9/17 Drive Through Cascades to Bend, Oregon, Via U.S. 20

I plan my route and make camping reservations months in advance, sometimes as long as 8-9 months in advance.  Then I just follow my plan and head from place to place.  Sometimes I forget where I am headed, and that is what I did this time.  I knew I would be driving from the Coast to Bend, Oregon, but I completely was surprised that I had to drive over the Cascade Mountains! So this day, I dragged the beast up from sea level to over 4,800 feet and back down to 3,000 feet in elevation. 

Actually, it does fairly well going up long grades--better than trucks, although not quite as easily as the cars that pass me. 

 
I pulled over when I found this grove.  There was no one else around, so I did not take the hiking trail, but I did take some photos.

Made me dizzy to look up, but I took this photo anyway.

Motorhome looks very small compared to the big trees!

A few miles after the big trees grove, I passed the summit and started seeing a lot of burned trees.

 

It was interesting to compare the areas.  Some were burned a lot and others just a little with trees surviving as they are below. 

However, in this area, the fire must have been very hot, as the trees were completely charred. 

I found some interpretive signs explaining that this fire was in 2003 and burned 150 square miles.  That is a LOT of forest!  Most was part of the Deschutes National Forest.   

This sign shows how some areas burn differently than others.

You can see how this area was only lightly burned and many trees survived.