Crater Lake Crowds and Snow

May 27, 2014

Sunday we drove to Crater Lake National Park. Having found out that the North Entrance had just been cleared of snow, we were able to make a short drive to reach the park. Driving to the higher elevations to reach the rim at about 6,000', we began to actually drive on the plowed roads. The snow had been piled from three feet to over ten feet high beside the roadway.

We reached the first scenic overlook at the junction of the park road and the Rim Road that encircles the crater. It was completely parked up. Every overlook from there on to the Rim Lodge area was full and cars had begun to be parked along the roadside as well. We continued on to the Rim Village to discover a full parking lot and lots of people driving through it and walking around the area. We lucked into an RV space that was partially taken up by a car and took some time to eat lunch before we went exploring.

After lunch we started walking through the crowds. The Rim Road the rest of the way around the crater had not been plowed, and all the hiking trails were still snow covered. We could rent snow shoes, to hike, but that idea didn't appeal to us, so we walked with the crowds across the packed snow to the rim. A lot of the crowd were families that were there to let their children play in the snow. I got hit by an errant snowball. Other people were ignoring the signs and barricades set up to keep people off of the snowy ledges hanging over the rim.

 The sky was clear, the sun out, and the temperature in the 50's, so it was a beautiful day. The lake is a breathtaking blue, but hard to appreciate when people are constantly walking in front of you for photo opportunities! We walked through the historic lodge, and the small visitor center, but the outdoor geologic exhibits were still snowed in. Greg pieced together the geology from the park brochure.

Winter "tunnel" into the rest rooms to allow access when buried in snow

Crater Lake Lodge

Lodge Lobby

Greg's commentary – Mount Mazama is one of the biggest and most active Cascades volcanoes. It had erupted regularly for several hundred thousand years, growing to an estimated 12,000 feet tall. 7,500 years ago (only yesterday in geological time), Mazama erupted an enormous cloud of ash and pumice, about 50 times that of the recent Mount Saint Helens eruption. This emptied the magma chamber below the mountain, allowing the peak to collapse, creating a very deep crater. Snow and rain filled the crater to form a six-mile wide lake as much as 4,000 feet deep that has since filled with eroded sediment to a depth of 2,000 feet, making Crater Lake the deepest lake in the US. The lake has no inlet other than snow and rain, which gives it the some purest natural water known. The dramatic beauty of the area attracted the attention of prominent conservationists in the late 1800s and it was made a national park in the early 1900s.

We took some photos and got back in the rig and drove back the way we came in. The overlooks were still parked up, but now cars were being parked in the road because the shoulders were buried in snow banks! Park rangers were giving citations to those cars that were blocking the road. I yelled thank you out the window to them. I'm sure they got a lot of negativity from people, and I wanted them to know they were appreciated!

No Shoulder room and some snow banks were taller than the RV

We wound up back at Diamond Lake an hour after we left there. The sun was still shining, and at 1,000' feet lower in elevation it was warmer and had no snow, so we sat in our chairs along the lake at our great campsite and enjoyed our quiet, private space. Crater Lake was beautiful, but on a holiday weekend, just too crowded to enjoy!

Redwoods, Rogue River Gorge, and Diamond Lake

May 25, 2014

Today is Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We have been sitting on the shores of a stunning lake! Diamond Lake has blue waters that change with the sunlight, and a snow covered peak, Mt. Bailey, on the opposite shore. The 238 site campground is strung along almost three miles of the eastern shoreline, so it provides many lakeside sites, and we found a doozy! Normally there is a $16 a night fee, but they have added a $6 a night surcharge if you want lakefront. We sprung for the $22 a night spot after finding this great campsite.

Diamond Lake camp

Today we are heading a short distance south to Crater Lake National Park. That visit will wait for another post. In the meantime, we left Ferndale, CA and the Humboldt County Fairground campground after a two night stay. It was good to rest for a day, and catch up on walks, and the blog. Wednesday morning the fog from the day before slowly burned off, and we headed for Eureka, on Humboldt Bay to find a Walmart, not an easy task on the development adverse northern California coast. Completing our errands there, we drove a short distance north to the very green, progressive town of Arcata, home of Humboldt State University with its well known sustainable technology programs. We found the Emerald Laundromat, and proceeded to do almost a month's worth of laundry. This laundromat has its own website, and was probably the nicest, friendliest, cleanest one we've ever been to. On the off chance that you will find yourself driving through Arcata, CA and needing to do laundry, go here!

View from our Ferndale fairground camp

We walked across the street to Wildberries Market. Beautiful fresh food market. I bought scrumptious, luscious local Humboldt County grown strawberries. Later I would taste them in a beer at the Six River Brewery with our late lunch (linner)! Two hours later, with the laundry done and the fog lifted we drove just north to McKinleyville and visited the aforementioned brewpub. Greg got back on the “Fish and Chips Trail” he traveled last summer in Atlantic Canada, and we enjoyed the brews as well. By this time it was 4 pm and we needed a spot for the night. Just up the road was Clam Beach Campground with 18 spots we thought would be filled. Nope, we were able to snag a pavement spot along the sand dunes for $15, and walked to the beach before dinner. The wind was howling and the fog coming in again, so we didn't stay long. Back to the rig for a cozy night's sleep, between the crashing ocean wave noise, the close-by highway noise, and the tsunami warning horns just across the small parking lot. If they had gone off for a tsunami, we would have passed out from the loud noise, and been swept away! Luckily, no tsunami that night!

