Cruising Oregon’s Hells Canyon Scenic Byway

During our trip to Northeastern Oregon, we have followed two different scenic byways. On Thursday we would begin the third and final byway, the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. This route starts in Baker City and goes for over 200 miles so we will not finish it in a day. While there is an emphasis on the Hells Canyon, this byway offers more than just that particular location. The first place we stopped goes back to the storied history of Oregon.…

Neskowin and Nestucca, Great Sites South of Tillamook, Oregon

We don’t usually go anywhere over Memorial Day weekend as we don’t want to fight with the traffic and crowds. However, this Memorial Day weekend would be a bit different. The last of my uncles died recently, and his family was having a memorial service for him on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The service was in Salem, Oregon. We decided to go to the service and then drive over to the coast to explore the Tillamook area. To…

Driving Along Black Canyon of the Gunnison’s Stunning Cliffs

To be perfectly honest I was not aware of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park until recently. However, it was a good one to add to our list of national park visits in Colorado. Someone told me it was like Grand Canyon National Park. To some extent that’s true, but the Black Canyon seems deeper and more narrow with its own beauty so it is worth visiting. We didn’t make an effort to leave Ourey very early. The…

Surviving a Challenging Hike to Lake Ingalls

In June my brother contacted me and asked me if I wanted to go on a nine mile hike with him to Lake Ingalls. That seemed a very long hike for me, but I know I can easily walk five miles on the trails around here so I thought I would probably be able to manage a nine mile hike although I knew it would be a challenge. My brother David is almost exactly a year older than I am.…

Forts and Nature converge in North Whidbey Island

Friday turned out to be a beautiful day on Whidbey Island. It was a great day for hiking which is what we spent most of the day doing. After getting ready in the morning, we headed back down to Fort Ebey State Park. While yesterday we spent time there on the beach, today we would spend most of our time in the woods. Fort Ebey was built in 1942 to help protect the Puget Sound region. Its purpose was to…