Lava Rocks, Mountains, Lakes, Waterfalls, Sea Cliffs, Redwoods, Beaches and more:
Honeymoon Part 1 of...
Schools in Danielle's district are out for Fall Break from October 6-20! We decided to take advantage of this vacation time when most other people are not off by taking a road trip to explore our northern neighbor, Oregon. We planned a 6 day trip through Northern California into Southern Oregon to hit up Crater Lake National Park and then head on over to the coast to witness the spectacular scenery which is the Oregon coastline.
Day 1: Lassen Volcanic National Park and Mt. Shasta
To start out the trip we planned to just drive north to Mt. Shasta and find something cool to do up there. And we certainly did find something cool to do up there. When we were about halfway up to Shasta, Danni read in her book (Fodor's Northern California 2016) that we were about 20 minutes away from a National Park we didn't even know about: Lassen Volcanic National Park. Four different types of volcanoes make up the park's geothermal landscape. According to Fodor's, the peak began erupting in May 1914, sending pumice, rock, and snow thundering down the mountain and gas and hot ash billowing into the atmosphere. Lassen's most spectacular outburst happened in 1915 when it blew a cloud of ash 7 miles into the air. The volcano finally came to rest in 1921.
We did a great 3-mile loop hike at Bumpass Hell. It had wonderful views and lead into the bubbling sulfur steam vents. The ranger told us that this trail will be closed for renovation for the next two years beginning the day after we were there. Great luck for us.
After our hike, we drove the 185-mile scenic drive through the rest of the volcanic peaks, geothermal springs and lava fields as we continued on our way to Mt. Shasta. It was an amazing detour. We spent the night at the Shasta Inn, where we learned about Lemuria (the mythical creatures who live under the mountain) from our new friends, Lisa and Wes and then serendipitously met back up with a couple we had met earlier along the trail.
So much of what makes Travel so great is the people you meet along the way: On this day we met Chip and Nancy! A great couple visiting from Atlanta, GA who we chatted with for a while on the trail in Lassen earlier that day and then randomly ran into again at the hotel bar that night. Chip and Nancy seemed to be on a very similar path as us. So similar in fact that they coincidentally ended up staying in the room right next to us!
Day 2: Crater Lake
We woke up to 34-degree weather as we drove north, away from the mountain and toward the lake. Crater Lake National Park is the park that surrounds Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. Bottoming out at 1,943 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in America and the 9th deepest in the World. It holds 4.9 trillion gallons of water. A massive volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago left a deep basin in the place where a mountain peak once stood. Scientists consider Crater Lake to be the cleanest and clearest large body of water in the world.
As we entered Crater Lake's surrounding area we took out the drone and got some great aerial shots of the gorge just outside of the park.
The amazing scenes just kept getting better along the way. There was a recent dusting of snow and its leftovers made for some dynamic contrast with the stark blue of the lake and sky. The West Rim drive is currently only open on weekends and then it is closed for construction all other days of the week. We purposefully planned to be there on Sunday so we could drive the entire rim. It took us a few hours to drive around the entire lake, but that is also because we hiked around a bit and stopped at almost every turnout and overlook to see the lake's breathtaking views.
Words can not really describe the beauty of the lake. Please enjoy these photos instead.
Wizard Island
We explored Crater Lake all day and then we slept at a quaint Airbnb in an adorable vintage camper. Our host, Beth, told us about an amazing place to watch the sunset over the Upper Klamath Lake. It was incredible!
Day 3: Drive to the Oregon Coast: Waterfalls and wonders!
The next morning we woke up and it was 22 degrees! We drove north and west toward the coast. We came alongside Diamond Lake. Which was beautiful. As we drove on through the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway, weaving through the Umpqua National Forest, we started seeing brown signs for waterfalls. We had no idea they would be as majestic as they were. Another wonderful part of traveling in October, we were completely alone at every stop we made.
Clearwater Falls
We also found Fall colors in this forest! We saw some fall colors along the rest of the trip but this drive was the most amazing. While we both agreed, there is nothing that can compare to a North Eastern Autumn, there is something pretty special about the yellows, oranges, and reds next to the dark greens contrasted with the Evergreen trees on this coast.
