An Oregon Year
Story and photos by Candace Leslie

Like a giant gemstone, the surface of Crater Lake caught and intensified the blue of a nearly cloudless sky. Only an occasional ripple disturbed the tranquil surface, offering up momentary crystalline shards of brilliance. As if presenting us with a farewell gift, Oregon had given us a perfect day. It would be the final one of our glorious stay in this beautiful state. We had made it to Crater Lake just in time.

This lovely day marked a one year anniversary of our initial drive across the Oregon line. Back then it had seemed as if there would surely be plenty of time to explore every corner and experience everything this state had in store. (That is a problem with us Texans who tend to think every state but our own is small enough to conquer in a few days or, at most, weeks.) It took only a few forays to show us how wrong we were. Oregon is big, the 10th largest state in the union (97,060 square miles), spectacularly magnificent, and so endowed with diversity that we quickly realized that we would not only have to pick and choose, but be satisfied with samplings.

Just about every Oregonian we encountered that year was eager to serve as personal travel advisor. They all wanted us to love Oregon as much as they do. They plied us with books and tales, maps and brochures. Everyone had favorite destinations, personal "you-must-not-miss- this" places of preference. We wrote down their suggestions and set out as often as our schedules allowed, incorporating their recommendations into our itineraries. We were never disappointed and always delightfully surprised. Whether visiting a local winery or farmers' market, climbing a mountain or hiking a forest trail, exploring a lighthouse or dining on salmon, savoring a symphony or Shakespeare, every experience had its particular rewards.

No matter how varied the lists of recommendations given to us by the self-appointed travel counselors, three destinations always came out on top. We determined, above all, not to miss these. The first two, the Pacific coast and the Columbia River Gorge, were easy because they were only an hour or two away from our temporary residence in the Willamette Valley. The third, Crater Lake, posed more of a challenge. Snow made it inaccessible in all but summer's warmest months and it was a good many miles away. For awhile, it looked like we might not get there no matter how earnestly we tried to fit it in. However, our August departure date was blessed with wonderful weather and spare time, so we caught this grand treasure on our way home.

If you have been to Oregon, you will already know these wonderful places and would surely add to the accolades. However, if you should be going there for the first time, we can only repeat the insistent advice of the natives: "Don't miss them!"

CRATER LAKE

To see this jewel in all its glory, you need a sunny day. Then the blue of America's deepest lake is so startling that several people to whom I showed my photographs wondered why the film processing had gone awry. Crater Lake is actually the deepest part of a great caldera, formed when the center of a volcano, 12,000-foot-high Mt. Mazama, caved in on itself following an eruption more than 6,500 years ago. Evidence of the event can be seen as far as 80 miles from the lake's site high in the Cascade Mountains. A vast desert of red pumice to the north and ashen canyons with weird hoodoos to the south survive as remnants of the cataclysmic event. The lake was formed as rain and record-breaking snowfalls filled the lava-lined caldera. Because there is no outlet for the deep waters, you might suppose the lake would soon overflow. Yet the surface fluctuates very little due to evaporation and seepage.

We arrived at the initial overlook from the north, the recommended approach for first- timers. After the bleakness of the surrounding devastated land, the first glimpses of Crater Lake seemed surrealistic. The color is so startling that the park service provides information explaining how the clarity and the depth of 1,932 feet allow the water to absorb all the colors of the spectrum except the shortest light waves, blue and violet, which are reflected and refracted upward.

Even the size is hard to comprehend at first glance. Only when we spotted the toy-like tour boat crossing the surface could we begin to realize the lake's vastness. A 33-mile drive circles the lake and every pull-off affords a different view, each affected by sun, wind, and clouds. There are numerous hiking trails, but only the path to the tour boat accesses shore. (Private craft are not allowed.)

For the richest experience, one should stay in the cliff-side Crater Lake Lodge and view the lake at varying times of day and night. But that requires planning ahead. Reservations are hard to come by once the all-too-short season has begun.

THE COLUMBIA RIVER, THE GORGE AND THE HIGHWAY

Back in the late 18th century, explorers Cook and Vancouver and others tried navigating up the Columbia River from its mouth, but none got very far. Maybe it was the weather, maybe the ferocity of mighty stream meeting crashing sea. It took Lewis and Clark, searching for the Northwest Passage, to first describe the great river for interested parties back east.

Today, some portions of the Columbia are far different from the ever-rolling waterway seen by searchers of a northwest passage. Yet not even the dams or the modern highways have destroyed the dramatic majesty of the mighty river and the spectacular gorge created by millions of seasons of blinding rains, violent winds, and swift currents.

