fatimaesam

Hi all!
I'll be traveling with my four sisters from the DC metro area on a whirlwind 4 days getaway mid-August to Oregon. We fly in the evening of the 14th and fly out the morning of the 19th, so technically we have 4 full days. We'll be landing at PDX, and mapped out an itinerary but am feeling hesitant about some parts of it and need your advice. We love the great outdoors, good coffee&food, moderate hiking, and relaxation (although doesn't look like that here haha).
This is what we have planned so far, and my questions will follow:
Night 1,2 (only nights in same location): Vancouver WA
Day 1: Mt St Helens and Portland in evening, Night 2 in same Vancouver WA location
Day 2: Portland in morning then drive east along Columbia Gorge turn south and head towards Bend/Crater Lake (would love advice on specifics for Columbia Gorge drive).
Night 3: Sunriver area south of Bend
Day 3: Drive 1.5 hours to Crater Lake, spend day at Crater Lake, maybe boat ride and hike, drive out along Hwy 138 (wondering if we'll be able to see the beauty of this scenic drive on way out).
Night 4: still unplanned (thinking Roseburg or push through to Reedsport area).
Day 4: Maybe dune buggy ride along Dunes area, drive north along 101 till Florence or Newport then cut over to Portland. (this day is very unplanned).
Night 5: near PDX.

My biggest worry is obviously that we're doing sooo much driving, but we really want to hit Portland and Crater Lake.
Questions: 1. Is it better to do this in a counterclockwise fashion, hitting coast first, then CL then Gorge area?
2. Which coastal city should we hit?
3. If we continue with itinerary above, how would you spend Day 4?, where would you spend the night after CL?
4. Is there any way to consolidate last two nights so we're staying in the same location/hotel?

Things we love: average hiking, good food, nature, fun outdoors activities (but we do have a pregnant woman with us, so may limit some activities). Budget is limited, staying mostly in airbnbs/some hotels.
Thank you!!

Gardyloo

Sorry, but you really are biting off too much.

A couple of questions first. Why Vancouver WA? Do you have family there or another compelling reason to stay?

If you want to include Crater Lake as well as Portland and the Columbia River Gorge, then the coast is probably going to represent an unacceptably long detour. To get from Crater Lake to the coast involves basically crossing two mountain ranges on single lane roads, and this bits between are not all that inspiring, and in mid-August heat is going to be a major consideration, e.g. this week the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon (Medford, Grants Pass) is well into the 100s F, and eastern Oregon, along the US 97 corridor, is not far behind. While temperatures in the 100s are unusual in the Portland/Gorge area, they're not unusual at all in the southern and eastern parts of the state, once you're away from the coast.

If heat and long drives are okay, then I'd amend the route to head south right away, down to Crater Lake via the Willamette Pass, then back up to Mt. Hood and Hood River, and finally back to Portland via the Gorge. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/byxQmnM88CM2

Gardyloo

Sorry, posted before I was done.

Of course I meant two-lane roads, not single lanes.

One thing to note is that due to the solar eclipse on August 21, accommodations in eastern Oregon, and indeed anywhere along or near the totality band - http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/maps/oregon.gif - are filling up fast or already have. While you'll be there before the 21st, there could well be people camping out ahead of time, or planning to visit Crater Lake etc. in the days before the eclipse, making lodging tough or impossible to obtain.

So, if it was me, I'd probably look at seeing Crater Lake some other time, and using your days to explore Portland, the Gorge and Mount Hood, then the north coast, maybe stopping at Mt. St. Helens along the way, something like this - https://goo.gl/maps/PZWqm1Cq7432

fatimaesam

Thank you so much for the detailed info @gardyloo. We're starting in Vancouver only bc it was 15 mins from PDX and well priced. Regarding the hot weather, is the Gorge area, Mt. Hood and/or Bend in that hot 100 degree weather corridor?

Gardyloo

The Gorge can definitely be hot if the rest of the state is. The canyon funnels heat from eastern Oregon and Washington out to the western parts of the state; it's why Portland is usually hotter than Seattle in mid-summer. Bend can too, but it's at a higher elevation (around 4000 feet if memory serves) so likely to be a few degrees cooler. This week has been unusually hot throughout the region, so probably not much of a basis of comparison. Mount Hood of course is going to be much cooler; tomorrow's forecast high for Hood River is 102F and at Timberline Lodge 75F. The coast is much cooler; tomorrow will be 74F in Astoria.

