Monday, June 19th: Crater Lake

Well another disappointment today I’m afraid. We had a glimpse of Crater Lake but only a glimpse.

As we approached the base of the park we could see fresh snow on the top. Here we were, June 19th and there was about 6 feet of snow, and in some places even higher, lying all around the edge of the road. At the gate there were postings that the lake may be partially or not visible at all. And then it began to snow. We pulled into the campground to drop our camper before heading up the mountain and to get everyone into some warmer clothing. As soon as we reached the top, the skies had opened and the lake was there to see!

Unfortunately, we had just traveled a ways and that meant a quick bathroom stop a the visitor center at the top. And quick really doesn’t mean quick with 9 people, especially when you’re also wrestling with crowds or

tourists. By the time we made it to the rim, there was a decided storm moving across the lake. We were able to enjoy a few moments of the beautiful blue lake, a glimpse of Mt. Montezuma before it was overtaken by clouds and we watched as the remainder of the lake quickly disappeared under the storm. And then it snowed. A lot. We tried to remain upbeat. “At least we still got to see it!” “Even a glimpse is better than not at all!” “Snow in June, haha!” But we were bummed, I can’t deny.

We bundled into the Visitor Center and spent money we probably shouldn’t have and the younger kids worked on their junior ranger badges (a pretty neat program that lets younger children collect a badge from any national park). We waited a bit and finally decided it wasn’t going to clear up.

It was a beautiful day at the bottom! :( We may try to swing back in on our way home but it means adding a day to our trip so… yeah, we’ll see. But that was one of my favorite parks years ago so everyone was excited to see it after all my ravings. It has boasts some of the cleanest water in the world bc there is nothing feeding except for rain. At 1, 943ft is the deepest lake in the US and the deepest volcanic lake in the world. The water is so clear that something can still be visible at 130ft down!

So we headed on to the Redwoods. Before crossing the border into CA, we spend the night at Valley of the Rogue State Park in OR. And the following day was simply a taking care of business day. We all got showers, we washed as many clothes as we could in our camper washer, emptied the camper, filled the water back up and they headed on to CA.

Everything was booked in the national parks but I finally stumbled upon a county run park right in the Redwoods! That was an exciting find bc the campsites were like something out of an Ewok village. No hookups but since we just had showers we were ok with that. We had to head into Crescent City, CA to dry our laundry (we have a washer, but there are too many clothes to hang dry and not enough time) and wash some larger items. I have to admit we were a little freaked out by the inhabitants of Crescent City and the rather run down appearance of the place. Everyone looked strung out and angry. Our camping neighbors later told us there is a lot of poverty and a very high crime rate here so we were warned to watch our valuables.

We spent the evening at Battery Point lighthouse beach. Mostly on the beach bc the kids were fascinated by the tide pools

and all the interesting finds. Even Zippy liked holding the hermit crabs bc they “tickled”. I

am always a little more interested in the history of places rather than the science, and so we also climbed up to the lighthouse. Battery Point is the oldest of the remaining lighthouses on the west coast. When they switched to kerosene for the lamp oil, they built a storage building with walls 13 inches thick in case it exploded!

We finished up the evening with ice cream and Luca in the camper. Redwoods tomorrow!