09/29/10 - Deer Park

The drive up to Deer Park doesn't offer the same spectacular views as from the road to Obstruction Point, but the scenery up top is impressive. We try to get up there once a year. Since we waited until late September, some of the foliage was already changing for the fall. The mountains, as usual, were spectacular.

That's lens flare, not an alien death ray.

This is what alien death rays do to foliage.

A view from the trail

Keywords: deer park, autumn

09/09/09 - Deer Park

We finally made it out to Deer Park after having spent years in terror of the drive. We frequently take the twisty road up to Whiskey Bend and zip along Obstruction Point Road with its vertiginous drop offs. Unfortunately, our guide book provided Deer Park Road with a much more dire description. It was a bit off the mark. Deer Park Road is no worse than the road to Whiskey Bend. It is unpaved, one and a half lanes wide, twisty and has poor visibility, but it is quite passable. We now know.

Unfortunately, we chose a rather drizzly day, so our vistas from Deer Park and Blue Mountain, which towers over the campground, were limited. Still, the clouds added drama, as did our worry about fog on the road back. A number of trails start from Deer Park. We explored the trail towards Slab Camp and the little nature walk, a half mile loop, to the summit of Blue Mountain. We only saw so much, but now we have to come back, and this time we won't be quite so worried about the drive.







Keywords: deer park