We've made it to the entrance of our 47th of the 51 National Parks in the Lower 48 States.
OUR NATIONAL PARK CHALLENGE: TO VISIT ALL 51 NATIONAL PARKS LOCATED IN THE LOWER 48 STATES
COMPLETED
PROGRESS BAR
STILL TO GO
47
4
WARNING:THERE ARE 133 PHOTOS IN THIS POST! Get yourself a cold beverage and maybe a snack, plus your most comfortable chair for this post.
FRIDAY - We've had a busy morning!
After finishing up our Lava River Cave hike, we moved down the road and finished preparing the previous blogpost from a McDonalds parking lot in the town of La Pine, OR.
Once the post was up and ready for your reading we still had over a 120-miles to drive to arrive at our next destination.
We had to enter Crater Lake National Park from the south entrance because that's where the campground is located. No travel trailers are allowed on the Rim Drive, so entrance from the north was prohibited.
It was once again another tough uphill battle for ROVER with a 1500' climb over the last 10-miles of the route today. We pulled over once to let him catch his breath and cool off, so we took the opportunity to also take care of our own bathroom requirements.
It wasn't much later that we arrived at our huge pull through site. We hadn't even finished setting up when the camphost drove into our site on his golf cart and congratulated us on reserving what he considered to be the "best site in the whole campground". That always makes me feel good when I selected it sight unseen from a website on the internet.
There's plenty of room for another truck and trailed behind us...
...and room for another one in the front too.
With a huge clearing in front of THE POD we'll get plenty of morning sunshine to warm us up. We are at 6000' of elevation here and morning temps will be in the mid-40°Fs all week.
That also means no problem with Starlink or solar collection.
We spent the rest of the day enjoying our campsite by setting up our chairs in the shade.
SATURDAY - At 9:00AM we drove the 4-miles up the road to the Steel Visitor Center where I was able to get my Passport Book stamped and purchased a sticker to display next to it for Crater Lake National Park.
We then watched the 22-minute documentary movie about how the lake was created some 7700-years ago and what efforts they are doing today to keep it as pristine as it is.
OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF CRATER LAKE
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We walked up to the edge of the rim for the first time and this is what we saw.
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Everyone tries to describe that blue color of the water, but words just aren't adequate.
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That's the famed Wizard Island rising 767' above the lake level.
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The highest view of the lake is from Watchman Peak at the top of those rock cliffs.
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The 71 room Crater Lake Lodge and Dining Room was built in 1915.
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The Lodge sits 1000' above the lake and half the rooms have a view of the lake.
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This is the wide sweeping view the ground level rear rooms have of the lake.
Seeing as how it is Saturday, the weekend, we didn't spend a lot of time with the rest of the tourists around the rim of the lake. All of the above photos were taken from the small confines of the Rim Village.
By 11:00AM we were back at THE POD after filling up with gasoline at Mazama Village, located just outside of the campground. I was all prepared to get fleeced by the price they charged for gas and was pleasantly surprised that it was even cheaper at $4.42 than the gas we saw in town 35-miles back down the mountain.
SUNDAY - It's now Sunday and still the weekend, so in an effort to avoid the crowds, we are going to explore the remote section of the park located 6-miles off the famed Rim Drive that encircles the lake.
Well normally Rim Drive circles the entire lake, but this year the road is under repair and a large section in the southern quandrant is closed to all traffic. They won't even allow bicyclists or hikers in the area. It's scheduled to reopen in time for next season after the snow melts.
That's better than the expected opening date for the Cleetwood Trail that leads down to the boat launch area. It's scheduled to be completed in 2029, so no boat tours on the lake from now until then. I guess we'll just have to come back!
So where are we exploring today? We're going all the way around to where the road is closed and then turn left to drive 6-miles down Pinnacles Road to hike the .8-mile trail to Pinnacles Overlook. It's a virtually flat trail, so it shouldn't be too bad. If we have the time and energy left to hike the 2-mile trail out to Plaikni Falls, it would be an added bonus to the day.
THE PINNACLES REGION
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We started our sightseeing day with breakfast at the Annie Creek Restaurant in the park.
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For the last three years they have been resurfacing the Rim Drive.
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This is the fourth year of repairs and this year will finally complete the entire project. Next year the road will once again be open all the way around the rim.
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That's Diamond Lake down there just outside of the park boundaries.
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That pointy topped mountain out in the distance is the 9184' tall Mount Thielsen.
