Day Fourteen

A sunny day in the 80s! Hurrah! I was beginning to think I'd never see a warm day. And Crater Lake today! Hurrah again! I'd been waiting for this day for months. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

The beautiful Harris Beach State Park. Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008.

We had a leisurely morning in Brookings. Mom was slow getting ready, so Dad and I rode down for one last view of the Pacific. We stopped at the local Harris Beach State Park and I spoke for awhile with a Park volunteer named Paul who had a Bigfoot story of his own! He heard a Sasquatch bellowing in the woods next to him as he was hiking from one camp site to the next up in one of the state parks in the Cascades. Scared the heck out of him, let me tell you! He also mentioned a cougar sighting just up the hill from where we were standing, which was cool but a little freaky! The view, just from the Parking lot of the park, was amazing - tall rocks, seals, driftwood, and tide pools in abundance.

 

I drove back to the hotel, collected Mom and her luggage, and then we set up for a scenic drive through the Klamath Mountains and the Smith River Gorge, heading north and east toward Crater Lake. We drove through sequoia forests, through an impressive gorge with a lovely, pure blue water river flowing at the bottom (how often do you see water that appears blue?!?),and then up into the Klamath Mountain range - not so big or impressive as the Cascades, but lovely, nonetheless. We stopped at Grants Pass for lunch and a quick birthday call to my niece Emma, who turned ten that day.

Snow up to the rooftop in June at Crater Lake. Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008.

 

Then we were driving up into the Cascades, and before too long we saw a behemoth of a mountain with snow dripping down its sides in bands which resembled long white fingers, stretching ever downward. No doubt about it - that's where we were headed. Mount Mazama and Crater Lake. We roamed ever upward, through forests of tall, tall Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce, into the smaller coniferous zones, and slowly around us the slopes filled up with snow - with drifts from 5-15 feet in places. Yet the air was miraculously warm - over 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Amazing.

 

We stopped for a quick rest at a small gift shop/restaurant at the mouth of Crater Lake National Park, and I made snowballs and wished I had worn my shorts! What a combination. Some of the drifts surrounding the parking lot were taller than my 6 foot tall Dad, and one almost reached the roof of the gift shop. After our break, we drove into the park and up a steep and winding road to the top of the mountain. The snow banks soared above us as we twisted and turned our way to the top, and at last the road flattened out a bit, and I caught glimpses of a massive round caldera, with a blue-blue lake at the center. I turned right into the parking lot, parked the SUV, and grabbed my camera. This was marvelous!!

 

Crater Lake National Park Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008.

 

Dad bolted out of the car as soon as it stopped and made a beeline for the lake, with me close behind and Mom trailing behind, taking her time and enjoying the tall snow banks that reached the roof of the information center/gift shop next to the parking lot and crept far up the trunks of the tall trees surrounding the lot. I started snapping photos as soon as I got down to the overlook, which was seriously limited in size due to massive snow drifts everywhere. Funny thing was, I was still in a sleeveless blouse and feeling warm, even when standing in my sneakers on top of a seven foot snow bank!

 

When the dark lord lost the battle for the fair maiden's hand, he was turned into this island. Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008.

Wizard Island loomed to one side of the lake, a focal point for the eyes. According to the myth, the dark lord had fallen in love with a woman from the local tribe, and had fought with the sky lord over her. When the dark lord lost, after much spouting of lava and many difficulties for the sky lord and his lady, he was turned into the stone we now know as Wizard Island.

 

I could see a bit of ice still on the very edge of the lake. The deep blue water was riffling slightly in the wind, but the far end of the lake was mirror-still, and I got some double mountain photos of it. Then Mom arrived and we took a bunch of group combination shots, before reluctantly returning to the car. The rim road was closed still due to snow (Can you believe in June!?!) but they had opened up a second overlook a mile from where we had parked. We rode up to that overlook so I could take pictures from another angle, and then slowly went back down the mountain, stopping only for gas and a quick browse through the books at the gift shop, before winding our way to our Medford hotel.

 

After dinner at the Olive Garden, we went our separate ways and I fell into bed, exhausted from all the driving and the excitement of seeing Crater Lake at last!

 

Day Fifteen We see an elk at last!. Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008. Today was basically a travel day, again with gorgeous sunny weather in the 80s. We were driving from Medford in the South of Oregon to Portland in the north via the Willamette Valley. But we endeavored to have a little fun during our long drive. We stopped at the Wildlife Safari in Winston and drove through a little bit of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, with me blissfully snapping photos of every animal I could see! We finally got a good look at several elk, who (theoretically) roam the woods and fields of Oregon, though these were the first we'd seen. Then we stopped for lunch at the little zoo in the park, and watched humming birds flitting among the tall flowers, ducks and waterfowl of every description honking and quacking and shamelessly begging for duck food while Gibbons roamed the island at the center of the beautifully landscaped pond and elephants patiently gave rides to little children over to one side. It was a lovely place, with a train ride through parts of the safari park, animal exhibits, keeper talks, and a cheetah breeding program. One of the cheetahs was leash-tamed, and would come out and do programs once or twice a day.   Oregon City -- the end of the Oregon Trail. Photo credit: S.E. Schlosser, copyright 2008. Then we got back into the car and spent the next 3 hours in the Willamette Valley and in England as we gawked at the gorgeous scenery and listened to the Dark is Rising audio book. We made one more short stop in Oregon City to see the end of the Oregon trail - the gorgeous Willamette river with its mighty falls, overlooked by the massive Mount Hood, and read about McLoughlin, the father of Oregon, who's ghost is still reputed to haunt his old homestead.   The evening was spent in a flurry of dinner, unloading and returning the rental car, and getting ready for the trip home. Chris - the photographer who works for the Hampton - was manning the desk again this evening, so we chatted for a bit and he asked to see some of the photos I'd taken during the week. Nice of him!

Day Sixteen

This day was full of traveling to the airport, to New Jersey, to my parents house, and then to my own home. Day started early and ended late, and the most impressive moments were in the air as we flew passed Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens and then over part of the Rocky Mountains, heading east and home. Goodbye Oregon! I loved my trip and hope to visit again soon.