Our last visit to Oregon just grazed the northwest corner but our Great Train Adventure took us straight up the middle.
In our epic 26 hour ride from Salinas, California to Seattle, Washington I did actually touch the ground or at lease the asphalt in Oregon. From here at the cheap seats in the very back of the train the engine is just visible on the right edge of the station building here in Klamath Falls. That is not all bad since it gave me the opportunity for the special photographs below.
While this has every appearance of the ocean it is only Upper Klamath Lake as the train runs along and sometimes over the shoreline.
As we start into the hills we can see the river running in the valleys. We also start to see the reason for the cheap seats in the back as I can look out the back window to see where we have been.
Amtrak is a poor sister using the tracks of operating companies that really need to make a living so they almost always get to go past while we sit on the siding which is probably the case here. During our trip we had several long waits for priority freights to catchup and pass. We may get a little behind schedule but whatever.
The most fun was trying to catch these tunnels. The bridge is easy, just wait for the proper place and click. Tunnels are tricky. The PowerShot S95 camera tends to fall asleep to conserve battery power. It needs to wake up, focus, and then take the photograph before getting too far down the track but not too close either. It takes some guessing to time the exact moment to start the process so these were the best of a whole series.
Breaking out into the Columbia River plains south of Portland I got the timing right on the Santiam River crossing just outside of Jefferson, Oregon to capture the highway bridge that paralleles the rail bridge. The horse pasture is obvious but I am not sure if the field of yellow is a real crop or weeds in a fallow field.
Leaving Oregon the Willemette River south of Portland, Oregon is behind the bushes. The tower is part of the Portland Station. Finally if my GPS is to be believed is a view of Vancouver, Washington about 300 feet south of the border which runs down the middle of the Columbia River.
Leaving Seattle, Washington and headed for Bruneau Dunes SP in southern Idaho, we needed a half way stop. Weather throughout the northwest was very comfortable but we worried about early snows in the mountains. We have been in a Montana blizzard and it's not exactly fun.
The forecast called for pleasant temperatures in Pendleton, Oregon with Emigrant Springs SP just 20 some miles south. On arrival we discovered another great truth about camping. ELEVATION MATTERS! The campground may be less than 25 miles from Pendleton but it's 3,000 feet higher and it was snowing when we arrived. Heavy flurries maybe but still snow and cold and not real comfortable even with a 1,500 watt heater going full blast in the tent.
During the day it was reasonable pleasant for a long walk about the park and these simple pictures of the area. I did spend some time on the long Emigrant Hill overlook taking pictures of the sunset. There were no clouds and I was still using my old 2mp Olympus camera so I was not real happy with the results. Since I can't have fun in the kayak I was leaning toward a better camera but at this point I was still debating the quality Vs cost Vs weight issues and vacillating a lot.