Halibut and fries is still fish'n'chips!

This tsunami siren next to our camp would give us a heart attack before the wave hits!

The fog was drifting in and out on Thursday morning as we drove the coast to the visitor center for the Redwoods National and State Parks. We got a good tip from the ranger for a drive and a hike. The state and national parks are cooperatively administered and disconnected and strung out along the coast. They represent the piecemeal fashion in which lands were purchased, donated, and preserved during the last century. Before leaving the visitor center, we walked out to the foggy beach, loaded with wildflowers and driftwood.

The drive north took us to the turnoff for the Prairie Valley Scenic Drive. We parked at the visitor center and hiked a few miles into the dense old growth redwood forest and along a stream. These redwoods had never been logged and were immense! The Big Tree is 304 feet tall and over 1,500 years old. It was a great hike and straightened out my stiff neck from all the exercise it got swiveling around to see the huge trees! We drove to a pull off along the scenic route and ate lunch looking at more redwoods.

Kathleen did not put the hole in the redwood tree!

The trees are blocking the view of the forest!

Big Shelf Fungus on huge tree

The easy trail through the Prairie Valley Redwoods gives a great experience of the redwood forest.

The Big Tree is kinda big.

Banana Slug - escargot without the shell

From there we traveled to Crescent City and took Route 199 northeast into Oregon. Having no reservations for the Memorial Holiday weekend, we needed to get off the coast to find a campground. Climbing up into the Douglas Fir and Redwood-covered mountains we found a forest service campground, Panther Flat, along the amazingly blue western branch of the Smith River. We found a great wooded campsite within hearing distance of the river. The next morning Bill and Caroline introduced themselves. They were driving a View and had just come from the rally in Canyonville, OR. Bill was trying to convince us that we should go to a rally and see lots of other Views, when I interrupted him to tell him that we were at the rally in Quartszite in January. Well, it turns out they were there too, but we never met. There were probably 100 Views there, so, to be honest, they didn't even look familiar!

Our Panther Flat campsite

Resurrection Ferns on a fir tree

The Smith River adjoining our campground

Horsetail Weed

Finally we left for Diamond Lake. With 238 campsites, we thought we could find one for the weekend. On the way we pulled over to the Rogue River Gorge Overlook and hiked along the Gorge. The river funnels into an area of collapsed lava tubes from the Crater Lake volcanic eruptions.

The Rogue cuts through a collapsed lava tube forming a gorge 25 feet wide and 45 feet deep!

Looking at the narrowest section along the 500-foot long gorge

Huge logs jammed in the upper end of the gorge

We then circled the Crater Lake peaks on the western side until we arrived at Diamond Lake. The campground was pretty full already, but we lucked into the aforementioned spot and here we are! Greg has been biking, and I have been catching up on some long delayed projects, including sewing projects without a sewing machine. I re-covered the truly ugly large pillow that graces the storage ottoman we installed last Fall. It was covered with the same drab upholstery that most of the RV is covered in. I have been slowly eliminating it. I bought new foam for the dinette seats and covered them in duck fabric. Big mistake! Joann Fabric sold me online, the foam, which was supposed to be for RV's and household upholstery. It is already as mashed down as the time deteriorated original cushions. The inexpensive duck I bought is stretching, wrinkling and staining. So when we return next Fall, I guess we will bite the bullet and order all new professionally upholstered dinette cushions.

Road cut in volcanic ash from the big Mount Mazama eruption 7,500 years ago

Our Diamond Lake view

Mt. Theilson loomed behind us

We could bike the complete circumference of the lake on a dedicated bike path

My other project was to make curtains to hang in the back and cover the opening to the bunk beds that we use to store our clothes and other things. I took the Target clearance shelf curtain panel that I bought to use to stage the condo that we FINALLY sold, and using hem repair tape, cut it and “hemmed” the raw edges and found a way to install it on the crazy cable for the bunk lifter that the rig's previous owner “McGuyvered” in. Well, that was probably clear as mud, but now we have a sheer curtained off area, that lets in light and air, but hides the mess. It looks like a closet of sorts instead of bunks with junk thrown on them! Greg is happy with whatever things look like. Not me, I need to a least minimally decorate my nest!



My final big project was to cover all 11 of our state Benchmark Atlases with clear contact paper to make them hold up better. We use these every day when we are driving. They help us to find boondocking sites by delineating the public and private lands. They also list campgrounds, mostly public, and recreational lands, and highlights. That's how we found places like Lunar Crater, and Hot Creek Geological Site. The maps also give us topography and elevations, so we know what we are looking at and where the mountain passes are located. Anyway, the ones we have used the most are getting torn and dog-eared and really needed some reinforcement.



So, I am happy, happy that I finally had a few days to slow down and do projects! Next up, our rather shortened visit to Crater Lake National Park. Snow banks, crowds, people parking in the road, bright sunshine and an awesome blue lake! Stay tuned!