But things have a way of surprising you. One of our fender skirts on the trailer fell off (broke off) somewhere between Vail and Kingman. It’s a wonder other things didn’t fall off driving on the awful Arizona roads, we think the worst we’ve ever driven on. Then the microwave decided to quit working. Still troubleshooting that before having to buy a new one.
We packed the camper, Stuart, truck & hit the road going northwest.
First big stop on this year’s bucket list was Crater Lake, Oregon. What a beautiful destination even though we were a few weeks early and hardly anything was open. The winter of 2022-23 dumped an unusual amount of snow in the area, much more than the 40-50 feet they normally get and the road crews were still working hard to get the roads open. Two crews have been working ten hour days since the first of April, making slow progress. The park is normally fully open any July 1 but this year the rangers say it will be at least mid-July before everything is open. Stuart likes the camper but not so much the truck. But he has only been vocal about his displeasure for a few minutes each trip then resides himself & naps.
We tried to stay very near Crater Lake at Mazama Village but everything was still closed. So we stayed about 50 miles away near Diamond Lake. It froze and snowed the night before we arrived and temps were highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s the days we stayed. Absolutely long sleeve weather and should have brought a full body net, the area was loaded with mosquitos. When we stopped the truck they would cover the windows. And the trees were in the process of spewing their pollen. Every morning our white truck would be yellow with all the sticky pollen covering it. Had to wash the windows everyday, mosquitos didn’t help.
At Crater Lake only one mile of the 30 mile rim drive was open and the only viewpoint we were able to visit was Discovery Point. But what a point to view the lake from, absolutely stunning views. We weren’t disappointed because all the other viewpoints around the rim drive would most likely be the same stunning view from different points around the same lake, but it would have been nice to have done it all. The day was partly cloudy but mostly sunny so the blue, blue, blue water in the lake really stood out and the snow covered slopes were a big contrast.
Crater Lake was formed about 7 million years ago when a major volcanic eruption happened on Mt Mazama, then the mountain imploded leaving a huge hole atop the mountain. Through the eons rain and snow melt filled in a lot of the hole creating a beautiful, clear, fresh water lake. It’s so clear you can see items 130 feet below the surface. The lake is about 6 miles across at the widest point. It is 1,943 feet deep at the deepest point, 300 feet deeper than Lake Tahoe. It holds almost 5 trillion gallons of fresh water. The lake stays at an almost constant level because a natural fault will drain up to 2 millon gallons a day from the lake when it exceeds a certain level. The brochure did not say where the water ended up when it drained through the fault but its too bad it’s not Arizona.
Our first major stop and a good one, if you haven’t seen Crater Lake you need to put it on your list. Photos just don’t do it justice. But plan ahead, even with the vast majority of the services, facilities and all but one mile of the rim drive closed the place was packed with people. Don’t think I’d like being there in late summer or early fall, can’t imagine how many more people will be there.
Stop one of our adventure checked off our list. Will be on the road again soon.
Later.
-Tom