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This little fellow had no fear of the cars as they passed close by.
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There's Mount Thielsen again off to the north of the park.
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The Wright's Spring Fire has been burning since just before we arrived here in the park. It's only 35-miles southeast of the park and so far the smoke has been blowing away from us.
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This is where Rim Drive is currently closed for repair, so we're turning left here.
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At the end of the 6-mile long Pinnacles Road is where you'll find the Pinnacles.
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They are hardened steam vents where the surrounding rock has eroded away.
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Looking further south towards the trail there are more pinnacles to see.
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This tree is appears to be floating on air with all the soil washed out from under it.
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That's Wheeler Creek down at the bottom of all these pinnacles.
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So far all these photos have been taken right from the parking lot. We should be able to get a different viewing angle from just down the short trail.
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Just like I thought, we now have a front view instead of just looking down at them.
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They kind of dissappear into the background at this angle.
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Putting some green trees behind them gives you an entirely different look.
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There's the "Money Shot" of The Pinnacles of Crater Lake National Park.
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That was short and sweet! Let's get back to ROVER and go see a waterfall!
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Plaikni Falls Trail is 2-miles long with the falls at the turnaround point.
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The sign mentioned "Rest Areas", I hope this isn't what they were talking about.
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Now that looks a little more comfortable to me.
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This one comes with a choice, the bench or a flat rock.
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With the sides both lined in rock borders it would be hard to get lost.
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That still looks more comfortable than a rock.
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This is the halfway point where we stopped on the way in and again on the way out.
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At least in was shaded and had a nice view of the rocky cliff face.
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Time to get moving again.
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We were informed the last 1/4-mile of the trail had 100' of elevation gain.
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The trail came to an abrupt end with these two small signs to drive home the point.
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When you looked up this is what there was to see at the end of the trail.
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The trail to Plaikni Falls on Sand Creek has been a park favorite since it opened in 2011.
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The hike back to the parking lot was thankfully all downhill.
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In this photo you can just make out where the Rim Drive continues up the mountain.
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Zooming in you can see there is a large truck and a few workers busy fixing the road.
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Let's go see what else there is here in the park without looking at the lake.
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The 4.4-mile Mount Scott Trail climbs to the park's highest summit at 8929'.
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Here we are approaching the 8049' Lloa Rock on the North Rim.
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Lloa Rock is part of Mount Mazama that didn't collapse during the eruption 7700-years ago.
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This is North Junction where Rim Drive and the North Entrance Road come together.
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We drove out the North Entrance Road for a little while before turning around.
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That's the 8013' Watchman Peak up ahead with the fire lookout at the top.
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Consider this, the current hiking trail that goes to the top of Watchman Peak used to be the part of the original Rim Drive around the park.
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The west side of the park experienced wildfires back in 2006, 2017 and 2019.
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Time to head back to THE POD and just in time for lunch.
MONDAY - The goal yesterday was to not let the lake distract us from seeing what the rest of the park has to offer.
For the most part we succeeded in that endeavor. That all changes today!
Today we're going to let someone else do the driving, so that I, the usual driver, can enjoy the views without the possibility of running off the road.
The first tour of the day was at 10:00AM and they asked everyone to arrive an hour early to check in and pay for your tickets.
CRATER LAKE TROLLEY
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Since the road is not open all the way around the lake, today's 2-hour tour will be 22-miles out and then back along the same route.
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Since we had an hour between check-in and departure we had time to check out the lake.
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This overlook is located below the rim behind the Rim Village Visitor Center.
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The lake is truly showing off it's renown blue color today.
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With little to no breeze the reflections in the lake were undisturbed.
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Looking straight down at the shoreline from the Sinnott Memorial Overlook.
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The angle of the wall doesn't change once it hits the water level.
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It very quickly becomes over 100' deep.
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It's like a "blue" rainbow of color.
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Before we hop onto the trolley it was time for a bathroom visit, there are none on the tour. Notice the snow tunnels are still in place at the bathroom entrances. No manpower!
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Now starts the photos we took from the trolley tour. There are 5 stops where we exit the trolley.
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From the first stop we can see the boat docks on Wizard Island where the Park Service houses their tour boats in the off season, which in this case will be 3-years long.
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There are also a few slips where the research vessels dock while not in use.
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From the next stop we could see the peak of Watchman Mountain.
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We also had a good view of the fire lookout at the top.
