Sept. 2 08,
Today we moved from our national campground to an escapees campground in Sutherland Oregon. We did real well with our dry camping for 8 nights, I even did a load of wash before we left and the tank held up fine. You may think we had to skip showers BUT we didn’t!! I can’t wait to see if we can beat that with 10 days.
Sutherland is inland and about 110 miles from where we were. We just stopped here for 1 night before we head to Crater Lake National Park. Our last two days at Florence we had a nice visit with some friends we met in Arizona in the winter of 1999-2000. We have been in touch with them ever since, stopping at Yuma to see them when we get west. They live in Eugene OR. and have a lot in Florence where they keep their fifth wheel. It was so nice to see some people we know and play some hand and foot.
Our drive up the Umpqua Scenic Byway (RT 138) we passed lush forests, rocky rivers and waterfalls. It climbs from a little above sea level to 7000 feet at Crater Lake. We arrived at Crater Lake National Park around 2 PM and set up camp at Mazama Village. The road in (West Rim) was paved and good but very close to the edge with no guard rails. I held on tight!! We immediately went to take a better look at the lake, WOW! I must have 400 pictures by now!! We have never seen such blue clear water. It is breathtaking. We are spending 3 nights here; the campgrounds are not even half full. Sept is a great time to visit and we have had clear warm days, the nights are always cool at this altitude. Thursday we went back out of the park to view all the waterfalls we passed in the motorhome. You need to pull off the road and hike to them, they were only about 30 miles from the north entrance, and on the way we stopped at all the viewpoints at the lake. One of the rangers told us about a natural hot springs close to Toketee Falls so of course we had to look that one up. It was really out of the way, we would have never found it without stopping at the ranger station. It is just off the Umpqua Trail. The Bridge to cross the river is washed out but some enterprising hikers made a new one by nailing some planks on a fallen tree. I decided I would just read my book and wait for Norm. Before too long an older couple came along and scooted across on their butts I considered that option but still read my book. We had a lovely day hiking to the waterfalls. I did fall (tripped on a root) hiking to the top of one. I have 2 cuts on my hand, and a bunged up knee, BUT I SAVED THE CAMERA! My boo boos aren’t serious. Norm hiked the 1.1 miles to the lake but I waited at the top, it took over an hour and the trip back up is very strenuous! While down there he talked with two workers at the boat dock and they had several nice trout they were taking home for supper. They told him it was a perk of the job; they took home fish every day. You can fish in the lake without a license but that trail is the only way down so they don’t have many takers. You have to be able to hike this to take the boat trip around the lake, and I guess I waited too long for the ride as I don’t think I could get back up the hill!!
Today we drove the east rim, we had done it before but the sun wasn’t right for picture snapping! We took in the Sinnott Memorial overlook and caught a ranger talk there, then back to camp for a picnic and fire. I gave Mickey a shorter doo and a bath and worked a while on Casey but she is much harder to do so it will take several more sessions.