Oregon and Crater Lake

More Fourth of July Fun in a National Park

My trip to Crater Lake National Park was part of my epic Fourth of July national parks road trip with three friends that also included Lassen National Park and Redwoods National Park.  Crater Lake was a stark contrast to the other parks, and also my first (and only time as of yet) visiting Oregon.  In some ways I never want to go back to Oregon as I don't think another trip could top the fun we had with this one.

Enjoying the view of Crater Lake after taking a swim in its icy waters.

Crater Lake is located in south-eastern Oregon, just a couple hours from the California border.  Crossing into Oregon from California on a two lane road, I immediately felt welcomed, mostly due to the awesome Welcome-to-Oregon side on the side of the road.  It's still one of my favorite welcome-to-this-state signs.  The Now-Entering-California sign on the other side of the road wasn't even the size of a stop sign, a pittance in comparison.

My first trip to Oregon (a trip made better with friends) received a warm welcome.

While our final destination for the day was Crate Lake, we decided on a side tour to see some fireworks in Klamath Falls as it was the Fourth of July.  Eastern Oregon, which is mostly farm country has a bit of a red neck reputation.  I decided to fully embrace this culture by wearing the most red neck outfit in my wardrobe.  I settled on a white tank top, denim skirt with holes in it, big hoop earrings, a Jack Daniels baseball cap, and twin braids.  One of our first stops in Klamath Falls was a dive bar with dollar PBRs.  I fit right in.  

I fit right in in this Klamath Falls dive bar.

In reality Klamath Falls is a very quaint town on a lake.  After enjoying a couple of beers we headed down to the lake front park for the fireworks show.  The park was filled with families spread on blankets on the dewy green lawn.  Little ones were running around with glow sticks, playing at chase and other games.  I was shocked to learn a week later that little Klamath Falls is the meth-capitol of the US.  I think all of the billboards in town plastered with phrases like "It's not worth it" with sad-looking people should have been an indication.  The fireworks show was adequate and the traffic getting out of Klamath horrendous.  We still had about an hour drive to get to the Crater lake campground in the dark.  

My friends and I enjoy lunch and a view at this pull out on Crater Lake's Rim Drive.

This leads me to the worst part of our stay in Oregon.  The campground organization is a mess.  At all the other campgrounds I booked for the trip I was able to reserve a specific plot ahead of time online.  Once we arrive, with the map in hand I printed out online, we wasted no time finding our plot, unlike Crater Lake, which has the asinine system.  We arrived with instructions to drive around (mind you it was pitch black outside) and look for an open camp spot with a red post, the red post indicating it was a site for tents.  As it was Fourth of July weekend the campground was almost full, and the maps did not indicate where the red camping spots were located.  They were just randomly strewn around the campground with over two hundred plots.  We were looking for a needle in a haystack, in the dark.  After forty five minutes of driving around we found an empty camp plot.  It wasn't a red camp, but we were too tired to care.  So we set up camp and went to sleep.  In the morning a park ranger came by telling us we were not in an appropriate location.  Not wanting to relocate our entire camp, we negotiated paying a little bit more money (the campsite we were at was a larger and cost more) to stay at the site.

Our first view of Crater Lake.  We entered the park from the south.

Aside from the organization, it was a nice campground.  It was densely forested offering lots of privacy from the other campers, and it was located very close to the main southern park entrance.

Time for a group photo with the lake in the background.

Finally we headed to Crater Lake.  We stopped off at the visitor's center to watch a video of the lake's history.  Where Crater Lake is now, was once a composite volcano, a giant volcano called Mount Mazama.  Filled with more magma chambers than actual rock.  In one giant explosion about seven thousand years ago Mount Mazama literally blew its top.  The local Native American tribe whose ancestors' viewed the explosion from a hundred miles away have a legend inspired by the explosion as an epic battle between the gods of land and sky.  All of the rock of Mount Mazama disintegrated or landed in the surrounding prairie, leaving a giant crater where the volcano once stood.  Over time the crater slowly filled with rain water forming the lake.  The presence of only rain water in the lake, ensured it maintain a clarity beyond most other lakes in North America and a deep blue hue.

All of this beauty is making me want a nap.

Satisfied with our newly garnered knowledge, we headed up to Rim Drive.  Aptly named, Rim Drive encircles Crater Lake on the rim of the ridge that separates the lake from the prairie, all that is left of Mount Mazama.  We spent a day driving the circuit of Rim Drive, pulling out at all the turn outs which offered slightly differing view of Crater Lake.

A waterfall cascades down the outside of the rim to the prairie below.

Once we reached the far side of the lake from whence we came, we settled in for the hike to the only access point for the lake.  A relatively short, just over a mile, descent to the lake shore.  It's a steep grade with lots of traffic from folks wanting an up close view of the lake or those planning to hop on a lake cruise.  We wanted to go for a dip in the sub sixty degree lake water, making the hike a must do.

Enjoying a stop at the Crater Lake Lodge.

At the bottom of the hike we found a nicely situated cliff to jump from.  Not wanting my fear of heights to stop me, I launched off the rock before I could think anything of it, even before most of my crew had finished disrobing.  Probably only a sub-thirty foot drop, the worst part of the drop was not the drop itself, but the way the icy cold water sucked all of the air out of my lungs.  Not to say I was in danger of drowning, the shock of the cold water just made it hard to breathe for minute or two.  I focused on taking deep breathes and stroked over the first rock out of the water I could reach, then heaved my body out of the ice chest of the lake and into the hot sun.

I paused only long enough for a photo before plummeting into Crater Lake's icy waters.

I jumped off the rock only once, not wanting to freeze again in the water.  Instead I sat on a rock below prodding the more resistant of my friends to make the same plummet, and enjoying the alternate view of the lake.  After an hour of lounging around though, we had enough and started the slow steady hike back to the car.

I smile and try to take deep breathes, which the cold water makes difficult.

Finishing our circuit of Rim Drive we made two more stops, one for me to slide down a snowbank on the side of the road in my bathing suit (in July) and another to explore the lodge.  Feeling peckish and tired, we headed back to our campsite to lounge around, eat a watermelon, and drink all-american beer.

Sliding down a snow bank on Rim Drive in my bikini in July, only in Oregon.

We made one more trip back to the lake to watch sunset.  While a beautiful view, we couldn't get out of the car due to the swarms of mosquitos.  The mosquitos were as bad as the North Slope of Alaska.

Feeding my hunger with a quarter of a watermelon back at our campground.  I took a long nap on my sleeping mat in the sun afterwards.

That night was a cold one at Crater Lake, and I tossed and turned in my sleeping bag trying to keep warm.  My sleeping bag is rated to sub-freezing temperatures, but I was cold.  I made up for the lost sleep with a nap in the car on our way to Redwood National Park the next day.

I enjoy a patriotic beer for a patriotic weekend while waiting for dinner to cook at the Crater Lake campground.

Crater Lake is small as national parks go.  We spent a day there, and I think that was enough.  All the same, it was a good introduction to Oregon.