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Further around the lake we got a view of the back side of Wizard Island.
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LOOK! There's one of those Park Service boats out on the water today.
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As the sun gets higher into the sky the lake becomes a deeper shade of blue.
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This ridge of spires is called Devil's Backbone.
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Whitebark Pine were the first trees to return after the eruption due to needing little soil to root. This 500+ year old Whitebark Pine is lovingly called Grandmother Tree.
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The decaying tree eventually creates it's own soil.
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Look at this tree which grew straight out of the rocks.
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Zooming the max we could just make out Phantom Ship down in the water.
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Phantom Ship in the oldest rock formation in the lake, having been hidden inside Mt. Masmama.
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That's not a cloud hanging over the mountain, it's smoke from the nearby wildfire.
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On the left is the only Weather Buoy on the lake which is located at the deepest point. On the right is a research vessel out checking the clarity and health of the lake water.
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We've moved again and are now closer to the Phantom Ship formation.
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All the way across the lake is the lodge and visitor center where we started this morning.
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The Lodge is on the left and Visitor Center on the right.
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Here comes that park service boat from around the backside of Wizard Island.
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There are two more formations in the lake down there, but heck if I remember their names.
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There is a yellow boom floating at the shoreline by the marina where the repair is happening.
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This is looking straight down into the water at our turn around point.
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The tour guide mentioned that the boat pilot likes making waves.
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The area in red will be under construction for the next three years, repairing the trail down to the marina where the boat tours originate from.
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Looks like the two boat crews are meeting up for lunch.
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In case you were wondering what our trolley looks like...
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...we had the entire back of the bus to ourselves.
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The tour guide used this visual aid to demonstrate the 1943' depth of the lake. Stack these 3 monuments on top of each other and Liberty's Torch will still be 20' underwater.
We then headed back down to the Sinnott Memorial Overlook where a Volunteer Ranger hosted a 20-minute talk about Crater Lake National Park. After the talk completed we had roughly 30-minutes before the next Ranger presentation was going to start inside the Community Building.
This one we are particularly interested in because it's a Virtual Boat Tour presentation in lieu of actually being able to take boat tours for the next three years. The Ranger shared her own personal photos from the boat tour she took when she first started working here at Crater Lake four years ago.
She too used the Eiffel Tower/Washington Monument/Statue of Liberty visual aid to get her point across when the discussion shifted to how deep the lake is. I guess when you start work here you are issued one of these in your Welcome Package!
We didn't stick around for the 3rd presentation of the day, it was all about the construction and history of the Lodge here at Rim Village.
TUESDAY - After such an absolutely perfect weather day yesterday we headed back up to the rim at 7:30AM to possibly hike the trail up to the fire lookout on top of Watchman Peak.
When we arrived at the Watchman Overlook to begin the hike we were highly disappointed. You'll see what we mean by watching the slideshow photos.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
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Overnight the winds shifted and started bringing all the smoke from the wildfire 35-miles southeast of the park into the caldera where it settled down on top of the lake.
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From the rim looking down at the lake there wasn't much clearly visible.
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If the winds shift back there's plenty more smoke to come today.
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Up at the fire lookout on top of Watchman Peak the sky was clear.
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Without anything to photograph we decided not to make the hike this morning.
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On the way back to the campsite we saw two of these creatures crossing the road.
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Marmots are large, stout ground squirrels, weighing 7-30 pounds. They are the largest members of the squirrel family.
From our campsite the skies looked like the smoke had cleared out a little bit, so after dinner we climbed back into ROVER and headed up to the rim to check out the conditions up there.
They were much better than they were in the morning, so we decided to drive around to the opposite side of the lake and check out the spots that we didn't get to see while on our 2-hour limited-time tour on the trolley yesterday.
LATER IN THE SAME DAY
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We drove all the way around the lake to where the road is currently closed. That's where the Phantom Ship Overlook is located.
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This is as close as you can get to the formation and it's already 7:30PM.
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Zooming in with Tricia's 10X zoom cellphone gives us this view.
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The next stop is the Pumice Castle Overlook.
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We didn't find the Pumice Castle formation, but this sure looked interesting to us.
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This photo was taken at Cloudcap Overlook, the highest point (7865') on the entire Rim Drive.
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It'll be dark soon as we pass by Watchman Peak at 8:15PM.
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Those rocks are grey in the daytime, but dark red at sunset on the westside of the park.
