After Forrest fixed a screen door, we visited with Grandma Williamson for a short time, and headed toward home. After seeing the country, it seemed unfair to take Oregon for granted, so we looked with new eyes at a few of the sights on the way home.
The Crook County Courthouse was named for Major General George Crook, hero of the Snake Indian Wars. It was built in 1909 for around $48,500, remodeled in the 1990s. Forrest's brother Scott has shared many stories about his efforts to upgrade this building, and the many challenges. Brother Jared has worked on the building, and knows firsthand some of the electrical issues.
Even in the Yellowstone Rockies, we did not see a sight like the Three Sisters and Broken Top, jammed together in the Cascade Range like fellow passengers in a subway car. Early settlers named the Sisters Faith, Hope and Charity. They are all over 10,000 feet tall, with the South Sister the tallest and youngest mountain. It is also still considered a potentially active volcano, and contains the highest lake in Oregon, called Teardrop Pool, at the very top in the crater.
Naturally, we had to take a picture of Mount Washington, since the ubiquitous first president was honored by the renaming of this mountain. Of course, Forrest's Dad Norm always lamented that the US Geological Survey re-christened this mountain to avoid the awkwardness of its indian name--Squaw Tit.
We were just in time to get caught in traffic at the annual Sisters Quilt Show. We have seen this before, and it is very popular. They routed all traffic around the main drag, leaving that open to pedestrians. The quilts are beautiful, of course.
We noted the undergrowth is really growing fast in the area of the B and B Complex fire, which burned over 90,000 acres in 2003.
Coming around the palisades corner after the Santiam Pass, Three Fingered Jack hove into view. This mountain may be the oldest volcano in the cascade range, and was renamed in the early 1900s. It was originally named Mt. Marion.
We stopped at Sahalie Falls for a break and driver change, and saw our first old growth evergreens on this journey across the country--both firs and cedars.
Since this was our last day, we took a family picture. Looks like a few of us ate a little too well on this vacation!
Sahalie Falls is a gorgeous waterfall--maybe THE most gorgeous in the country. Blue-white water with a full-on roar, surrounded by verdant green moss-covered slopes.
The word "Sahalie" is a Chinook Indian word meaning "high" or "heaven." Sounds like a reasonable name, as the falls are 100 feet tall. The falls are fed from Clear Lake, at the base of Mt. Washington, and the average water temperature is 34 degrees, fahrenheit. No one was bathing in the pool at the bottom of the falls!
By the way, Clear Lake was formed 3000 years ago when a lava flow from the Sand Mountain chain formed a natural dam, and there are still 3000 year-0ld petrified trees that can be seen standing upright in 200-foot deep water on the lake bottom. Now that's clear water!
We were glad to see Fern Ridge Reservoir. The drive along the dam area on the backside is very picturesque, and always rewarding as the sun drops on the horizon.
Five minutes later we arrived home, richer for the experience, but glad to be back with our creature comforts and familiar territory!
Tomorrow we will wrap up this blog and acknowledge a few people who helped make this amazing trip a reality for our family.