To drive from the town of Troutdale, just east of Portland, to the inland city of The Dalles, is an experience in changing landscape, thrilling vistas, and amazing biodiversity. In less than 70 miles, the terrain changes from northwestern rainforest, with towering waterfalls cascading down huge basaltic cliffs, to eastern-Oregon desert, a high and dry land with an average 12-inch rainfall.

In 1913, promoter Samuel Hill and engineer Samuel C. Lancaster began a project to build "The King of the Roads" which would open up the river route to land travelers. The task incorporated cliff-face byways, bridges and viaducts, tunnels and loop drives, and other engineering feats many considered impossible. The goal was to create a highway that would reward all who traveled its spectacular route through the previously inaccessible Columbia River Gorge. Finally completed in 1922, it soon attracted visitors and accolades from around the world. It was the first scenic highway in the United States

Eventually, as Model-Ts gave way to eighteen-wheelers, the enchanting winding road succumbed to a newer, wider thruway. Some of it was either destroyed or disappeared under forest growth. But many sections, with their beautifully crafted masonry retaining walls and strategically placed scenic viewpoints, were maintained, inviting anyone who wished to travel the gorge in leisure. Happily, a new project is currently underway that will eventually make it possible to hike or bike the entire 70 miles and recapture the inspired intent of Hill and Lancaster.

Meanwhile, by combining old route and newer thruway, you can enjoy all that the mighty gorge has to offer - waterfalls, museums, overlooks, dams and locks, camping and hiking, and the towns along the way. Watch wind-surfers battle some of the most demanding of conditions. View salmon fighting the currents to spawn from whence they came. Experience the diverse weather systems that can change from moment to moment, from sun to rain, balmy to stormy. And imagine, if you can, all those hardy folk, pioneers to highway builders, who responded to westward dreams and made it through this seemingly impossible, beautiful land.

THE OREGON COAST

On a stormy day, breakers crash against the rocks with the sound of a thousand drums. Driftwood, from tiny water-smoothed bits of bark to giant tree-trunks, is thrust up in intricate patterns on the sandy shore. By the next morning, the wind may have subsided. Then the heaving sea will seem like a great lake with only a fringe of gentle lapping at its edge. If the season is right, there will be whales not too far out, heading north with the coming of summer, returning south in the fall. In late spring and early summer, crabs will abound for the taking in estuaries and off piers. The Oregon Coast is the state's number-one attraction. Almost every mile of beach below the mean high tide line belongs to the public.

It would take more than one book to describe all that is to be found along the 300-plus miles of Pacific coast that belong to Oregon. (A helpful mile-by-mile guide, available at most visitor centers, will simply get you started on your way.) As you travel, you find names such as Oswald West, Samuel Boardman, Henry Van Duzer, and others, appearing on parks and roadways. These are the visionary officials who worked to preserve so much of the land for public use. They are the ones to thank for the sparsity of huge hotels and no-trespassing signs, and the abundance of excellent state parks that make so much of this beautiful region accessible.

Because of the Pacific's chilly temperatures and challenging currents, few visitors come for the swimming. Even surfers suit up for warmth. Instead, it is the tremendous variety that attracts. Beachcomb after a storm and, depending on the season, you might be rewarded with sand dollars, petrified wood, glass floats, agates, or starfish. Walk long beaches where receding waves make mirrors on the sand. Drive along high cliffs for vistas of sea and shore. Wade or walk, depending on the tides, to outcroppings of rock and volcanic plugs that rise like surrealistic prehistoric sculptures. Climb to the top of a lighthouse or down to a cave where sea lions hang out. Explore the largest region of seaside sand dunes in North America. Dine on some of the world's best sea food. If it rains, explore some of the funky little towns. Above all, plan to slow down. The coastal Route 101 is not designed for making time but for exploring this special world.

Like every one those self-appointed Oregonian travel-advisors, we found that once we had visited the coast, we were drawn back again and again. No two stretches are the same, nor are any two days. For us, it was a region of which we never could seem to get enough. In winter, we bundled up and walked the beach against an almost impenetrable wind. In summer, we explored tidal pools and picked up driftwood in calm and warm sunshine. We watched fog roll in and hide all but the edge of the ocean, then witnessed it lift to reveal a multi-hued sunset.

Like so much of what we experienced in Oregon, the coast, especially, seemed to say, "Come back and see what else I have in store."

IF YOU GO

For information and free publications on all of Oregon's regions, contact The Oregon Tourism Commission, 775 Summer Street, NE, Salem, OR 97301-1282; phone: 1-800-547-7842; fax: 503-986-0001. Website: www.traveloregon.com