We have been enjoying the questionable\nbenefits of lousy weather for the last few days and today was no\nexception. It was raining when we got up and it was raining when we\ncalled it off for the day. Fortunately, during the middle part of\ntoday’s daylight hours we had a chance to go out and look around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWeather forecasts for the continuation\nof our trip east indicate that a whopper of a storm is coming and our\nscheduled day for departure was to be possibly a bit less snowy but\ntemperatures will be below freezing. We figured we should get a look\nat the mountain passes we will be obliged to cross over to see if the\nsuspected cold and dismal conditions would affect our transit. We are\ncamped in Welches, OR, with an elevation of around 1500 feet. The\npasses just a short ways east are around 4000 feet and are scheduled\nto be snow-covered and icy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tSo we crafted a simple plan: we\ndelayed our departure here for a day until Monday instead of Sunday.\nWe rarely change our travel schedule but, fortunately, we had built\nin a little schedule slack for the next couple destinations so we\nwere able to just pay $20 here in Welches for another night and\nshorten our pending stay in Cove Palisades on the other side of the\nCascades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tThe drive today up into the pass\noffered wonderful views of the mountains around Mt. Hood but the big\nvolcano itself was obscured by clouds. Nevertheless, the scenery we\ndid get to ogle was very beautiful. The vine maple bushes and trees\nhave leaves that are turning a gorgeous shade of red which is a stark\ncontrast to the evergreen conifers that surround them. We also\nstopped in at Trillium Lake up near the turnoff to Timberline Lodge\n(remember The Shining \u2013 <\/em>Here’s\nJohnny!) at the pass. It is a small but beautiful little lake with\nquite a few folks out on it, fishing from float tubes and kayaking in\nthe nearly freezing water. Those plucky Oregonians. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n After today’s recon mission, we now feel better about revising our schedule because the pass roads and conditions were formidable today but will be even worse when snow-covered or covered by black ice. Hopefully a delay of one day will offer better conditions so we can cross the passes and get down into the arid side of Oregon on the east side of the Cascades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pass pictures. Click the link. https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/UFEKvmuaajxWtrst9<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have been enjoying the questionable benefits of lousy weather for the last few days and today was no exception. It was raining when we got up and it was raining when we called it off for the day. Fortunately, … Continue reading