Just out of Roseburg is a place called colliding rivers where the North Umpqua meets the Little River. It's one of the few places where rivers come together head-on.
A little further up the road Sharyn went into a little country store and while she stopped I got a shot of this cool contraption for carrying fly rods. This is fly fishing country.
The North Umpqua is a beautiful river to see.
We stopped to get a look at the river close up and I got a good picture of these flowers (I think in the Sweet Pea family).
While crossing a bridge I got a shot upstream where a young guy was fly fishing.
It looked like a good place to be on a hot day.
This is a shot looking downstream from the bridge.
I walked over to a creek that fed the North Umpqua and took a picture of the grasses that grow as the water level falls.
And our young fisherman was almost to the bridge.
I got back and talked a bit with him about my friend Jim, Orvis and the McKenzie River. As he walked off I took a picture of him crossing the bridge I've mentioned a few times.
When I got back to the Musemobile there was this dead butterfly on the steps. I later found out Sharyn has tried to save it from some ants but it didn't make it.
Next we stopped at Watson falls the 3rd highest in Oregon. I was a short 3/4 of a mile hike but all uphill. I suspect these moss covered boulders are very wet much of the year.
There are lots of little falls on the trail but ...
... Watson falls are by far the largest.
All along the trail there are huge rocks and tree branches and trunks covered with the flow of water from Watson Falls and the Clearwater River that feeds the North Umpqua.
There are some massive trees as you can see demonstrated by Sharyn, with a smile of course.
She even forced me to have my picture taken wearing my Art in the Vineyard Tee-Shirt.
From further back down the trail you can see Watson Falls and the flow below.
I thought this mangled stump was interesting.
I also got a picture of one of the few Rhododendron's still blooming in the summer.
We next stopped at Whitehorse Falls a beautiful spot also along the Clearwater River.
The Musemobile even posed for a picture there.
The Clearwater River has been mentioned with Watson and Whitehorse Falls but it also has it's own Clearwater Falls a little further up the road to Diamond Lake. This is just a small fall showing how clear the water actually is.
And this is Clearwater Falls. Sharyn and Matthew climbed up and stood at the top of these falls when we first moved to Oregon.
One of my favorite shots was this one looking downstream from Clearwater Falls.
Even better was this one of a young guy trunk walking over the Clearwater River near it's head.
Finally we got to Diamond Lake to the South with Mount Bailey in the background.
To the east was Mount Thielsen I like to call Oregon's Matterhorn.
"Thielsen's spire-like top is hit by lightning so often that some of its summit rocks have melted into a rare mineraloid called lechatelierite a variety of fulgurite, and the mountain itself has earned the nickname "the lightning rod of the Cascades."~ Wikipedia
The roads on this map in White is the route our adventure is taking. Diamond Lake is the blue blob just above Crater Lake and we are camped at the south end. Tomorrow we head south then southwest to the Medford/Grants Pass area.
Finally a look at Mount Thielsen behind the Musemobile,
Scrabble Score ~ Awwww!! Scrabble Queen won Again
Quote of the Day ~
"This ground is hot enough to cook the Sunday roast!" ~ John Seach (Volcanologist) just before his boots melted on the hot ground. Lopevi Volcano 2000.
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