Whitehorse Falls
Along the Byway we stopped for breakfast at the most magical place. If we were not already married, we should have considered doing it there. The SteamBoat Inn was adorable with its beautiful garden, cute cabins, great views of the North Umpqua Wild and Scenic River and exquisite breakfast.
We finished up the day at the cute little beachside town of Bandon, OR where the Coquille River meets the ocean. We stayed at the Bandon Inn with its grand views, heavenly coffee and an easy walking path to everything you could want to see in Downtown Bandon (the Cranberry Capital of Oregon).
Day 4: Coastlines and Redwoods
We started the day visiting the historic Coquille River Lighthouse just north of Bandon. The Coquille River Lighthouse was built by the U. S. Coast Guard in 1896 and operated until 1939.
Then we drove south along the coast and stopped at some magnificent overlooks. Ryan was able to capture fantastic drone footage and photos.
Arch Rock
After entering back into California we visited Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. This is where they filmed Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Many scenes for the Forest Moon of Endor (home of the Ewoks!) were captured here and you can truly feel that as you walk among the ferns and giant redwood trees. While we were not lucky enough to see any Ewoks in their natural habitat, the woman we met in Bandon the day before had actually auditioned to be an Ewok so that counts, right?
That night we slept on the beach in Crescent City, CA. The Crescent Beach Motel hosted a spectacular sunset and the sound of the waves right outside our sliding door all night.
Day 5: Rainbows, hidden beaches, and Giants
The next morning we awoke to a double rainbow over the ocean and a light rain. The rain cleared in less than an hour.
While staying at the Crescent Beach Motel we met another helpful happy traveler, Hippy Dave (to be honest, we never got his name but I have named him that for the sake of the blog). Hippy Dave told us to check out
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
... it was a scenic detour that runs parallel to the main highway and goes through beautiful state parks as well as
Redwoods National Park
(our third National Park of the trip). Prairie Creek is home to many Roosevelt Elk and The Big Tree and was used as a backdrop for the movie
Jurassic Park
.
Prairie Creek also has hidden roads that lead all the way to Gold Bluffs Beach. Where they have campsites that we want to go back to someday and we where were the ONLY people on the beach as far as the eye could see.
We continued driving south down Highway 101 and took another 31-mile detour running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park onto The Avenue of the Giants! We hiked around a little in the forest and enjoyed experiencing the feeling so small among the giant redwoods.
Toward the end of the Avenue of the Giants, we stopped for lunch in a town called Miranda. We then hooked up with our favorite highway (Highway 1) as we bobbed and weaved back out to the coast.
We spent the night in Fort Bragg at the Oceanview Lodge. Throughout our trip, we had told people it was our Honeymoon. This was the first time that we got more than just congratulations and well wishes. This night we got UPGRADED!
King room with fireplace and hot tub! Not to mention these amazing views for sunset and the starry night sky! It was a perfect last night of our memorable trip.
Day 6: Drive home, wildfires, and helpers
Throughout our trip, we had been getting updates from our families and from Google about the crazy wildfires that have been devastating the North Bay. We felt lucky to miss most of it and continue to feel very lucky that our home is not affected by it. On our last day of our trip, we had to drive home through some of the areas that have been wiped out by these fires. We stayed on Hwy 1 for most of the trip but eventually we had to scoot back over to the 101. As we drove down Highway 101, we passed shopping centers that are now just piles of smoldering rubble. We did not see the neighborhoods and residential areas but the footage from the news is overwhelming. When bad things happen, Mr. Roger's always says to look for the helpers. We saw many helpers as we drove through the affected areas. We saw several pick-up trucks towing large loads of bottled water and supplies toward the damaged homes. It was good to see people helping. As we crossed back over the Golden Gate Bridge, the sky was an eerie hazy gray, even more so than the usual San Francisco fog. This was a very sobering way to end our trip but man, was it a brilliant trip. Throughout 6 days we were able to visit 3 different National Parks and countless State Parks in both California and Oregon. We saw wild deer and elk. We hiked around a volcano. We played in the snow. And we witnessed some of the best sunsets either of us has ever seen. This was a great way to start a multi-trip honeymoon. We enjoyed every part of it, the best part is we were able to take this trip together.
