MORE GREETINGS FROM CRATER LAKE NP
There is a drive all around the rim of the crater – so no prizes guessing what we did today. We had actually done the eastern side yesterday on the way in from the north.
Today’s weather was much more overcast and the smoke haze had come in a bit again – but no where near as bad as it was when we arrived yesterday.
We woke to the surprise news of Tony Abbott no longer being PM and there was also a chill in the wind here today ! From the heat of a couple of days ago we were back to warm jackets as without the sun the wind made it quite cool. The answer to that was a few brisk walks throughout the day.
The Pinnacles
Our first visit was back along the east side to a spot in a gorge outside the crater called the Pinnacles.
It is a formation of small peaks – hoodoos – jutting up from the surrounding landscape. They are formed by lava tubes – fumaroles – where the lava flow has set like concrete amongst the less dense material.
They were certainly not on the same scale but were similar to the formation we saw in Bryce Canyon National Park on an earlier trip.
A hazy lake today
From here we returned to the Lodge shop for a morning coffee and to warm up a little. Refreshed, we drove out on the western rim road to do the remainder of the loop road.
The challenge ahead ….
We stopped not far around at Watchman Overlook to do a walk up to Watchman Peak. At the top is an old fire watch tower – no longer used much these days with today’s fire watch technology. It was a good walk – nearly 3 km round trip and lots of zig zags up to the peak.
And a satisfied customer at the top !
Back in the car we continued around to the north point where we had arrived yesterday. The views today were certainly not as hazy as when we arrived yesterday but without the bright sun above, the lake did not have the stunning blue we got yesterday afternoon either. From here we went back around the shorter western rim back to the Lodge. We then walked around the crater rim walk to look at the visitor centre and gift shop and café – and coffee and a snack.
On the western side of the lodge is another track to Garfield Peak. You get a good view of the lodge from higher up here so we set off on part of this track. We hadn’t progressed very far when we had another “deer encounter” – very similar to the one in Bend, but not in the carpark this time. We were walking along the track toward a clump of pine trees when a deer appeared on the path in front of us – then another following – and then 2 more. They calmly posed for photos then moved off into the pine trees on the other side of the path.
We then walked on a bit further and came across another ! This one was on its own and just continued grazing nearby as we went on further up the track. From an overlook we got a good view of the Lodge, then made our way back again.
Dinner was the “early sitting” again and we were ready for it after our walking today.
We shared a nice crab and artichoke dip for starters and both had Bison Meatloaf for mains.
Tomorrow we are back to California and our last state for this trip. But some new territory to look forward to.