Day 127 - Crater Lake

Whew!! I finally made it to the famous Crater Lake, nearly 130 days into this grand voyage. A jewel of our park system, Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes in the world, set in a collapsed- volcano crater, and having stunningly blue, pristine water. Here she is:

That pano was actually taken on the last stop of the day, but it was too good to wait. Wizard Island is a new volcano crater that pokes 350 feet above the water's surface. Here was me after first seeing the lake in person.

A 33 mile road circles the lake and takes you to various breath-taking views.

Evidence of volcanic eruptions were visible throughout. These nearby pinnacles were formed during the Mount Mazama eruption that formed Crater Lake 7,700 years ago.

But the most fun was had hiking down 800 vertical feet along the Cleetwood Trail to Cleetwood Cove, then promptly passing by the onlooking crowds to join the handful of brave souls cliff jumping into the icy blue waters of Crater Lake.

After drying off, I completed the circle drive by hiking up to the watchman lookout, where that great panoramic photo of the lake was taken. Amazing view. Then I drove northwest for an hour in search of a BLM campspot. The forest narrowed into a canyon, making finding a level side road problematic, but I eventually found a side road and a great secluded boondocking spot.

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Day 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west. I left behind this pretty view. And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights. I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east. The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...

Day 122 - Mount Saint Helens

Mount Saint Helens is sinister and wonderful. I spent the morning at Rainier watching the end of the British Open on my phone, then drove south to Saint Helens. I arrived at the park's northeast entrance by early afternoon. A massive bulge of rock built up on the northeast side of the mountain before the 1980 eruption and then caused a tremendous landslide when the eruption started. I drove to the Windy Ridge at the end of the road, listened to a ranger describe before and after photos of the mountain, then hiked up to a high viewpoint. You can see the circular ridge with a notch missing where the landslide occurred, the desert-like exposed right-side where the landslide blew away life and covered 15 miles of terrain with 150 feet of dirt and rock, the greenery that was on the lucky side of the eruption, and Spirit Lake which was covered by dirt and slime and fallen trees for years. The mountain was over a thousand feet higher before it erupted. After taking in t...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon. The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion. Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4. The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...

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