The Oregon Cascades are not like some other western mountain ranges. Frankly, if you’ve grown up on the Sierra or the Rockies, you may find them a little thin in places — a handful of 10,000-foot volcanic peaks jutting up out of heavily forested 5,000-foot hills. In many places the hiking is severely overcrowded; the Three Sisters Wilderness will remind you of Yosemite some days, and climbing South Sister can mean navigating a steady stream of hikers on the way up and back.
That said, the Cascades have their charm. Crater Lake is truly spectacular. Near Portland, Timberline Lodge captures a moment in Oregon — and American — cultural history, with its WPA aura.
Here are more entries about the Cascades:
We’re not, as a rule, that fond of golf resorts. But Sunriver — outside Bend near Mount Bachelor — was so Christmasy during the holidays we had a ball staying there and skiing for a few days. Fresh snow blanketed the desert and it felt like a true winter wonderland.
The lodge was thoroughly decorated and even had a room full of gingerbread houses. How cool is that?
It’s been a while since we tried Amtrak, so — feeling optimistic — we took the train back up to Eugene from our recent trip to Klamath Falls.
The bad news: We arrived home two and a half hours late. That’s on a four-hour trip. The Coast Starlight is so perpetually late on its northward run that, rumor has it, Amtrak no longer sells tickets to board the train from Eugene north. That’s probably because passengers were dying of boredom in the train stations.
The good news: The run from K Falls to Eugene is utterly spectacular. We sat transfixed in the observation car for hours as the train made its way over the Cascades, through high desert Ponderosa pine on the east side and dense, wet Douglas fir forest on the west. That’s one huge forest, with practically nothing in it except the scars of the Forest Service’s industrial tree farming.
The train track clings to high cliffs, causing passengers to gasp in delight. It goes through an abundance of tunnels and avalanche sheds.
This would make a lovely fall trip; the colors are only just beginning to show at higher elevations this year.
And we would love to go back in winter and see the mountains under snow.
If you don’t mind being late, the fare’s a bargain: $27 one way.