Staying in Vancouver if you're visiting Portland and the Gorge is not convenient at all. I'd look around PDX airport, where there are a number of affordable places.

suze

I'm no expert but do live in the area (I'm in Seattle with family in Oregon). You are trying to cover way too much distance in way too short a time.

Gardyloo's advice is always solid. Listen to his suggestions to tweak your plans.

fatimaesam

Thanks @suze.

@Gardyloo, I updated our itinerary slightly to include the following. Please let me know what you think. We do have rooms reserved for all the nights I mentioned, only one night trying to figure it out. August 14-19. major question is whether we should do clockwise or counterclockwise from Portland to Crater Lake.

Option 1:
Day 1: Mt St Helens from morning till we finish, then evening in Portland (food, sightseeing?).

Day 2: Morning in Portland OR (maybe a nice breakfast, minimal sightseeing) then head to Multnomah Falls area, then drive down to Sunriver area for the night (airbnb reserved).

Day 3: Crater Falls: boat ride mainly, drive around lodge area/rim drive maybe.

Night: still deciding, maybe stay in Eugene so can continue drive to Portland tomorrow

Day 4: Drive to Portland and sightsee portland or check out a daytrip to Cannon Beach (preference). Back to PDX area for the night.

Day 5: departure


Option two:

Day 1: Mt. St Helens
Day 2: Cannon Beach then drive down to Roseburg or near that area for the night
Day 3: Crater Lake: boat ride, a hike or rim drive
night in Bend?
Day 4: drive up to multnomah falls area and back to portland for sightseeing ( would be Friday Aug 18th).

Day 5: august 19th: Departure

NorthwestMale

This seems like a mess...


BUT, if people really want to see Portland AND Crater Lake, then if they fly to Portland they should hit the ground running and make tracks all the way to Crater Lake first.

This offers the added bonus of getting you through the area earlier in case the hippies and Woodstock atmosphere are reincarnated for the Eclipse of Monday August 21.

I would just drive ASAP from Portland, to Sandy... stopping at Timberline Lodge... and then toward Madras (it doesn't have a zoo, but it might BE one) and Bend... and then south to Crater Lake.

ONCE there, then you can consider remaining options... but you'll be in OREGON... not that far from the Pacific Ocean, so you might as well target the coast at some point (maybe backtrack to Hwy #58, over to/through Eugene, and then westward from there, for a bit of the coast).

Five Sisters is too many for Oregon, where Three Sisters is much more appropriate.



Review:

early on the 15th... drive-off on the above-mentioned path, needing 6 hours of DRIVING time to get to Crater Lake (but Timberline Lodge will add a couple of hours, along with gas, lunch, and a few other things along the path.

If you find yourself slowed, then spend the night in Bend, but if not, get down there as near to Crater Lake as possible for optimizing your time.

Ideally you afford yourselves a whole day for Crater Lake... and even a 2nd, if your sentiments about it are strong.

Crater Lake to Eugene is 3 hours, and Florence, on the coast, is another 90 minutes.

I would save the Mt. St. Helens interests for the end, if there is time. (the Eclipse hubbub alone warrants such a move, as does your strong interest in Crater Lake)

Patty

Keep an eye on the fire situation at Crater Lake https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5450/

fatimaesam

Hi all! I just wanted to update this to say we came back from our trip to Portland and Oregon and managed to do everything we wanted to, even though we were planning to skip the coast. We ended up spending a few hours in Crater Lake and moving on to our overnight stay in the Steamboat Inn, where the wildfires had closed off the highway to Steamboat. Since there was no other way to reach it, a police escort led us through the closed off hwy to our destination. The next morning we pulled a 4 hour drive to the coast and enjoyed a day on the Oregon shores. We managed to come back to Portland for dinner at the Cartopia area. Overall, we drove 850 miles in 4 days. Lots of driving, but with no kids to slow us down, we are glad we got to see so much. Probably the only things that would have helped would have been good recommendations for places to eat.
With appreciation for this forum.

NorthwestMale

I'm glad to know that you went for it and saw most of what you wanted to see, no matter how ambitious.

Sometimes you know more success merely for having a plan in place than might have been the case were you just winging it.

suze

Thanks for checking back in and letting us know how things went! Always appreciated on this forum. I'm glad you got to cover all you wanted to do and see.