Crater Lake National Park
Building out the van in the span of a few weeks and making our first renovation on the road not even a few hours after we had left was foreshadowing for all the little adjustments we didn’t know our adventure mobile needed. What better way to figure out the ins and outs of the van than to just move in and hit the road? After many left curves and corners consisting of me reaching behind the drivers seat to hold the kitchen drawer (aka the midwestern junk drawer) closed, we realized we needed to install some sort of latch. That’s what took us to Home Depot and that’s how we started our day. We did some work in the parking lot and while we were at it we decided to tighten up a bunch of screws that had come loose on those rough dirt mountain roads. After that we were off to our next state!
Oregon has always been a bucket list state of mine. We spent a long time in California due to the vast length of it among other things, but we spent just as long in Oregon due to well, the state itself. The fact that you can go from the ocean to the forest to the mountains and onward to the high desert is mind blowing to me. There’s so much variety in the landscape and ecosystem of Oregon along with the many waterfalls and hiking trails.
We drove through Grants Pass and to say we were stoked about the drop in gas prices from California is an understatement. It was a very hot, sunny day so we wanted to stop somewhere and enjoy it. Pulling off at a day use park area, we made lunch and sat out on a picnic table by the riverside and soaked up the sunshine. We drove up the road a little further to a state park and walked to the beach area where it was pretty windy and chilly despite the sun.
From there, we drove to Crater Lake National Park. We were skeptical about driving quite a way to the park because the scenic rim drive was still closed and the weather was supposed to be very overcast. However we did drive thousands of miles across the country so, why not? We made the drive to the south entrance and into Rim Village. It was pretty late in the day, so the shops were already closed for the evening. Once we got to this point in the park we realized why the rim drive was still closed. The snow was still double my height and we had to break out our winter coats. Not only is Crater Lake the deepest lake in the United States at almost 1,950 feet, it formed after the eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama almost 7,700 years ago and has no streams/rivers flowing in or out of the lake. The water level really only changes through precipitation and evaporation. Another neat fact is that one of the islands, called Wizard Island, is actually the tip of a cinder cone volcano that formed after the eruption.
After playing around with the snow and taking in the views of the lake from the parking lot, it was time for us to find somewhere to camp for the night. We didn’t want to drive too far from the park because we knew we would come back in the morning, but there really wasn’t much around to stay at. We pulled into a parking lot not really knowing where we were and eventually got kicked out because it was apparently an employee parking area. The guys were really nice though and told us to go back into the park and stay at one of the cabin areas. The night from there involved playing cards and driving further into the park again to get a clearer view of the night sky. We laid on the bed with the back doors open and watched the stars.
In the morning we went straight into the visitors center and got our stamps for our passport booklets and a postcard. We drove back up to the lake with the morning sun in the sky, went into the shops and checked the lodge out. There wasn’t much else we could do there at that time of the year so we packed the cooler full of snow (a nice hack by the way) and drove off to our next destination.
Toketee Falls started off fun right from the parking lot. Next to the lot there’s a 12 foot diameter stave pipeline made of redwood. It was built in 1949 and is used to produce hydropower at a powerhouse downstream. This hike is very accessible and definitely worth it. It’s only 0.8 miles roundtrip (with stairs) leading to a waterfall composed of two parts totaling 113 feet in height. It seemed like we spent a pretty decent amount of time at the overlook with others coming and going. Once we were done there and got back to the van, we headed to our next exciting destination which happens to be one of my favorite spots in Oregon. Stay tuned to find out where that is!
Where We Roam 