Heather and I headed up Marys Peak on an impromptu shake-down cruise of the Ford Explorer that we borrowed from my mom. We had attached a top box to the roof rack and wanted to see how it would perform. This panorama is from the saddle on Marys Peak.
The wildflowers were just starting to bloom.
At the upper parking lot. It was surprisingly cold up there!
What a beautiful place.
Additional blooming flowers.
Looking up at the Explorer at the edge of the upper parking lot with the sun sinking below the horizon in the west.
Looking out toward Corvallis and the Willamette Valley.
The Explorer and the top box.
As we headed down the mountain, we decided to take a back road. One wrong turn led to another and pretty soon we were on an adventure in the back woods of the Oregon coast range!
Heather and I used our intuitions to figure our way out of the forest.
We stumbled upon a huge clearcut in the middle of the forest.
Onward and upward to find our way out.
A panorama of the huge clearcut. We drove all the way around the top part of the clearcut. These are the things that most people in Oregon never see. That poor forest. I hope all the animals found new homes.