Well, this wasn’t planned, but it’s been on our list since buying a Parks pass and since our PNW road trip back in May/June.
Crater Lake National Park.
We spent the better part of a day up on the rim, and peering over at the deep blue lake never got old, it never ceased to surprise us with a ‘woah’ or a comment of ‘that’s not real is it?’
It’s just one of those places you have to see, and experience. Right up there with the grandeur of ‘the Canyon’ in Arizona. A place that defies the imagination.
My stomach took the place of an alarm clock. I had to get up at 530, partly for the grumbles and partly out of excitement. Eszter wasn’t far behind, especially when I got the hot cocoa going. It was cold, below 40 easily, but we discovered the hike/bike bathroom is heated. Bonus.
We rolled a cold flat mile, at 0630, hoping to at least beat the park traffic for the 2000 foot climb to the crater. But first! I had sketchy beta that there might be a trail we could take.
Sure enough, there it was, North Crater Trail #1410, nicely singletrack and nicely paralleling highway 138, which already had truck traffic on it. For 4 miles we climbed in the pines and only suffered a handful of downed trees.
There was possibility of continuing into the park on snowmobile trail, rather than paved park road, but there were immediately tons of trees down, so we went over to the entrance road, and proceeded to climb.
We pedaled through the Pumice Desert, past the PCT trailhead and through knarled forests. Then… ahead, on the horizon was the rim, and that moment where an inconceivable deep blue lake appears, filling the vast caldera.
We pedaled towards the visitor center on the rim, first transitioning to hiking mode to climb up to a lookout tower up on a small peak. Lookout tower #2, lookout site #3 of the trip. There was an impressive set of old navy binoculars that must have weighed 100 pounds up there.
More pedaling took us to the main lodge and a trail up to Garfield Peak — one of the best views on the rim. The whole hike was a treat.
At the lodge we went in for lunch #2 and discovered the place was a zoo. Fun people watching, but we were very glad we got up so early. We talked to a few groups bike touring and backpacking (PCT or otherwise). It’s funny how neither group can fully relate to us, though there is a kinship. We aren’t really road touring, and we aren’t sticking to hiking trails exclusively, either. We’re somewhere in the middle. The mountain bike really is the most versatile form of backcountry travel. But few people have seen that potential, let alone understand it.
There was some debate about riding the whole 33 mile paved loop around the crater, but we decided against it given the traffic and climbing involved. We returned and took our time stealing more views before dropping down and returning to campsite deluxe-o, via fun singletrack. We left our camping gear here, so there’s no need to even set up the tent.
We talked each other into a swim in Diamond Lake, feeling sun baked enough to want to cool off. It was a good call — oh so refreshing.
Tomorrow, time for a big hike, again based out of campsite deluxe-o.
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