Lakes and Lava.

Hello again,

Sunday 17th Oct.
We had a restful Shabbos while continuing to learn much from Rav Samson Hirsch, an amazing scholar and sage. His commentaries are timeless; he could have lived in the current era and would not have needed to adapt a word. Such is the power of Torah.
We met an elderly gentleman at Flathead Lake in August who suggested that we visit Newberry Crater. A hiker we spoke with the other day, endorsed the idea and so, here we are. Something about Oregon gets into one’s soul. Not, of course, the militia outlook but rather, the magnificence of the natural wonders that Hashem provided in this state.

On the Edge!

We left Bend and arrived soon thereafter at the Newberry National Monument. The hike was incredible although on the short side. It was an embarrassing four miles but we gained 1,700 feet in the two miles climb. We also had the opportunity to scramble on the jagged rocks. We certainly prefer the slicks ones but we are not fussy—a rock is a rock. The views were spectacular. We rated this as one of our top ten notwithstanding the lesser distance.




“You have twenty hikes in your ‘top ten’,” our editor announced.
Adrenaline Rush.

“Really,” we answered. “It just shows how good the hikes have been.”
“It’s absurd logically, can’t you see that?” she explained. “You need to remove ten from the list or make it a top twenty.”
“Removing ten is out of the question,” we answered, “and calling it ‘top twenty’ loses the impact. Can’t we have twenty hikes in our top ten?”

We followed our editor up the steep trail, calves aching, but feeling the adrenaline kick in, especially as we moved along the cliff edge. We could sense her rolling eyes again although we could not see them. The views of the crater or more correctly, the caldera, the Paulina and East Lakes and of course, in the distance from a different angle were our old friends, The Sisters, Mt. Washington and Mt. Bachelor. A 360-degree view allowed us to gaze at the blue-mountains, in the far distance, too.

Lakes and lava!

An interesting coincidence occurred when we arrived at the peak. A couple, having driven their car to the top via a four-mile surface road, stopped to talk with us. We recognized the young woman, a national park ranger, who we met two years ago when we visited Crater Lake. The coincidence was remarkable. She confirmed that she had begun work that summer in the park. She probably did not recognize us because we were wearing our stylish hats and of course, we are much younger now.

A little overwhelmed for a change!

The trail itself was quiet, surprising us that on a Sunday so few were out witnessing such a stunning place. However, we suppose there’s football, baseball and hunting to keep people occupied. In the town of Chemult, where we have set up camp—in a motel room—we hear that there is a mushroom chasing convention. Clearly, people have much to do...mushroom hunting, we ask you?


"The world is a very narrow bridge...."

Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey