Retirement Road Trip #10: An Incredibly Lucky Quick Trip to Crater Lake National Park, September 2021
Another one of our "Hey, you want to go to Crater Lake?" trips, as if a 5,268 mile road trip in July wasn't enough, Janet was able to score a couple of nights at the Crater Lake Lodge from September 27 through the 30th despite the horrible recreation.gov website. Leaving Alameda and heading up I-5, we stopped for a late breakfast/early lunch at Nancy's Airport Cafe in Willows, a favorite "$100 Hamburger" hangout for private pilots.
We continued up I-5 to Castle Crags State Park, which we frequently passed on our way north to ferry Karen to college in Tacoma, but had never stopped. We hiked the Kettlebell Trail and the Crags Overlook burning off much of Nancy's fare.
From Castle Crags, we continued on the Medford and a night at another Bonvoy/Marriott property, about a 700 mile day. In the morning, we poked around Medford for breakfast and found the "Yelp Five Star" Buttercloud Bakery and Cafe, another Biscuit and Bacon Gravy-palooza joint! Sufficiently fueled, we headed north and east on OR62 to Rogue River Gorge Falls.
Well, they aren't really Falls, more like a cataract, but the cool feature of the Rogue River at that point was that the entire river disappeared in a lava tubes, then emerged 50 meters or so on downstream.
After a good long, and wet, hike we continued up OR62 as the rain started turning to a light, wet snow. No worries, we had the 4Runner! We checked in and poked around the lodge and the Visitors' Center the rest of the day. We learned that this lodge, not anywhere near as majestic as the Ahwahnee or the Old Faithful Lodge, was faithfully restored/rebuilt in 1993...it was more of an apres-ski lodge feel rather than a full-on Great Northern Railway mondo lodge as we found in Glacier. But, it's a valid check off on the NP Lodge Bucket List. Covid restrictions were still in place, so the lovely sit-down dinner in the dining room was set-up with steam tables and you got in line and were served cafeteria style...a bit of a disappointment but it was a sign of the times. After dinner I camped out in the comfortable lobby and read for a while, then did some stargazing before turning in.
We read some "reviews" about the lodge on Yelp, and I felt compelled to respond to one idiot who gave it one or two stars, complaining about everything. "Where's the spa?" WHAT!?! Yes, the room was small, the bed uncomfortable, and the room rather pricey...BUT YOU ARE IN A NATIONAL PARK STAYING IN A HUNDRED YEAR OLD LODGE, MORON! It's annoying that social media has given a voice to millions of morons!
When I said "An Incredibly Lucky...Trip," we found out in the morning just how lucky we were...the storm that dumped rain on us the day before had turned to a light, fluffy snow that blanketed the landscape before us...an incredibly beautiful sight!
We drove on the rim road counterclockwise the rest of the day, stopping at any pullout we could. By the time we made our way halfway around at Cleetwood Cove, the snow had melted and it warmed up a bit. We hiked down to the cove, which is the only "legal" place in the park to access the lake. My memory around when we went out Pinnacles Road isn't terribly clear, whether it was that day or the next, but it is not a sight to be missed. There are hoodoo-like formations above Sand Creek which is totally counter to the rest of the lush high-mountain flora.
By the time we got over to Cleetwood Cove, the sun was out, the snow was pretty much gone, and the down jackets were off!
We hit the Bar at the lodge before dinner, and then had the buffet again (where else you going to go?), then I parked in the lobby again, on what Karen likes to call "pointy furniture" that I so love.
Like I said, a Modest Lodge
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