Stephanie bought me some new snow shoes for my birthday, and the other day I decided to take them out for a spin. We had a lot snow earlier this winter, but it’s been very dry since mid January or so, but it did drop a couple of inches the night before I went. As I pulled into the Sno-Park lot at Salt Creek Falls, I saw someone else is here, but not in the typical Subaru. A vintage Land Rover, with a pop top, no less. And it’s a family with two little kids. Traveling and camping in style.
Looks like an awning on the driver’s side of the roof, for balmier weather. I don’t know anything about the pop-top; maybe someone else can identify it.
Happy trails.
I hit the trail, and found myself instantly at home with the snow shoes. Like hiking, in size 36 shoes but superb traction. What’s taken me so long to have some? I used to take my cross country skis on ungroomed trails like this one, but they can be pretty rough and steep in places, and I’m just getting too old for that. And Stephanie never liked them outside of pretty level and groomed trails.
But these make the steepest trails a breeze.
The trail wends along to a viewpoint of Diamond Creek Falls.
It’s a loop trail of a couple of miles, and on my return, I stopped and took a look at Salt Creek Falls proper, for the first time in winter. Here’s the ledge where the creek starts its long plunge.
And here’s the whole thing. Its drop of 286′ (87 m) makes it the third highest plunge waterfall in Oregon. It’s just about a 50 minute drive up Hwy 58 from Eugene.
That’s probably a Dormobile tent. A company with a long history. Good find!!
https://www.dormobile.co.uk/
Beautiful, I’ve never seen the falls in winter. When we lived in the Willamette Valley we stopped by Salt Creek a few times on the trans-Cascadian drive in summer. The creek above the drop is so mellow and flat, you’d never expect the nearly 300 foot drop just downstream.
Judging by the photos, the landscape would be perfect if there was a live-action adaptation of the cartoon Gravity Falls.
And this one Land Rover is lucky to not have the same fate as the one from the movie The Gods Must be Crazy”. 😉
Great find Paul, lovely scenery, and I’m glad the snowshoes are working out for you. That sure is a nice looking Land Rover and I forgot that a four-door variant was available. I assume these were sold new in the United States at some point.
The 109” long wheelbase Rovers were sold here but not as popular as the 88” version. When the defender was relaunched here in 1993(?) only the short 90” version was sold here in any number, though I think a few 110” wagons were imported, all gas V8. In a somewhat CC Effect, I saw a long wheelbase Land Rover Series II pickup a few days ago.
Series 2 or 2a LWB Landrover Station wagon slow noisy and very capable off road.
Nice find! It’s always fun finding something like this in an unexpected place.
Oregon looks like a fantastic place to live! You’ve really made me want to visit it with all the pictures and stories you’ve posted. I got a pair of snowshoes a few years ago and don’t use them as often I should. Hopefully you’ll use them more often than I do.
Nice pop top Land Rover! I’d seen those side pivoting tops on British vans but never on a Land Rover.
My snowshoes are the old traditional rawhide laced wood. Used to use them for winter camping in my 20’s. The last few times I’ve snowshoed I rented or borrowed a set of modern ones.
Stylish the Landie may be, but that family are absolutely welcome to it.
If the Rover 6, slothful. If the Rover 4, three-legged sloth. If diesel, dead sloth.
They have no wheel travel, none. The axles are welded solid to the frame. The seats, welded to the body, don’t adjust. Your back ends up welded to a chiropractor’s table.
Two occupants min is ideal, as it needs at least two to steer it for parking. The turning circle is 1.3 city blocks.
Four occupants are better if you intend ever to stop. The brake pedal is a little stiff, that is to say, all four need to be standing on it, and even then, the drums will be largely uninterested.
And yes I’ve driven one, with the Rover V8, no less. At least it made a nice noise as it roared away, but detuned for the Landie (low comp, etc), it was still only sloth-on-coffee, and liked 9 mpg.
I can’t even pretend to admire this family, but to be fair, there’s probably little brain function left from the shaking and bashing, so I can pity them.
Those falls are a wonder, though.
It certainly looks like a Dormobile roof, usually seen on a Bedford CF or Transit conversion (not sure about the VW Type 2 – maybe that as well). But rare on a land Rover
Justy Baum is being little unkind, but you sort of get his/her point.
Judging by the sticker in the rear window (best 4×4 x far), the owner has an appreciation of Landie history – that was LR’s slogan back in the 80s and I’m not sure they’ve improved on it, though LHD suggest a less direct link back to the UK.
And, Paul, you live in a beautiful part of the world, even if didn’t show us your new snow shoes!
My wife and I went snowshoeing today, near Tahoe, and saw a green 109” LWB Series II Land Rover on the way to the trailhead. There must be some correlation.