Vacation Day 4

What an amazing day. We took off from Crescent, and headed directly for Crater Lake, a lake that was formed when a volcano collapsed upon itself. Upon entering the park, we got our first view:

We proceeded to complete the Watchman Trail, which was a hike that took us up to a Fire Watchtower, which afforded us an amazing view of Crater Lake - in the photo below our car is a dot right smack in the center:

After these spectacular views, and the climb down, we drove around the Rim Road, and hit the Crater Lake Lodge for breakfast. It was FABULOUS and not EXPENSIVE at all - a must do for anyone that is going to be in the area. I had french toast stuffed with hazlenut cream cheese, spread with berries and Jason had the Blue Special with potato hashbrowns to die for, eggs, bacon, the works. We were both super impressed. The table that we sat at was right next to open french doors that looked out onto the lake. We were bathed in the fresh air and the serene landscape. It was a thrill.

After breakfast (which was really almost lunch), we completed the Rim Road, and almost at the completion of the circle came to the Cleetwood Cove Trailhead, a trail that leads to where the boat tours are conducted and the only LEGAL way to reach the water of Crater Lake. We decided to do the hike, but not the boat tours. It was a long way down with numerous switchbacks, and Jason got to explore (hands-on) the pumice stone that seems only to exist on the Northern faces of Crater Lake. We didn't see ANY on the South side, but there was tons of it on the North. Unfortunately, I rolled my ankle AGAIN on the way down, and am now paying for it. Time for physio, maybe. CRIPES. Near the bottom, the famous blue colour of the water was even more apparent.


All in all, Crater lake was pretty amazing. We saw tons of people biking the Rim road, and wouldn't mind coming back to try it ourselves. Apparently, there are over 100 miles of hiking trails in the area.

Next, we jetted to Florence, where we'll stay the night, and tomorrow check out the Dunes recreation area (yup, huge sand dunes on the ocean that we can ATV through). Tonight we hit a local pub called the Beachcombers, had a couple of pints, and now ... we'll hit the sack (Jason's already sleeping beside me).

Good night!