PORTLAND - Whack-a-mole Weather like we are having this winter is a great time to stay inside and plan some future outdoor adventures for family or friends!
There are literally thousands of fascinating places all around Oregon and even around where you live for a vacation, stay-cation or play-cation. The immediate medical value is the “Escape” & recharges your batteries!
EVEN PLANNING relaxation has major health and stress-relief benefits, according to medical research.
Check out: http://stress.about.com/od/workplacestress/a/vacations.htm
The task of recommending one spot in Oregon to visit is over-whelming; besides you know better what you and your family enjoy.
Instead, let us look more at landscape features you will see traveling in Oregon as you drive to your chosen destination.
Oregon is blessed with many “Table Rocks” or Plateaus for various reasons.
The cover photo shows a central Oregon Table rock near Dayville along Interstate Highway 26 – east of Portland.
This photo shows a hard pink layer (Ignimbrite ) in a simple cross section of an ancient geologic layered cake.
Usually strong winds and rains blow or wash all the geologic sediment off the top of a table rock and we walk upon solid rock up to a serious drop off with a nice view of the valley below.
Those who have traveled to the Grand Canyon know exactly what has been stated overlooking a huge expanse of the Colorado River drainage; but don’t fall of the cliff! It would be a once in a life time experience?
Wikipedia states:
In geology and earth science, a plateau ( /pləˈtoʊ/ or /ˈplætoʊ/; plural plateaus or rarely plateaux), also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau. A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity.
Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Magma rises from the mantle causing the ground to swell upward, in this way large, flat areas of rock are uplifted. Plateaus can also be built up by lava spreading outward from cracks and weak areas in the crust, an example of such being the Columbia Plateau in the northwestern United States of America. Plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus.
Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment.
In North America, the largest plateau is the Colorado Plateau covering an area of about 337,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.[1]
The Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona and southern Utah is bisected by the valley of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. How this came to be is that over 10 million years ago, a river was already there, though not necessarily on exactly the same course. Then, subterranean geological forces caused the land in that part of North America to gradually rise by about a centimeter per year for millions of years. An unusual balance occurred: the river that would become the Colorado River was able to erode into the crust of the Earth at a nearly equal rate to the uplift of the plateau. Now, millions of years later, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is at an elevation of about 2450 meters (9800 ft) above sea level, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 2150 meters (8200 ft) above sea level. At its deepest, the Colorado River is about 1830 meters (6000 ft) below the level of the North Rim.
The southern edge of the plateau in northern Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim, where the elevation of the land declines steeply into central Arizona. This Mogollon Rim is located about 20 kilometers south Flagstaff, Holbrook, Winslow, and Williams, Arizona. Because of the snowy plateau and the San Francisco Mountains to its north, the Mogollon Rim area is noted for its many natural springs and artesian wells.
Further, Wikipedia mentions one famous Oregon “Table Rock” that is now a Southwest Oregon Park near Interstate 5 – south of Portland:
"Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock are two prominent volcanic plateaus located just north of the Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon. Created by an andesitic lava flow approximately seven million years ago and shaped by erosion, they now stand about 800 feet (240 m) above the surrounding valley. The Table Rocks are jointly owned; The Nature Conservancy is responsible for 3,591 acres (1,453 ha), while the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for 1,280 acres (518.0 ha).
The Takelma tribe of Native Americans inhabited the Table Rocks for at least 15,000 years prior to European American settlement. Starting in the mid-19th century during a gold rush, the settlers forced the Takelma away from the Table Rocks and into reservations. The surrounding area was quickly developed. The Table Rock post office was established in 1872, an airstrip was built atop Lower Table Rock in 1948, and a very high frequency omni-directional range (VOR) aviation tower was constructed on Upper Table Rock in the 1960s. The Table Rocks were not protected until the 1970s."
One of the more amazing stories unfolding now in archaeological circles is the role maize or corn played in the original Oregonian’s quality of life.
There is a red painted pictograph of a maize plant of unknown age hidden in central Oregon’s PICTURE GORGE. Did original Oregonians grow corn?
We know the Southwestern Anasazi or lost Pueblo-building people or tribe grew corn & they lived on top of table rocks to avoid warring tribes in the valley below along trading trails ; like Oregon’s Takelma tribe of Native Americans that inhabited the Table Rocks for at least 15,000 years prior to European American settlement.
The Ancient Pueblo People were famous for their clay pots. How did the Arizona Anasazi water their corn fields on arid dry Table Tops? Did they use clays pots that collected water from valley’s below?
We all know what corn, maize and popcorn is today; but where did it come from?
Growing corn would be the start of an agricultural economy and society stability; but when or if it grown in ancient Oregon – is an interesting question to ponder during rainy days?
Sweet, salty... or mouldy? 6,700-year-old popcorn found in Peru
By Amy Oliver
19th January 2012
“The discovered cobs' characteristics suggest the sites' ancient settlers ate popcorn and flour corn.
'Corn was first domesticated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte,' said Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian Museum.
Our results show that only a few thousand years later corn arrived in South America where its evolution into different varieties that are now common in the Andean region began.
'This evidence further indicates that in many areas corn arrived before pots did and that early experimentation with corn as a food was not dependent on the presence of pottery,' she added in paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr Piperno said the discovery - the earliest ever in South America - was important for understanding how ancient cobs and kernels led to the hundreds of maize types known today.
'Because there is so little data available from other places for this time period, the wealth of morphological information about the cobs and other corn remains at this early date is very important for understanding how corn became the crop we know today,' she said.”
Often driving can be boring and we often look out windows for relief and see landforms passing by.
Look for “Piedmont plateaus are bordered on one side by mountains and on the other by a plain or sea.” along our wave cut terraces along our Pacific coastline and “volcanic rimrock” plateau all around our state. The cover photo is an example of this type or “volcanic plateau” or table rock forming.
One thing to ponder walking along our modern beaches is the fact that the last Ice Age (3 million years ago to around 12,000 B.C.) froze so much water our Pacific sea level back then was actually 300-foot lower than today!
Ice age villages could be in the tidal wash zones of today!
While we patiently wait for our flooding streams to recede today, it is fun to ponder what life was like for ancient Oregonians.
Nothing else, it makes us grateful for living today – even with all our hassles.
Now is the time to plan for your family’s “Get out there and explore”!
Other quotes to consider:
I decided not to let my past rule my future so I decided to change my present in order to open up my future.
Do you think my mind is maturing late, or simply rotted early?
Ogden Nash
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.
Lewis Carroll
Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
Lewis Carroll
His answer trickled through my head like water through a sieve.
Lewis Carroll
I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then.
Lewis Carroll
I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read!
Lewis Carroll
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Lewis Carroll
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“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matter compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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© Copyright 2011. Dave Sandersfeld.
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