Trip Report

For the last bus trip of the season there were 36 Obsidians and five friends who left at 8:05 a.m. to ride leisurely over the Cascades where wild splashes of brilliant fall colors showed. From highway 58, joining 97, a rest stop at Crescent, then to Highway 31 - with more sunshine and into the high desert country. We heard interesting geology along the way by Dr. Ewart Baldwin. Special interest was at our lunch stop at the foot of big Fort Rock, "a remnant of a large tuff cone which rises prominently above the valley floor." It is a weird sight. Its "diameter nearly 1/3 of a mile, and its rim boundedby a nearly perpendicular cliff on the outer side" - "about 325 feet above the valley floor at its highest point." Originally it was much larger, but has eroded according to Ewart.

We stopped at Summer Lake; Headquarters for the bird refuge to view the immature ducks and other birds; and old historic town of Paisley where a few jars of the famous wild plum jam were purchased. This fruit grows only east of the Cascades. A stop for picture taking of Abert Rim, a striking land mark of a frontal scarp of a large fault block. The rim extends for 25 miles and at its highest point stands 2300 feet above the level of Lake Abert. Another stop north of Lakeview to view the manmade geyser "Old Perpetual" which erupts continuously at times to heights of 50 feet or more.

The red carpet was out at Lakeview Lodge with coffee and cookies, plus a sign "Welcome Obsidian Club." Even an article appeared in the local newspaper. Lakeview's elevation is 4800', the highest incorporated town in the State. Its population is 2,820. It is an important center for stock and lumber production, plus tourism. The county has one of the highest per capita income in the State. The Daly Fund has given encouragement to many to attend college. We left Lakeview at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, stopped briefly in Bly, lunched in Klamath Falls, enjoyed a half-hour stop at Crater Lake, ate again in Chemult, and were home by 6:30 p.m.

Besides Ewart's expertise on geology, Alford Smith treated us to history of the region: and Irene Flynn and Margaret Markley were kept busy identifying birds for the group.

The congenial and cooperative travelers were Bertha and Rolfe Anderson, Duke and Mary Jane Arpin, Ewart and Margaret Baldwin, Clay and Louise Barnes, Marie Carstensen, Irene Flynn, Marian Fulkerson, Florence Givens, Virginia Horton, Jim Meeks, Margaret Markley, Helen Miller, Elizabeth McMullin, Frances Newsom, Ruth Nichols, Daisie Niccolls, Hazel Peck, Elizabeth Officer, Janice and Pat Pattison, Bonnie Rickard, Sue and Frank Riemer, Catherine Ritter, Nora Robertson, Lois Schreiner, Al and Lila Smith, Betty Mae Stamm, Grace Smith, Paula Vehrs, Betty Waddell, Thelma Watson, Virginia West, Maxcine Williams, and leaders Jane Hilt and Mary-Douglass Stovall.