We left Redwoods this morning and on our way out we stopped at the Big Tree Wayside to hike the Circle Trail. We also did a little of the Cathedral trail. It was stunningly quiet in the early morning. In the parking lot, we talked to two guys on motorcycles traveling from Tacoma, Washington. They had just one day left of their trip and were starting their way back up Highway 101. They highly recommended Crater Lake (our next stop) and said it was awesome.
We were looking for a nice ocean overlook to stop at, but we didn’t count on the morning fog obscuring everything, so we kept going in hopes of better picturesque views later in the day (sigh).
We made our way through the Jedediah Smith State Park and across the state line into Oregon. There is a lot of construction on Highway 101 – we ran into it both yesterday and today. Some of it was rockslide or landslide repair and other was blacktopping etc. Nevertheless, it was annoying having to keep stopping.
In about 4 hours, we made it to the entrance to Crater Lake. We could see obvious haze in the air. Then I could smell smoke. We drove through some moderately heavy smoke on our way to the Visitor Center. At the Visitor Center, cars were taking up all of the RV spots, so we found a car spot to park in. We went in and stamped our passports and watched the orientation film, which was interesting. We learned how the lake was formed and why it was so clear and blue. I was excited to see it, but kind of apprehensive about all of the smoke. Right before the Ranger started the film, someone in the audience asked her about the smoke. She told us that there were two wildfires burning on either side of route 62 – the road we came in on. She said everyone was hopeful that the forest fire crews could get them under control soon. After the film, I asked one of the rangers if it was safe to be staying in the campground we were reserved for and she said yes, and showed me where the fires were burning. It seemed fairly far away, so I was satisfied with her answer. After we left the visitor center, we decided to drive around the Crater Rim drive.
We went east first, or counter-clockwise. We came to a Vidae Falls first – a nice little spring-fed waterfall. The first rim overlook we stopped at was Phantom Ship Overlook. We pulled into the pull off and my heart sank. These words may never have been uttered or thought before, but I was so disappointed in the view of Crater Lake. Actually, we could barely see any of the lake at all, because a thick layer of smoke filled the caldera – we couldn’t even see the other side of the lake. If we looked straight down in front of us, we could see the water was somewhat blue – but nothing like the striking sapphire blue in pictures. Crater Lake is also supposed to be a great park for night skies, and I realized I wouldn’t be seeing any stars through all that smoke either. I was so bummed. I’ve been trying to keep a positive attitude and keep saying, it’s a reason for us to come back.
We continued on from Phantom Ship Overlook to a few more overlooks – all with the same smoke-filled view. At one of the stops, we saw a super heavy duty RV – it was white and jacked up on huge tires with another huge spare tire on the roof of the cab. It had a winch in front and an international license plate on it. Hubby talked to the man for a bit, and when we all got back into the RV, I mentioned to him that we had seen that RV and that couple on the television show, “Extreme RVs.” Then he took some video of them to record that we’d seen television “celebrities.”
(In the picture gallery above, where you see duplicate images, the first picture shows the image as it came out of my camera, and the second one shows the image after the "Haze Removal" tool had been used to process the image. You can see how much the smoke really affected the view.)
We made our way to the Cleatwood Cove parking area. This is the only place in the park where it’s legal to hike down to the water. The only problem is that it’s a very steep hike down the side of a cliff. It’s about a mile down and a mile back up nearly vertical cliffs, with the equivalence of 70 flights of stairs (so the guidebook says). It’s listed as extremely difficult/strenuous. So we parked the RV on the side of the road and the three of them geared up with backpacks containing swimsuits, snacks, and water, to head down the cliff for an hour or two. I stayed behind to sit here writing this for you. I don’t swim in cold water and this lake is comprised of only snowmelt, so I passed. I know, it’s a once in a lifetime experience, but it’s just not worth it to me. I’ll let hubby or the kids post a guest post about the hike and the water.
When they return from their hike down to the lake’s edge and back up, we’ll finish our drive of Crater Rim Drive and head back to our campground for the night. This whole wildfire thing is such a bummer in so many ways. As soon as I get wifi, I’m going to have to check out the rest of our destinations to see if there are any more fires going elsewhere. While I’m at it, I should check some news as well. It’s been over a week since any of us have checked any national news or local news from back home.
(The above three pictures are from our underwater camera - notice the look on my son's face. That water was cold! But also notice the underwater picture - it was also very BLUE and clear!)
After their swim in Crater Lake, we made our way to the top of the northern edge of Crater Rim Drive. I hopped out to take some photographs. I was able to capture some pretty stunning pictures of the smoke from the neighboring forest fires. After this quick stop we decided we’d better check in to our campground. When we arrived, we saw the registration booth and checked in. We learned that due to local water restrictions, we would not be able to use the dump station or water fill, and that the showers available near the campground would only be cold. Sigh. Ok, so no showers tonight. We also learned that the procedure for obtaining our campsite was quite different at this park, because the campground is managed by an outside vendor. First, we were required to show our ID and present a credit card – even though I had purchased the site online with my credit card at least six months ago. So, hubby had to go back to the RV in the parking lot to get the requested items. This is the first National Park Campground that has ever asked for identification, so we had left them in the RV. Then, instead of having an assigned site, we were instructed to simply drive around the Loops of the campground until we found an empty site with a certain color painted on the post. Then we could claim it. The problem was, it was nearly 7pm and the campground was very full. Had we known this was the procedure, we would have secured our site much earlier this afternoon when we first arrived. We drove around for nearly 20 minutes looking for a “yellow” site that was unoccupied – noticing that several campers were parked in the wrong color spots – we think the colors were related to size. So it was frustrating to see a tiny little tent and two-door car in an oversized pull-through RV site. Sigh. We finally found a spot in the “E” loop and began to cook dinner. We had to eat pretty quickly because the evening ranger show began at 8:30. The ranger show was about the current fires and also water conservation. It was quite interesting and the ranger did a good job. However, overall, we were quite displeased with the campground and how it is managed by the outside vendor.
After the ranger show we walked back to the RV and got ready for bed. We were leaving early again in the morning because we’re trying to get to the coast and a seafood restaurant for lunch. We also need to stop somewhere along the way for some groceries.
PS – We’re having trouble getting anywhere with reliable wifi, so I’m going to be posting text-only articles until I can find wifi to add the photos.
