Ups and Downs and Ups today!
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| Mt Bachelor is popular for skiing in the winter |
The drive out of Bend this morning was along the river and through the very attractive residential area along the river. I think I could live in Bend ( although I guess I’d need to experience a winter here first…)
Very shortly after leaving the city limits we were on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, which winds around a series of mountains nearby ( part of the Cascade Range that Mount Rainier and Mount St Helen’s also belong too ) and the lakes at their feet. As you know we’d suffered some disappointments at both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helen’s because low grey cloud had hidden their peaks from us. Fortunately these lower mountains were standing up and showing their all on a bright sunny cloudless day.
The drive takes you through yet another National Forest, the Deschutes National Forest and at every lake there were a succession of pretty campgrounds and day-use areas for the people that love to come up here to fish and kayak and sail. Our first stop was at Sparks Lake, renowned for it’s reflections of the South Sister Mountain and of Broken Top mountain. The morning was still and clear and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such perfect reflections!
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| Sparks Lake |
We stopped at Elk lake which is busier than the others with a resort and a marina. There were a few sailing boats out on the water including this pretty rainbow coloured one.
Some of the lakes have easy access and beaches, some are surrounded with reeds and even swampy ground. Davis lake was created by an extraordinary lava flow around 5000 years ago. The lava is up to 50 metres deep in parts and was one of the weirdest things we’d ever seen. It almost looks like it’s going to engulf the road and the picnic benches in places!
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| Lava Flow at Davis Lake Campground |
The drive from Davis Lake on to the North Entrance of Crate Lake National Park took about an hours and a half on excellent roads. maybe a little too excellent, Neil thought he’d been pipped for speeding at one stage but luckily the sheriff stopped the car behind us instead of us.. Phew! He had not been deliberately speeding but on some of these very long, straight American roads running down a long hill the car picks up speed almost without you knowing it.
Crater Lake is unique in that the entire lake is within the caldera of an extinct volcano. It is incredibly deep and fed only by snow-melt. As we approached the entrance to the parks we saw signs indicating fire hazards ahead and also a rising pall of greyish white smoke in the sky. A huge expanse in the north western corner of the park has been on fire since August 1 and is still not under control. The smoke was drifting across the sky right towards the lake.
The lake is world renowned for it’s fabulous blue colour. I had one guide book that said “it’s simply the bluest blue you will ever see” and another mentioned the fact that in the past Kodak often sent out apologies with prints of the lake because they assumed they’d made a mistake in processing as the colour was just so vivid. With this in mind we had very high expectations of our first view of the lake BUT seeing that huge pall of smoke engulfing the area our hearts sank.
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| Our first view of the lake was a big disappointment |
When we finally arrived at the crater rim I will admit I was gutted. We could see that there was a lake down there…and at it’s nearest edges you could see that it was blue but otherwise it was just a misty vista. We took a few photos anyway and set our hopes on the change of weather that’s expected in the next few days and set off for a drive around the rim. There are scores of viewpoints around the rim and at each one we looked into the gray fog.
But the fates were kind to us, as we progressed further south, the wind picked up and each time we stopped the view of the lake became clearer and clearer. The smoe was still there but it was being blown first to the west and then to the northwest, freeing the lake itself from it’s grey shadow. Now we really could take in the glorious colour of the water, flanked by the gray cliffs of the crater wall. We just took photo after photo, and I assure you that even though some of these pictures may look fake, the lake REALLY is this colour. It’s extraordinary!
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| Neil and the view. You can see the white smoke blowing across at the northern end of the lake. |
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| One of the tour boats sailing past Phantom Ship Island |
We could see the little boats that take people out on tours across the lake to Wizard Island, the Phantom Ship island and other various spots of beauty. To reach the boat you need to be able to do a strenuous hike down and up 700 metres in a very steep climb. They warn that you should only attempt it of you are very fit. We know our limits and so will stick with admiring the boats from above.
Finally we arrived at Rim Village, the location of the Park Visitor centre and our hotel for the next two nights Crater Lake Lodge. It was a little too early to check in so we stopped for a coffee and then rested for a while on the lodge balcony in a couple of the series of rocking chairs placed out there for guests to admire the view.
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| Relaxing on the Crater Rim Deck |
Crater Lake Lodge is 100 years old this year, and after our 2 previous park lodges, we had some reservations about what to expect here, but so far it’s great! We have a lakeside room on the third floor with a wonderful view of the lake from our bedroom and even from the bathroom. Our dinner in the dining room tonight was wonderful with a lovely mushroom bruschetta followed by a divine Alaskan Cod in a Dungeness cab and shrimp mornay sauce. We even managed to find room for some Huckleberry ice cream, befor heading out to catch a few more shots of the lake as the sun went down.
The weather prediction for tomorrow is a bit dicey but now we’ve seen the lake in all it’s blue glory, I’m happy to take what comes. It will be nice to have a day without any long drives to collect oour energy for the further roads ahead. I just hope the bed and the pipes don’t give us any midnight surprises!