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Still a lot of smoke in the air. We hope it clears out overnight.
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Nothing but pink skies and long shadows are left to see.
WEDNESDAY - This morning we are going to treat ourselves to breakfast outside of the park.
It wasn't all at once, and I only had half a slice of the Cherry and Blackberry pie, Tricia had the other half of each slice. SORRY - No photos were taken and there were no leftovers!
PARTING SHOTS FROM CRATER LAKE
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After breakfast we decided to drive around outside of Crater Lake to the North Entrance, instead of returning in the South Entrance and driving through the park.
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Just inside the North Entrance Station was this welcome sight, a bathroom!
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I would have painted that a contrasting color to show it off, why hide it?
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We drove all the way back to the Cloudcap Overlook for these daytime photos.
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A daytime photo of the Phantom Ship formation.
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Tricia got out her "big camera" for this shot of the Crater Lake Lodge on the other side.
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Also a "big camera" shot, the Sinnott Memorial Overlook, below the rim, is circled in red.
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The most recognizable feature in Crater Lake has got to be Wizard Island.
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The area between Wizard Island and the shorline is called Skell Channel...
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...and this little area is called Fumarole Bay where the boats are stored in winter.
Looking for our Visited States Map and Data? How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List? If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
We walked up to the edge of the rim for the first time and this is what we saw.
Everyone tries to describe that blue color of the water, but words just aren't adequate.
That's the famed Wizard Island rising 767' above the lake level.
The highest view of the lake is from Watchman Peak at the top of those rock cliffs.
The 71 room Crater Lake Lodge and Dining Room was built in 1915.
The Lodge sits 1000' above the lake and half the rooms have a view of the lake.
This is the wide sweeping view the ground level rear rooms have of the lake.
We started our sightseeing day with breakfast at the Annie Creek Restaurant in the park.
For the last three years they have been resurfacing the Rim Drive.
This is the fourth year of repairs and this year will finally complete the entire project.
That's Diamond Lake down there just outside of the park boundaries.
That pointy topped mountain out in the distance is the 9184' tall Mount Thielsen.
This little fellow had no fear of the cars as they passed close by.
There's Mount Thielsen again off to the north of the park.
The Wright's Spring Fire has been burning since just before we arrived here in the park.
This is where Rim Drive is currently closed for repair, so we're turning left here.
At the end of the 6-mile long Pinnacles Road is where you'll find the Pinnacles.
They are hardened steam vents where the surrounding rock has eroded away.
Looking further south towards the trail there are more pinnacles to see.
This tree is appears to be floating on air with all the soil washed out from under it.
That's Wheeler Creek down at the bottom of all these pinnacles.
So far all these photos have been taken right from the parking lot.
Just like I thought, we now have a front view instead of just looking down at them.
They kind of dissappear into the background at this angle.
Putting some green trees behind them gives you an entirely different look.
There's the "Money Shot" of The Pinnacles of Crater Lake National Park.
That was short and sweet! Let's get back to ROVER and go see a waterfall!
Plaikni Falls Trail is 2-miles long with the falls at the turnaround point.
The sign mentioned "Rest Areas", I hope this isn't what they were talking about.
Now that looks a little more comfortable to me.
This one comes with a choice, the bench or a flat rock.
With the sides both lined in rock borders it would be hard to get lost.
That still looks more comfortable than a rock.
This is the halfway point where we stopped on the way in and again on the way out.
At least in was shaded and had a nice view of the rocky cliff face.
Time to get moving again. 
We were informed the last 1/4-mile of the trail had 100' of elevation gain.
The trail came to an abrupt end with these two small signs to drive home the point.
When you looked up this is what there was to see at the end of the trail.
The trail to Plaikni Falls on Sand Creek has been a park favorite since it opened in 2011.
The hike back to the parking lot was thankfully all downhill.
In this photo you can just make out where the Rim Drive continues up the mountain.
Zooming in you can see there is a large truck and a few workers busy fixing the road.
Let's go see what else there is here in the park without looking at the lake.
The 4.4-mile Mount Scott Trail climbs to the park's highest summit at 8929'.
Here we are approaching the 8049' Lloa Rock on the North Rim.
Lloa Rock is part of Mount Mazama that didn't collapse during the eruption 7700-years ago.
This is North Junction where Rim Drive and the North Entrance Road come together.
We drove out the North Entrance Road for a little while before turning around.
