We have arrived at Crater Lake today.
Our first stop was Cleetwood Cove trail which is a one mile hike down to the water on the inside of the crater. It drops 700 feet and being at 6,500 feet elevation, it’s a challenge to get enough oxygen during the hike.
I have always wanted to take this boat tour around the lake, but they still haven’t started up this year. I wonder if there is any company left after being shutdown for 2 years.
People always tell you about how blue the water is at Crater Lake, and you just can’t believe it until you see it. It’s the most incredible blue highlighted with the green evergreens.
After lunch at Rim Village, we continued the rim drive on the East Rim, which just opened last Friday. It was a scary because the road was so narrow it felt like one wheel was on the yellow line, the other on the white edge line, with no berm and steep dropoffs. But on this side we saw Videa Falls and had views of Phantom Ship.
We are camping at Diamond Lake for 2 nights. As we were checking in, John and Marty from my Fantasy RV Tour came into the office behind me. What a wonderful surprise! They spent a couple of nights out on the Oregon Coast and we are both staying at Crater Lake today. Sara and I set up camp, had dinner, then took our drinks over to their place and talked for about an hour. They are leaving tomorrow for the Grand Canyon.
There is no cell phone reception here at Diamond Lake or Crater Lake. We can walk down to the dock on Diamond Lake or drive to the rim of Crater Lake and get 1 bar, but it’s only enough to download a text message and nothing much else. You could look at it as an advantage, but I find it scary not having Google Maps. We sat outside after we returned (sun burnt and exhausted), and since there is no phone to watch, we watched our neighbor feed the chipmunks, ground squirrel, pikas and birds. Just like TV.
