Being a tourist until more rock climbing

Coastal Redwoods

The Redwoods are cool. Redwood national park is the type that you just drive through and see some big trees. Fortunately that is all I was looking for out of it. I am definitely happy to get to see the Redwoods, since I’ve wanted to see them for a long time. 

These are actually Coastal Redwoods. They are very closely related to the giant sequoia, which are actually a type of redwood as well. There is a third type, called the Dawn Redwoods, that is located in China. Kinda random distribution… Anyway, the Coastal redwoods are taller than the giant sequoia (up to about 400’) but not as wide.

The redwoods were Saturday. Then on Sunday morning we finally made it into Oregon, and drove on to Crater Lake. This is a really beautiful place. The lake is so clear and pristine, surrounded by the rim of this giant volcano. It is also the deepest lake in the country at almost 2000’! Also it is al trapped in the volcano, and so there is actually no inlet or outlet.

Hanging out on the rim

But since the coolest thing here is surrounded by a road that goes all the way around the rim, there was not much to gain by doing a hike. So on to Smith Rock!

Smith Rock State Park

Smith Rock is among the best sport climbing destinations in the country. There is something like 1800 climbs here, and it is all very accessible. There is also quite a good variation of climbing styles and types, which made it a whole lot of fun. Also 2 minutes down the road is a campground filled with slacklining hippies, youth climbing camps, and a few random climbers like us. Quite an interesting place, but at least it has a communal cooking area and showers! It had been a couple weeks since I last had an actual shower and not just a riverbath…

Climbing at the Dihedrals

Nico and I got two days in of some wonderful climbing, until our fingers were completely raw. Next time I will need to build up my callouses a bit more before coming out here, and it would definitely be worth another trip sometime since there is so much great climbing there that we did not even touch.

Climbing at the Morning Glory wall. That is Nico at then top right finishing a climb.

From Smith Rock, we head to Portland, just to see it. I realize that I wrote most of this a little while ago. We are now on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, spending a day in a library planning and waiting out rain. So at the start of this post when I mention Saturday... that is exactly a week ago. Down time for internet has been difficult to come by, although we may be attempting to slow down a little bit, so we'll see if posting can become a little bit more regular. No promises though.

More Redwood Photos

More Crater Lake Photos

More Smith Rock Photos