Matthew's web log

With our final hours at Crater Lake, we aim for an early start. One important activity  remaining to do is to take the boat tour around the lake. Tickets go on sale in the morning and we must be on the 10am departure otherwise we won’t be back in time to make it to Ashland in time for our show. We have breakfast in the room and are at the boat dock by around 8:30. With only a few people ahead of us, we secure our place on the 10am slot.

To get to the boat, there is a hike down around 700 feet of elevation over 1.1 miles. Certainly easy on the way down, but we know it will be more work on the return. We get down to the boat dock with plenty of time to just relax before lining up to get on the boat (which seats around 40 people). These boats are the only allowed ones on the lake and this place is the only legal access to the lake.

The tour departs right on time and we take a leisurely two hour ride around the lake. The park ranger on board is very informative and we learn about many of the things we saw yesterday during our rim drive. The views are a bit different from the lake level than they are from the rim level. It’s another perfect day on the lake and we enjoy our tour and take our sandwiches on board that we picked up last night. Right on time, the boat returns to the dock at noon and we’re on the road before 1pm.

We use our GPS toy to navigate us to Ashland and much to L”s delight it takes us on the more scenic route. It turns out that it’s nearly the same distance as the other route we considered. It was a scenic drive and we make it to Ashland by mid afternoon. I did ignore the GPS direction to go down a dirt road. It turned out this would have cut off some distance, but I prefer the highway. Next time when we are in L”s car, she can go that way.

Tonight is our first show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We are seeing "Ruined", which won the Pulitzer prize. It’s about the uplifting topic of prostitution and brutal gang rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. You know, a real comedy. It is an excellent show and not nearly as depressing as the topic might suggest. It’s clear that the OSF gets top notch actors and the small theaters really let you appreciate the acting skills on display. By the time the play ended, it was time for some much needed sleep.

View all the trip photos here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/OregonAugust2010/

Today we have all day to explore Crater Lake. Our plan is to do the Rim Drive, which is about a 30 mile road that goes around the (surprise, surprise) rim of the lake.  We picked up a booklet last night that details many of the stops and provides useful commentary. It informs us a lot about the lake and the views are, of course, fantastic. It’s another picture perfect day and I take many perfect pictures. We alternate driving (see note below) and finish the tour after over 6 hours of site seeing. This leaves enough time to change and enjoy our dinner at the Lodge.

After dinner, we return for a nearby stop along Rim Drive to watch the sunset.  It’s pretty and getting cold fast.  We return to our room shortly after it’s dark out.

Note:  This trip was another big step in our married life.  Other than when L’ picked me up in my car after I sold my old one, she has not driven my car.  I kept saying that it had to be two years with no tickets or accidents before she could drive it.  Capitulating to convenience, L’ drove the car down to San Jose prior to our departure on this road trip.  It was a big step and she handled it almost flawlessly (the flaw being her continued refusal to wash and simonize it).   She now was official driving number two with stored seat and mirror settings.

View all the trip photos here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/OregonAugust2010/

To maximize our time in Crater Lake, we depart by mid morning and arrive at Crater Lake by lunchtime. After lunch in the Lodge, we gear up for a hike that starts right from the back of the lodge.

We hike up to Garfield point (named for a park dude, not the cat or president). It’s 1.7 miles each way and about a thousand feet of elevation gain. It starts at around 7,000 feet though so it’s more challenging than it would be starting at sea level. We tackle it like the veterans we are though and the view from the top is fantastic. I work on taking a huge panorama (that it’s giving me some trouble getting stitched together) and enjoy the view. The hike down takes much less time and we’re back at the room for dinner and showers.

Since Crater Lake is in the middle of nowhere your dining options are the Lodge restaurant (where we have a reservation for tomorrow), a takeout sandwich, or the buffet restaurant. We go to the buffet restaurant which has decent food and then we return home. While L’ goes to sleep early, I venture to the back of the Lodge to watch the stars. We heard a rumor that the Northern Lights would be visible tonight. I go out with clear instructions to wake L’ if they are in fact visible. Sadly, they are not, but the stars are spectacular because we are at elevation and in the middle of nowhere. You can see the Milky Way (our galaxy, not the candy bar) along with boatloads of stars.   As it starts to get a little cold, I quietly return to the room and go to sleep.  We’ve got a full day exploring Crater Lake tomorrow.

View all the trip photos here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/OregonAugust2010/

Departing Crescent City, we make one last stop among the redwoods. It’s a short hike in Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park and takes us along a river and to another pretty grove of very tall trees.  It’s a quick stop, but trees that are this large are always a treat to see.

The drive to Caves National Monument is uneventful and we arrive around lunchtime. We book our afternoon guided tour and time it such that we can get lunch now and get milkshakes at the conclusion of our tour before the snack shop closes.  Milkshake time is as critical as nap time as my loyal readers know.

The cave here is a marble cave which, we’re told, is less common. It was found in the 1800s and has been pretty picked over. Many of the bigger stalactites and stalagmites were broken off long ago by people who didn’t know they take thousands of years to be created.  Because of that, there are not as many intricate formations to view.   The cave is around 44F year round so right before we go in we put on many layers (it’s easily in the 80s outside the cave). The tour guide is knowledgeable and there are some interesting rooms, but it wasn’t something I would call “beautiful”.

After about an hour and a half, we emerge from the cave and quickly remove our layers since it’s about forty degrees warmer outside than in the cave. The previous schedule strategizing worked out and we head back to the lunch room for milkshakes. The milkshakes are yummy, large, and refreshing. From here it’s time to shower and have dinner at the Lodge dining room before our departure tomorrow for Crater Lake.

View all the trip photos here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/OregonAugust2010/

After a wonderfully caloric loaded breakfast at the B&B, we head to downtown Eureka. It is filled with many Victorians and is mostly deserted since it’s early for a Sunday morning. We stroll the main drag and I’m disappointed the chocolate store is not yet open. We head down to the Carlson Mansion which is a stunning Victorian along with a smaller one built for the couple’s son across the street. It’s not open for tours so we just admire it from outside. Our other possible tourist stop in Eureka was closed so we depart for the sister city of Arcata.

Going across a big bridge on the other side of the bay is Arcata. Its downtown is much smaller than Eureka’s and is even more nutty crunchy. There’s not much here (I don’t need any more hemp) so we head towards the Redwoods with a planned evening in Crescent City.

There are many different redwood parks around the area and we hit Redwood National and State Park which is one of the bigger ones. We stopped in the visitor center for the relevant info and then hit a short stop at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Following that we did about a three mile hike recommended by the ranger staff. Both let us see some spectacular old growth redwoods and pretty scenery.

We then resumed our drive to Crescent City. A town of only about 8,000 it only really exists now for hotels and some local fishing. The second hotel we call has a reasonable rate and availability. The GPS and our map lead us astray a bit, but we find it and check in.

After cleaning up we head to the recommended seafood restaurant right down the road. I’m looking forward to the fresh salmon and L’ gets the other fish special. We are sadly bummed that the fish is not very good. Mine is overcooked- mediocre restaurants at home have far better food.   It just goes to show us again how spoiled we are by the food we get at home.  In any case, we head back to the hotel to get some sleep for tomorrow we leave the state.

View all the trip photos here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/OregonAugust2010/