Crater Lake August 25, 2014

8-25-14 Fort Klamath, OR

As rvs grew in size over the years and slide outs were incorporated, many of the old parks became difficult to navigate and that’s saying something.  We often ponder why every other space isn't simply eliminated to accommodate the big rigs, but that of course involves a serious decrease in revenue.  Well, the park in Salem is phenomenal.  They have bit the bullet and eliminated every other site not only doubling the width of the remaining sites but providing a paved area to park the Jeepster.  The landscaping with trees, grass and flowers (and a pickleball court!) make this park exceptional.  I guess that speaks to it’s business calling card, “Premier RV Park.”

We drove through peaceful mountainous tall tree-lined corridors today to arrive at Fort Klamath at about 4 PM.  We were here last year at this same campground near the end of September and it rained on us like a sumbitch till I wanted to scream.  We broke camp in ankle-deep water, as I recall, and Crater Lake was socked in.  We are passing this way again so we decided to give it another try.  This time we have hit pay dirt, it is beautiful and sunny, apparently a crap shoot in this part of the world.  The campground is green and grassy and the redwoods are tall and fat and reaching for the royal blue sky.  Now, I remember something else unusual:  this park office has a grocery store providing  fresh vegetables and fruit, pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, dairy products, beer, wine and so on and free movies.  Some other parks have a small store, it’s true, but how many windsocks, baseball hats, key chains and cans of Spam can you buy?  Some don’t even have an office:  check yourself in, if you don’t mind, find your own spot, drop your money through the slot and leave us alone.  Some of the washers and dryers work, good luck.   Not kidding, “In an emergency, knock on the door at site # 4.  Being out of beer does not constitute an emergency.”  I had a really negative feeling coming here again, but I think my memories were so drowned with rain that I couldn't remember the good parts.  I’m glad we came back so I could reissue that E.O. 

Let’s see.  How tall am I?  It is 82 inches to the top of my fingertips with my arm stretched straight up.  The snow poles along the sides of the road heading toward Crater Lake do not look promising.  So let me get this straight.  It is seven feet to the lowest marker on the “this-is-how-deep-the-snow-is pole!”  On the ROAD? 

Rob & Snow Pole

We saw nary a one “chains required” sign, why bother?  Alright-y then.  It’s August.  Let’s go see this lake and get the hell out of here!  Fortunately, there were no road closures due to snow (like last September) so we could ride almost all the way around the lake and back on the trolley while the chickie ranger filled us with so much information my brain almost exploded.

I sent you a t-log from last year to familiarize you with how this lake was formed some 8,000 years ago.  (I don’t know how they know this.)  Today, the sky was blue and the water heart-stoppingly sapphire blue. 

Take-your-breath-away blue.  The lake owes this to clarity and depth, they say, about 2,000 feet of depth.  The mysteries of this geographical formation continue to inspire, from ancient times until now.  The Indians believed in the good gods and bad gods that lived on and below the lake and fought it out, usually over women.  Duh.  We saw old black and white pictures of Indians in full dress feathers sitting along the cliffs of this sapphire in the rough, apparently entranced.  Today, as then, every human heart goes to it’s banks for messages of inspiration and help from the gods with difficult life situations.

Well, we made it.  We saw Crater Lake at last.  Tomorrow, we will play a little pickleball on the campground court and then, the good ship Bee will set the sails for Mount Shasta, another of Mother Nature’s creations that has eluded us.  The profound inspirations continue.