Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No. 20 - On the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway

Our waiter at the best-place-to-eat-weekend-breakfast-in-Bend-Oregon, Brother Jon's Public House, had told us that he'd heard the announcement--Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, open already--usually not before Memorial Day! The guys added this to our plan for Saturday, May 11, 2013.
 

Left to right, South Sister, Middle Sister, North Sister, and Broken Top. Outta sight swell and glorious!
 

Mt. Bachelor.
 

Snow piled up on the driver's side of the car! Amazing!
 

Around every curve for a while, snow! I haven't seen snow this deep since I rode the cog railway up to the top of Pike's Peak years ago. Of course, this is pile here by snow plows and that at the top of the mountain was plain ol' deep, probably deeper than this, but nevertheless, this snow impressed me. And I still had the window down on the car and could feel the chill in the air. Magnificent!
 

Saw these bicyclists. Could not believe how many folks we passed riding bicycles!
 

Look! Here's one now!
 

We stopped to take a look at a lake. As I paused for traffic so that I could cross the byway back to the car, here comes the same guy!
 

There's Leland in the driver's seat of Engine, our Zipcar Ford Escape. We pulled out from here and stopped at another lake. Lamont walked, carefully watching out for vehicles and bicycles.
 

Isn't this lake a beauty? I wish I knew the name of it. Alas, I saw no sign.
 

Close up of the snow and trees on the far side of the lake.

Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No.19 - Trail of the Molten Land, No. 3

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Ridges and valleys of lava. Yes, indeed. At the top left of this sign, the breach is mentioned as the weak spot in the butte through which the lava flowed southward.
 

The huge orange fiery lava flow on the sign is labeled one of the main gutters. It formed as lava continued to flow from the breach. Lava buried miles of pine forests (equal to 5,000 football fields) as large pulses of it formed the lava levees. The levees are on each side of this photo. Please follow the curving path from left to right. (This part of the trail is that which had been identified as having grades and surfaces that might be challenging without assistance. I didn't walk down there--my goal is to go back and walk there someday, with my sons, of course.) As the path turns right, I hope you can see the tiny informative sign just at the edge of the narrower light gray path. Actually it is the back of the sign--it's black, rectangular and has two skinny little legs. The tiny size of that sign lets you know how far away it is from where I'm standing and how deep this gutter really is. At least I hope that's how you're able to see it in this photo.
 

Maybe you can see the size and distance in this image. Let me know what you think, please. Thanks! The black sign is near the left side of the photo, just below center.
 

While walking through this vast lava flow, I came across an astonishing sight . . .
 

. . . with its own sign.
 

Close-up #1
 

Close-up #2
 

Close-up #3



After we looked around this part of the lava flow, we turned around and headed back towards the visitor center. This is the view along the edge of the lava flow. It just stops. Stops. Amazing.
 

As the trail continued on its way to the visitor center, I took this photo which also gives you an idea of the height of the lava flow.
 

I think the mountain on the left, through the pines, is Mt. Bachelor. Here's a photo that I took of it when I was out on the Trail of the Molten Land. We soon left this all behind and headed for the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. Lamont and Leland wanted me to see some lakes, some mountains, and some snow.

Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No.15 - Views from atop Lava Butte Cinder Cone.

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One of Mt. Bachelor's ski lifts is visible in this photo, in its original size. I've resized it here, so I don't think you'll be able to see it. Just looking at it and how it went up and up the side of the mountain scared the hooey outta me.
 



As far as I can tell, these are South Sister, Broken Top, Middle Sister and North Sister. The angle from where I stood atop Lava Butte Cinder Cone caused this line-up. I looked and looked at maps and photos online, and the order I've mentioned is my best guess.
     

The top of the dead tree still standing in the crater.




A lower portion of that same tree's trunk, complete with twisted limbs covered in some sort of vegetation. Did you notice the hole in it?




I heard the sound of birds, skittering at each other. Looking carefully, I realized there were five or six tiny birds flying at each other around the dead tree. Here two of them.



Aren't those wings amazing? And that tail? So lovely, too. My best guess, from looking and reading on the Internet and from listening to the sounds of various hummingbirds found in Oregon, is that these are Calliope hummingbirds. I hope someone who knows for sure will find this post and let me know.




Cropped and altered in a effort to allow you to see the hummingbird on the tree trunk.

Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No. 6 - riding Highway 26 with folks on their way to ski and/or race. TTTT, there is no engine in that race car.

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While going through Madras, Oregon, we noticed these young men on bicycles on the highway. I wondered what they were doing riding bicycles, loaded with what looked like camping equipment, and said, "Gosh, that looks crazy." Meaning dangerous. Then Leland said, "I wouldn't want to be riding a bike to go skiing." Skiing? Then I noticed that strapped on with the camping gear were skis and ski poles; there's a red helmet on the back of one bike, too. Oh, this just entered my mind. I wonder if inside those bags are ski boots and ski suits, not tents and cookware and such? Maybe they've got a reservation at a resort? Do they call proper ski clothing ski suits? By the way, I took this photo at 4:31 p.m. And I just checked how far it is from Madras to Mt. Bachelor, the nearest place I'm aware of for skiing -- right at 65 miles away. We drove right by Mt. Bachelor on Saturday, snow every where.
 

Here's a wider view of the same photo. I didn't want to ignore the chance to show you two of the Zipcar perks on Engine, our deep red Ford Escape, stuck to the windshield, those orange things in the lower right corner. One, an Annual Northwest Forest Pass, which sells for $30, so we didn't have to buy a Day Pass for $5. And two, an Oregon State Parks Yearly Day Pass, which also sells for $30, so we didn't have to buy a Day Pass for $5. Yea, Zipcar!
 

And here's the race car we passed in Engine. No engine in it, no engine at all. That log building is the Black Bear Diner which a friend of both sons says has good food. Maybe another trip we'll stop for a meal--didn't work out that way this time. Oh, is TTTT a proper abbreviation in use today by those who text? For me it means To Tell The Truth. Is that a real one? Anyone? Anyone?