Peach spice cake and tea for breakfast. Battened down the hatches and started off. Local Dutch Brothers Coffee spots (photo) have mango smoothie that we shared. They, again, gave it to us for free!
Pilot Travel Center (truckers) had the inverter we needed to charge the computer, cameras and cell phones. The inverter has given us more freedom to power our electrical equipment without having an external power source. Headed North on Rt. 62 to Crater Lake. Vance mused, "Traveling where you are is such a different experience than traveling where you are going to. Not a going somewhere." The first is relaxed, comfortable and present while the second is less so.
Learned that Oregon uses flashing yellow left turn signals - so traffic can turn if no oncoming cars. Smart! As we left Medford, we saw a mountain peak in the distance with snow fingers running down it. Will see if I can figure out which mountain it is.
Shady Cove is a flat flood plain on Elk Creek with many tourist dependent businesses. Reminds me of the Russian River area. Fly fishing is very big here. One business we passed was "Pat's Hand-tied Flies". Moving slowly to higher elevations - "chug-a-wug-ah". Lost Creek Reservoir has a fish hatchery and is the launch area for inflatable raft trips on Elk Creek. Looks like fun.
Pulled off Rt. 62 onto "Timber cutting boundary" spot to have lunch. Salami sandwiches, sweet pickles, apples and milk. I am aware of every baggie we use / wash / and re-use - not polluting the landscape. Also using water very sparingly, and I capture what washes off lettuce leaves to rinse the apples. We drink, brush teeth, take meds, and cook with bottled water. The tank water is used to wash dishes, hands, faces, and flush. We do laundry and take showers where we stop for the night - if facilities are available. Back to lunch stop - Deuter's Land of Enchantment softens the atmosphere. Ah, music, screens, a shady place - "roughing it" is pretty great.
Rogue River National Forest offered a photo op. at the Rogue Gorge. I climbed a fence to get into the Viewpoint area. A number of short falls, lava tubes and a chasm were thrilling sites. The forest has ground cover, low bushes that are a moist green - not the dusty/dry of Route 35 (Skyline/San Mateo) woods. Fire Hazard registered Low today.
Noticed VERY tall roadside snow poles - for plows. Area gets about 533 inches of snow a year! At 3:15 p.m. on the sunny side of the road, there is SNOW, and on back into the woods.
Crater Lake had snow all along the top. The East Rim Drive and all hiking trails are closed because of snow. First look at the lake: - blue, Blue - BLUE! And STEEP sides - formed from the collapse of a volcano. As we drove around the Western Rim, saw fields of snow, and beyond the blue ranges of hills and mountains growing more pale in the distance. The sheer steep edge to the road sends a chill up my spine. At the North Junction we could see three snow capped peaks. In the distance we saw an odd barren area. We discovered it was the Pumice Desert. As we drove along tree lined roads, a turn would reveal the dramatic view of a mountain ahead. Before I could grab the camera, another turn changed the view, and the mountain was out of sight. Other turns were not the same angle. I will try to keep the camera on my wrist.
We checked out two other places - one was full, the other felt not quite right - before settling in for the night at Poole Creek in the National Forest. Mosquitoes for company - peering in from the screens. Didn't have hot dogs to go with beans, or find the can of hash I thought I packed. But all turned out well. Signing off to go to bed.
Ended at Poole Creek Campground (near Crater Lake). [No showers, but there is swimming in the big creek.]
Odometer 58,908.8 (131.4) Total: 766.0
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