into a raging river. The bridge we had to cross was nearly non existent.

We pondered our options for a while then finally I decided to just hop in the river and build a new bridge. It was frigid and difficult to move around in, but it only took a few minutes to gather enough logs so the other guys could make it across. This isn't a pic of the bridge, but give you an idea of what we were facing:



Now my feet and shorts were soaked. It was only .5 mile to the springs so I figure there was no point in putting my shoes back on and just hoofed it in the mud. One of the best decisions I've ever made. The mud between my toes felt great and once we reached the hot springs, after a short snafu (we took the wrong trail), I immediately dunked them in. It was nearly orgasmic. There are pictures of all this, but again I don't have them yet. In time.

We left the springs, I forded the river again and then had to change real quick before getting in the car. The bathroom I changed in was disgusting and I struggled to make sure that I was always standing on my flip flops while trying not to let any of my clothes touch any of the surfaces.

We followed the road along the Umpqua river for some time. Some of the view were spectacular.



Eventually we made it to Roseburg. This in a lot of ways was the end of our trip. We ate dinner in Eugene, spent the night in Salem and then bombed up I-5 back to Seattle.

All in all the trip was great. Highlights were definitely Fern Canyon and the Umpqua Hot Springs, but the Oregon Caves deserves an honorable mention as does the Avenue of Giants. I'd like to give a huge shout out to SK and P for putting up with me and keepin' it real in general.

Next vacation is Labor Day. I'll be trekkin' across America with my ol' man. Until then it's just back to the random ramblings that you've come to expect here...