It has been said that the better things in life are worth adversity to gain them… or something like that. Because our previous trips to Oregon have been during the winter quarter of school, some of the highly recommended sites to see were off limits due to winter road closures. This trip we hope to see some of those sites. We planned the prescribed 5 hour drive from Corvallis to Crater Lake for Thursday, then to Bend on Friday. Down the Aufderheide Memorial Highway on Saturday and back to Corvallis Saturday nite to rest up to start work on Monday. Georgia woke up Thursday with a terrible toothache. She did have hints of tooth problems over the past few weeks, but didn’t have time to get to the dentist. Oh well… So, what to do? We relied on our contacts in Corvallis to find a dentist. We found one and they worked us in. Tooth root abscess (es)… He gave us a prescription for penicillin, and we are to call next week to start at least one root canal ablation process. Now to get the prescription filled and get on the road. We could have filled it at a Rite Aid here in Corvallis, but thought it would take some time to get through the system, so we went to “our” Walgreens in Albany. Crater Lake is southeast of Corvallis and Albany is of course north. We finally got on the road about 4:15 pm with the promise of a 5 hour trip and the probability of driving up mountain roads in the dark. Our directions were from Google maps. We were driving down highway 97 and saw a sign to Crater Lake…. Our Google directions, however, said we were to go another 20 miles before leaving 97. Now a dilemma. We were ahead of schedule, but should we follow this road sign with no guidance from there but road signs or follow the Google directions. We decided to follow the Google directions with the idea that if it didn’t work out, we had time to come back and follow the signs. My advice to you if you are every faced with this dilemma; follow the road signs. With our experience in Sisters in 2008, we weren’t sure. (See Post: "Cascades Revisited" Sunday, February 17, 2008) We found a road
at the prescribed distance off to the right. It was gravel.. hmmm… about ½ mile it turned to a one-lane dirt forest road. We did finally see the prescribed road number on a wooden sign by the road, so kept going. After about 5-6 more miles down this twisty-turney branching road, some of the directions seemed more vague. When it said, take a slight left for 0.4 miles (The Dodge Charger we were driving didn’t give tenths of miles on the odometer) we weren’t sure if it was “here” or “there”… Finally realizing that at any moment, a bunch of “rednecks” in a pick-up truck and loaded gun rack could block us in, we decided to bail and “get the hell out in the
Dodge” (Sorry, a little play on words). Fears and prayers were flying until we finally saw the stop sign at Highway 97. We drove back up 97 to the Crater Lake sign which directed us flawlessly to the Lodge. It was still somewhat light and we only had to drive through one or two clouds as we drove around the west rim of Crater Lake to the Lodge on the south end of the lake. The Lodge is at about 7200 feet above sea level and there was snow everywhere. In fact the road we came in on had just opened 3 days before our arrival. Some roads are still closed. It is roughly 1000 feet down to the lake which is the deepest fresh water lake in North America. Why is it called Crater Lake, you ask… right? Apparently it was once a huge volcano: Mount Mazama. The top of the volcano had caved in, creating this lake in the middle of the crater. A small volcano in the southeast corner continued to erupt for a while to form Wizard Island which is in many of the pictures. We believe the view up here was worth the hassle, although with Georgia’s tooth, knee, back, and
foot, enjoyment is a relative word. The amazing thing is that the appearance of the lake changes almost constantly. It reflects the cloud formations and we saw it from a clear morning sky through complete cloud cover; in fact Friday evening you couldn’t see the lake because it was filled with clouds. Once here, Georgia said, “can we stay here 2 nights??? Having an extra day
before starting work, we made changes and got the last room available for Friday night, then changed our Bend reservations to Saturday night. After our Thursday ordeal, I missed the sunrise, but Georgia said it was gorgeous. Our room looks out on the lake. Friday sunset was “clouded” therefore no spectacular colors. Saturday morning the lake was still clouded over at sunrise. I don’t feel too bad; a professional photographer we met was there for his second attempt to photograph Crater Lake at sunrise. The last time his alarm wasn’t loud enough and he slept through it. This time, he had neglected to do his normal equipment checklist and left his camera in the car overnight. His batteries were too low to do what he needed and some parts of his system froze up. In June, mind you. He said, “I’ll be back” (no Arnold accent though). We also discovered another culture of people. Very few of
the workers here are local folks. Many have transplanted for the season, while others are “resort workers” who migrate from National Park to National Park with the seasons. Because the drive up the mountain can be “testy” there is a dormitory near the lodge where workers live. One lady from Texas sold her home, bought a small motor home and is working from scenic lodge to scenic lodge. She had planned to work at all of them until she found out that there are 395 National Parks. Many are kids just out of college. One such couple got together in this life. The guy is from North Carolina who was working in Hawaii where he met his girlfriend. They have since worked in 8 countries in Europe and when the season at Crater Lake closes this fall are off to Australia. Another couple are from Alabama (it was obvious they weren’t Oregonians.) This past year his mother passed on, he lost his job, and the restaurant where his wife had worked closed down. His only living relative (his uncle) had moved to Oregon and worked as a bellman at the Crater Lake Lodge. This couple came out as newlyweds last December and they both work here. He is a bellman and she works down the road at the Annie Creek Resturant and Gift Shop. He had told us their story Thursday nite as he helped us get checked in. Then Friday, we drove down to the Anne Creek Resturant for lunch. Rene came to the table and when she said “Hey”… I said, “you’re not from Oregon, are you from Alabama?” She said, “yes I am”. I said, “is your husband a big guy?” (Couldn’t remember his
name.) She said, “Yes he is”. Then we told her that he had helped us the night before and he told us she worked there… It is fun to help the world
shrink by making connections. We met people from Ohi0, Michigan, Colorado, Portland,
Tennessee, and Florida. But as we were leaving we ran into folks from Dublin, Ireland. Georgia really enjoyed talking about McPhersons, Scotland, and Ireland with the Irish gentleman. On the way down, we stopped several times to see what we had missed coming up at dusk. The clouds of course were different moment to moment. At one site, we saw a pair of skiers who were zipping down a steep slope, then trudging back up. They had to be at near 8500 feet. We thought the air was thin at 7200 feet. Crater Lake is quite a story. Phenomenal in fact. You can find your own websites if you're interested. The trip up 97 was easy. We arrived at the Bend Inn
and Suites about 3pm. That's another story, soon to come. My facebook friends can see 125 pictures we took at Crater Lake.
