Umpqua

There is a part of Oregon that is so beautiful, so serene, and so sparsely populated that it can bring peace to the most jangled soul. I know, because I am that soul, and that's what it did for me today.

The Umpqua River flows, fat and shiny, through mountains and hills, through farms and elk preserves. You can see it from the road as you drive Highway 138 between Roseburg and Crater Lake. Oliver needed a doggie rest stop, so we stopped alongside the road in this sweet little nature area. Those of us who live in densely populated areas expect to see at least 20 other people in every little park, so having this space to ourselves for ten minutes was a little miracle.

Frances counted the number of sightings of different types of animals--domestic and wild--that we saw. Her final count was 10--just from our car window. We were most excited by the bald eagle that swooped so low over our car we could see every detail on its giant claws. We were most enchanted by the tiny calves trying to keep up with their mothers.

Crater Lake is the jewel at the end of this shiny, flowing necklace. It stunned me with its deep blue, satin-like surface. The literature says it's 2,000 feet deep, 6 miles long, 4 miles wide, and is the result of 12,000-foot Mt. Mazama blowing its top 7,000 years ago. My first thought was, how did they know it was named Mt. Mazama? But that was just to distract myself from the awesome scale of the event that created this caldera. Connecting with a prehistoric volcanic event can be a humbling experience for a 21st Century city girl.


We left the south side of Crater Lake on Hwy 62, avoiding the highest altitude on its east side. The countryside was drier, and mountains give way to hills. No more Umpqua River shining in the sun. I kind of missed it. Still, we delighted in driving for miles along the Upper Klamath Lake. Almost as much as actually arriving in Klamath Falls and finding our Motel 6 so we could get out of the car and flop down on our beds. What a day! What a beautiful, wondrous, eye-opening day! I really DO need to get out of the city more!