Crescent, Oregon (8/15-8/22)

Crater Lake National Park,  was on the short list of places to see while on this trip.  The awe-inspiring blue water surrounded by the rugged Cascade mountains as seen in photographs drew us in to experience it person.  Due to its geological origin, it is one of the most pristine lakes on earth and the deepest in the United states. Who wouldn't want to see that?

The national park is located about 2 hours south of Bend, Oregon and actually near nowhere else, pretty remote.  When I was booking campgrounds, we could not get a 3 week stay at the desired campground in Bend so I booked a week at Big Pines RV Park to be an hour closer to Crater Lake.

Full moon over Big Pines RV Park

The drive from Boardman, OR to Crescent, OR was very desert-like and and fairly deserted.  We did not see a lot of cars on our travels. The weather had begun to improve from the 100+ temps we experienced in Boardman but the fire smoke was still a daily concern. 

Big Pines was mostly as advertised, if not a little dated and worn.  There was quite a bit of flea market type junk scattered at the perimeter of the property which just made it feel less cared for.  The tall pines were nice throughout the park, but everything was very dry, brown and dusty due to the weather conditions.  On our drive to Crescent we drove through a couple small towns and saw signs for the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  We added that to our "things to check out list".

Our first morning we headed to La Pine, OR, about 20 miles north of our campground. Yet again, we found really nice outdoor pickleball courts in the park and a great group of welcoming folks. We played with the group a couple of times during our stay.  The smoke became a little more bothersome later in the morning, but overall tolerable.  

Smoke was much more impactful to our planned visit to Crater Lake.  We had run into some fellow campers who drove all the way there one day only to see a low hanging haze covering the lake to the point of invisibility.  That would be very disappointing.  We planned to try Crater Lake on Thursday or Friday, so if it was obscured by smoke we could have at least one or two more days to try again.

We decided to explore the Newberry National Volcanic Monument with one of our free days.  The landscape and geology of this place was extremely interesting and unexpected.  In researching this area before our trip, this little gem of a park was not even mentioned.  Big Fail!  I would put it on the "must see" list. 

With our picnic lunch in tow, we went to the Lava Lands Visitor Center to learn a bit more about the park's offerings.  We took the shuttle bus up to Lava Butte where the volcano's original major eruption spewed 75,000 years ago, and most recently only 1,300 years ago.  It was windy, cold and inhospitable, but an amazing sight to see.  We then walked through lava fields behind the visitor center.

Our next stop in the park was the Lava River Cave. The 1-mile-long cave was formed by molten lava that left an underground lava tube — the longest in Oregon. Due to Covid precautions there was a limit to the cave dwellers allowed inside, so we ate our lunch in the car while waiting to enter.  We rented a lantern and walked the length of this underground marvel.  It was a very "cool" experience, 42 degrees in the cave.

Only pic we took inside of cave ceiling with flash, it was pitch black inside.

We then drove south to a different entrance to this very large park to see Paulina Lake, hike the Obsidian Flow and hike to Paulina Creek Falls. The Obsidian Flow hike was the strangest landscape I have ever walked through.  It was literally like being on another planet.  Mother Nature's power and fury on full display.  We ended the day at the gorgeous waterfall in the park.  Great day.  I know my pictures won't do it all justice. 

Paulina Lake from the Obsidian Flow viewpoint

Inside the Obsidian Flow

Paulina Creek falls

Friday was out visit to Crater Lake.  To say we were lucky is an understatement.  It was only 37 degrees when we started our drive to Crater Lake.  Our first view was the cold, windy view from Merriam Point.  Right away we realized we were going to have a great view of the lake without smoke.  We headed clockwise around the 33 mile rim loop stopping at Cloudcap Overlook, Phantom Ship Overlook, Sun Notch Viewpoint Trail and Plaikini Falls Trail to name a few.  

Plaikini Falls

Phantom Ship rock formation

We stopped a little over two thirds of the way around the loop at the Rim Village and had our picnic lunch to fortify us for the remainder of the afternoon.  As time marched toward 2:30 in the afternoon and we were at our last planned viewpoint, the wind changed and smoke began to obscure the gorgeous lake we had enjoyed all the way around.  I am glad we got an early start.  We ran into a park ranger who said that our day was the clearest he had seen in a couple months.  Crater Lake's natural wonder was the high point of this stop.  We used the free Chimani Crater Lake app which which was helpful to plan our hikes and overlook stops...and restroom locations.  I would recommend. 

Picnic spot

Similar shot earlier in the day

Our last photo as the smoke rolled in

Saturday was Mike's birthday.  He celebrated by watching a Bills pre-season game in the morning as we were in the pacific time zone.  We had ribs at the RV for birthday dinner.  It was low-key, but I think he had a nice relaxing day. 

Go Bills! Thanks to our good friends in Buffalo
for the sweatshirt and the blanket! You know who 
you are. 

Our next stop is Sisters, Oregon, just outside of Bend where we will meet up with friends, have Ruth serviced for a couple of scheduled maintenance items and enjoy more of the temperate, humidity-free, bug-free summer that the pacific northwest has to offer.