April 14th – April 17th, 2023.
Crater Lake National Park – Oregon
It was sunny but the road to Crater Lake was flanked by walls of snow and the side roads had not been cleared so impassable.
We got to Crater Lake NP late morning and it was quite busy already. Crater Lake was formed 7,700 years ago, when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a tall peak (Mount Mazama, then 12,140 feet tall)). Scientists marvel at its purity—fed by rain and snow, it’s the deepest lake in the USA (1,943 feet) and one of the most pristine on Earth. Crater Lake is famous for its deep blue colour and we were not disappointed. The contrast with the surrounding snow was stunning.
At this time of year you can only access the south rim, but in summer you can follow the 33 miles ( 53 km) road that goes round the crater and offers fantastic lake views, panoramic vistas of forests and meadows.
Instead we did 1.2 mile hike in the snow to Discovery Point where you have a better view of the small island in the lake. It was hard work! This area receives some of the highest snowfalls in North America and we sometimes had snow up to our knees. This is usually a trail for snowshoeing or country skying…
[Click on picture to open gallery]
The plan was always to do the Oregon Pacific Coast so we headed west to Roseburg. We crossed a large area devastated by fire ( scenic road no longer !) with charred trunks for miles… then took small roads cutting through the coastal mountain range. There was snow on the ground and had to find an alternative route at one point as the road we were on had not been cleared of snow during the winter and was still closed. By then it was early evening and getting dark so we camped on a logging dirt road, in the middle of the forest, surrounded by snow. In the morning we found our way to the town of Remote, back on road 42 and drove to Coos Bay.
The weather was not with us, rain and low grey clouds meant that we could not even see the coast… The forecast was no better for the week. We stopped in town for breakfast at a local restaurant and after consideration, decided to head south to Utah!!!! It is no fun to be cold and not being able to cook outside, we wanted some warmer and drier weather! To confirm our decision we even had snow showers on the road on the way to La Pine….
It meant a long drive to reach the Nevada state line and then cross the state to reach southern Utah.
