Sep 12-16 No More Desert

Having satisfied my passion for apocalyptic wastelands, Monday we moved on towards southwestern Oregon and its pine forests and lakes. After a 7-hour drive mostly across rolling (but otherwise featureless and uninhabited) scrub and grass land occasionally interrupted by bluffs and buttes, we overnighted near Klamath Falls OR before heading into higher country the next day.

At mid-day, Tuesday we arrived at 6,000 elevation Fourmile Lake campground which was officially closed for the season but was still open if you didn't need any services.  After sticking our noses out of the Funmobile and finding it was only 50 degrees at noon, (meaning it would be about 20 Deg colder by next morning)  we decided to just do an afternoon hike and head for lower elevations for that night.  (In hindsight a good decision since it bottomed out in the low 40's even at the lower camp site.)

So we had a nice tree-y hike for a change up to Badger Lake.

Wednesday we headed for Crater Lake, a stunningly beautiful National Park which is essentially a water-filled caldera from a dormant volcano.  Being fed solely by the 40 foot annual snowfall the 6 mile wide, 2,000 foot deep lake is an intense, almost indigo, blue and crystal clear.

We'd like a table with a view please.

Moving back down to lower levels didn't help us that night when the temperatures dropped to about 34 degrees.  With the "extreme" fire danger, the little campfire didn't do much to warm things up, but was psychologically pleasing anyway.

Indian builds small fire, huddles close stays warm.
White man builds big fire, stands back, stays warm (gathering wood.)
{Jessa Slade 2016}

Thursday was our last day of the family camping part of this trip so we picked a short but promising trail along Lemollo Creek  It turned out to have all the requisites of an exceptional hike with a cascading stream, lots of 3-5 foot diameter old-growth trees and finishing up with a 100' waterfall.

So to sum up this part of the trip, it was a nostalgic 7-day trip reminiscent of the days when we lived out here and did family vacations throughout the area.  Everyone is a (little bit) older, with not quite the endurance, but still with the desire to experience the outdoors in whatever form it is presented to us.

Good night from Portland, and thanks to Jess and Scott for hosting us and Blaine for making the family experience more complete.

Brad and Valerie.