at the prescribed distance off to the right. It was gravel.. hmmm… about ½ mile it turned to a one-lane dirt forest road. We did finally see the prescribed road number on a wooden sign by the road, so kept going. After about 5-6 more miles down this twisty-turney branching road, some of the directions seemed more vague. When it said, take a slight left for 0.4 miles (The Dodge Charger we were driving didn’t give tenths of miles on the odometer) we weren’t sure if it was “here” or “there”… Finally realizing that at any moment, a bunch of “rednecks” in a pick-up truck and loaded gun rack could block us in, we decided to bail and “get the hell out in the 
Dodge” (Sorry, a little play on words). Fears and prayers were flying until we finally saw the stop sign at Highway 97. We drove back up 97 to the Crater Lake sign which directed us flawlessly to the Lodge. It was still somewhat light and we only had to drive through one or two clouds as we drove around the west rim of Crater Lake to the Lodge on the south end of the lake. The Lodge is at about 7200 feet above sea level and there was snow everywhere. In fact the road we came in on had just opened 3 days before our arrival. Some roads are still closed. It is roughly 1000 feet down to the lake which is the deepest fresh water lake in North America. Why is it called Crater Lake, you ask… right? Apparently it was once a huge volcano: Mount Mazama. The top of the volcano had caved in, creating this lake in the middle of the crater. A small volcano in the southeast corner continued to erupt for a while to form Wizard Island which is in many of the pictures. We believe the view up here was worth the hassle, although with Georgia’s tooth, knee, back, and 
foot, enjoyment is a relative word. The amazing thing is that the appearance of the lake changes almost constantly. It reflects the cloud formations and we saw it from a clear morning sky through complete cloud cover; in fact Friday evening you couldn’t see the lake because it was filled with clouds. Once here, Georgia said, “can we stay here 2 nights??? Having an extra day 
before starting work, we made changes and got the last room available for Friday night, then changed our Bend reservations to Saturday night. After our Thursday ordeal, I missed the sunrise, but Georgia said it was gorgeous. Our room looks out on the lake. Friday sunset was “clouded” therefore no spectacular colors. Saturday morning the lake was still clouded over at sunrise. I don’t feel too bad; a professional photographer we met was there for his second attempt to photograph Crater Lake at sunrise. The last time his alarm wasn’t loud enough and he slept through it. This time, he had neglected to do his normal equipment checklist and left his camera in the car overnight. His batteries were too low to do what he needed and some parts of his system froze up. In June, mind you. He said, “I’ll be back” (no Arnold accent though). We also discovered another culture of people. Very few of 
the workers here are local folks. Many have transplanted for the season, while others are “resort workers” who migrate from National Park to National Park with the seasons. Because the drive up the mountain can be “testy” there is a dormitory near the lodge where workers live. One lady from Texas sold her home, bought a small motor home and is working from scenic lodge to scenic lodge. She had planned to work at all of them until she found out that there are 395 National Parks. Many are kids just out of college. One such couple got together in this life. The guy is from North Carolina who was working in Hawaii where he met his girlfriend. They have since worked in 8 countries in Europe and when the season at Crater Lake closes this fall are off to Australia. Another couple are from Alabama (it was obvious they weren’t Oregonians.) This past year his mother passed on, he lost his job, and the restaurant where his wife had worked closed down. His only living relative (his uncle) had moved to Oregon and worked as a bellman at the Crater Lake Lodge. This couple came out as newlyweds last December and they both work here. He is a bellman and she works down the road at the Annie Creek Resturant and Gift Shop. He had told us their story Thursday nite as he helped us get checked in. Then Friday, we drove down to the Anne Creek Resturant for lunch. Rene came to the table and when she said “Hey”… I said, “you’re not from Oregon, are you from Alabama?” She said, “yes I am”. I said, “is your husband a big guy?” (Couldn’t remember his 
name.) She said, “Yes he is”. Then we told her that he had helped us the night before and he told us she worked there… It is fun to help the world 
shrink by making connections. We met people from Ohi0, Michigan, Colorado, Portland, 
Tennessee, and Florida. But as we were leaving we ran into folks from Dublin, Ireland. Georgia really enjoyed talking about McPhersons, Scotland, and Ireland with the Irish gentleman. On the way down, we stopped several times to see what we had missed coming up at dusk. The clouds of course were different moment to moment. At one site, we saw a pair of skiers who were zipping down a steep slope, then trudging back up. They had to be at near 8500 feet. We thought the air was thin at 7200 feet. Crater Lake is quite a story. Phenomenal in fact. You can find your own websites if you're interested. The trip up 97 was easy. We arrived at the Bend Inn 
and Suites about 3pm. That's another story, soon to come. My facebook friends can see 125 pictures we took at Crater Lake.
1 comment:
those pictures of the lake are amazing!! I had forgotten that you were in Oregon.
B-MCkNe
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