Summer Vacation Trip - Day 4

Today was really special! We'd planned to visit Crater Lake National Park when we developed our itinerary a few months ago and could not have been luckier with the weather. We were up early (0500), ate an early breakfast at our hotel (Days Inn) and left Medford at 0630, driving east on OR-62 through "canyons" of huge alpine trees. We got some good views of the Rogue River too. We reached the entrance so early there wasn't anyone at the fare gate. Of course, almost nothing else was open either, although we were lucky enough to be able to get gas at Mazama Village Campground (0745). The slow pace of things didn't stop us from enjoying the beautiful view of the deep blue lake and surrounding peaks. There was still a lot of snow and many activities had not even begun for the season. Temps started in the mid 40s and only reached 60 while we were visiting. We explored the scenery with almost no other guests - it was heaven. At first, we were going to wait for the Visitors Center on the Rim to open. But after a while (just after I sat down in a rocking chair on the back porch of the Lodge), Mollie said to me "we can't sit here - there is too much to do!" So we headed back down to the main Entrance and went to a Visitors Center that was open. There, we got souvenirs (0930) and watched a park video and got Mollie started on her Junior Ranger badge. We decided to drive the entire 33 miles of Rim Drive (starting on the east side). We took nature walks at Vidae Falls and Pinnacles Overlook (saw a marmot with a mouth full of pine needles) and enjoyed some amazing views of the Klamath Valley, Mount McLoughlan and Mount Shasta. We later detoured north of the Rim to visit the Pumice Desert. While there, we also got to hike a few more miles of PCT. From what I've seen so far, the trail is much more smooth and deliberately routed than the AT. Mollie told me she wanted me to complete the whole thing on horse back with her after I retire... After a about an hour north of the lake we returned to the Rim Drive. It had gotten so crowded by that time that traffic had started to suck - we could barely find a parking place anywhere on the west side of the crater. So, after Mollie got her NPS passport stamp and Junior Ranger pin (1400), we decided to leave. We departed to the southeast (OR-62 to US-97) and stopped a few more times to see the sites. As we made our way into the Valley, Mollie told me she was very impressed with the farm/ranch lands, along with the helpful signs that pointed out local landmarks. During most of our drive, we were "escorted" (read: passed) by many vintage Porche autos that were checking their engines on the flat open land. Our little Nissan Versa was no match, obviously... We eventually made our way past Upper Klamath Lake (pretty) and into Klamath Falls. From Mollie's Facebook: "Upon arriving in town, we checked into our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and asked for recommendations from the concierge, who pulled out a big map for us. Dad asked about where we could see the Klamath Falls, and we were disappointed to learn that there haven't been falls since the 1920s, and that they are now rapids. Regardless, we went out to find them. However, before we did that, we picked up our dinner from a little coffee shop/deli called "A Leap of Taste" (1730). I ordered the pizza sandwich with aged provolone, pepperoni, and calamata olive tapanade on rye and Dad ordered the #1, a complex turkey and sweet coppa salami, marco polo jack cheese, organic greens, and tomato sandwich on jewish rye and two bags of kettle chips. We enjoyed them in our car in the parking lot of the Link River Nature Trail, and were delighted to find that we had been given small paper cups with orange slices and a piece of dark chocolate. We walked it off on the Link River Nature Trail, which revealed the remnants of the Klamath Falls that had been taken out by the construction of a dam. The trail was short, and we only walked to the dam before we turned around and walked back toward the car. After our walk, we made a quick stop at the Walmart to pick up some supplies for the car, and headed back to the hotel. It was a nice way to end the long day! Wildlife encounters: an egret from across the river, a red-winged black bird defending her nest (she hovered really close to us), and a cormorant flying over the water." Afterwards, we stopped at Walmart (1930) and picked up some more supplies before heading back to the room. We watched TV and read until we went to bed (2200).