That's the 8013' Watchman Peak up ahead with the fire lookout at the top.
Consider this, the current hiking trail that goes to the top of Watchman Peak
The west side of the park experienced wildfires back in 2006, 2017 and 2019.
Time to head back to THE POD and just in time for lunch.
Since the road is not open all the way around the lake,
Since we had an hour between check-in and departure we had time to check out the lake.
This overlook is located below the rim behind the Rim Village Visitor Center.
The lake is truly showing off it's renown blue color today.
With little to no breeze the reflections in the lake were undisturbed.
Looking straight down at the shoreline from the Sinnott Memorial Overlook.
The angle of the wall doesn't change once it hits the water level.
It very quickly becomes over 100' deep.
It's like a "blue" rainbow of color.
Before we hop onto the trolley it was time for a bathroom visit, there are none on the tour.
Now starts the photos we took from the trolley tour. There are 5 stops where we exit the trolley.
From the first stop we can see the boat docks on Wizard Island where the Park Service
There are also a few slips where the research vessels dock while not in use.
From the next stop we could see the peak of Watchman Mountain.
We also had a good view of the fire lookout at the top.
Further around the lake we got a view of the back side of Wizard Island.
LOOK! There's one of those Park Service boats out on the water today.
As the sun gets higher into the sky the lake becomes a deeper shade of blue.
This ridge of spires is called Devil's Backbone.
Whitebark Pine were the first trees to return after the eruption due to needing little soil
The decaying tree eventually creates it's own soil.
Look at this tree which grew straight out of the rocks.
Zooming the max we could just make out Phantom Ship down in the water.
Phantom Ship in the oldest rock formation in the lake, having been hidden inside Mt. Masmama.
That's not a cloud hanging over the mountain, it's smoke from the nearby wildfire.
On the left is the only Weather Buoy on the lake which is located at the deepest point.
We've moved again and are now closer to the Phantom Ship formation.
All the way across the lake is the lodge and visitor center where we started this morning.
The Lodge is on the left and Visitor Center on the right.
Here comes that park service boat from around the backside of Wizard Island.
There are two more formations in the lake down there, but heck if I remember their names.
There is a yellow boom floating at the shoreline by the marina where the repair is happening.
This is looking straight down into the water at our turn around point.
The tour guide mentioned that the boat pilot likes making waves.
The area in red will be under construction for the next three years,
Looks like the two boat crews are meeting up for lunch.
In case you were wondering what our trolley looks like...
...we had the entire back of the bus to ourselves.
The tour guide used this visual aid to demonstrate the 1943' depth of the lake.
Overnight the winds shifted and started bringing all the smoke from the wildfire 35-miles
From the rim looking down at the lake there wasn't much clearly visible.
If the winds shift back there's plenty more smoke to come today.
Up at the fire lookout on top of Watchman Peak the sky was clear.
Without anything to photograph we decided not to make the hike this morning.
On the way back to the campsite we saw two of these creatures crossing the road.
Marmots are large, stout ground squirrels, weighing 7-30 pounds.
We drove all the way around the lake to where the road is currently closed.
This is as close as you can get to the formation and it's already 7:30PM.
Zooming in with Tricia's 10X zoom cellphone gives us this view.
The next stop is the Pumice Castle Overlook.
We didn't find the Pumice Castle formation, but this sure looked interesting to us.
This photo was taken at Cloudcap Overlook, the highest point (7865') on the entire Rim Drive.
It'll be dark soon as we pass by Watchman Peak at 8:15PM.
Those rocks are grey in the daytime, but dark red at sunset on the westside of the park.
Still a lot of smoke in the air. We hope it clears out overnight.
Nothing but pink skies and long shadows are left to see.
After breakfast we decided to drive around outside of Crater Lake to the North Entrance,
Just inside the North Entrance Station was this welcome sight, a bathroom!
I would have painted that a contrasting color to show it off, why hide it?
We drove all the way back to the Cloudcap Overlook for these daytime photos.
A daytime photo of the Phantom Ship formation.
Tricia got out her "big camera" for this shot of the Crater Lake Lodge on the other side.
Also a "big camera" shot, the Sinnott Memorial Overlook, below the rim, is circled in red.
The most recognizable feature in Crater Lake has got to be Wizard Island.
The area between Wizard Island and the shorline is called Skell Channel...
...and this little area is called Fumarole Bay where the boats are stored in winter.
