South-Central Oregon, July 2003 (Re-run)

 Oregon has to be in my top five favorite states, primarily because it has such a great diversity of spectacular scenery.  For a person who likes the outdoors, Oregon has it all... mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and volcanic remains... not to mention the fabulous coast just covered in the previous travelogue posting.

I don't know if Oregon has the most waterfalls of any state, but it certainly has some of the most beautiful.  Entire books have been written to document the state's waterfalls, and still many were overlooked.  I won't attempt to show all that I've visited.

Toketee Falls

Paulina Falls

Tumalo Falls

Sahalie Falls

Koosah Falls

Since much of Oregon's water comes from snow melt, streams and lakes are extremely clear.  They then reflect the color of their surroundings, often giving them a beautiful shade of green or blue.  Of course, Crater Lake has been scientifically proven to be the clearest lake in the U.S.  This is because its water enters only through rain or snow fall.

Crater Lake

Crater Lake

 

Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Sparks Lake

Clear Lake

McKenzie River

 Most of the state's mountains are volcanoes, many still considered active.  Consequently, much of the land is covered with lava.  Crater Lake was formed when the caldera of an ancient volcano collapsed, and the island in the lake is the result of a second volcanic eruption.

Mount Bachelor

Brokentop Mountain

Mount Thielsen

Mount Washington

Lava Field

One of the more spectacular volcanic creations is a place called Smith Rock, considered to be the birthplace of rock climbing in the U.S. and still one of the most popular venues for that sport.

The Painted Hills geologic wonder was created by a succession of floods millions of years ago.  Various layers of silt deposited there contained different minerals that resulted in the various colors.  Fossil remains of early horses, camels, and rhinoceroses in the Painted Hills makes the area important to paleontologists.