Wednesday, 5 June 2013

5 June – Crater Lake – Cottage Grove

Woke up to another stunning day, and a small deer wandering through the campsite. She walked behind the trees before we could get the camera out. We headed back up to Crater Lake for a hike up Llao Rock (2453 meters / 8049 ft) from North Junction at 2142m. We followed the caldera rim, through snow, stopping for photos as we climbed. We had to be very careful as the rim is pretty steep, so quite a few times we diverted away from the edge to get a safer track. We climbed for an hour and a half(ish) and again the view was just stunning! 


Back down only took half an hour as we avoided the rim and went straight down the spine of the rock. Back to the RV, we drove out of the North Entrance to the park and along the Rogue – Umpqua Scenic Byway. The first half hour or so was over the lava plains formed by the eruption – very desolate with not much vegetation, but that soon gave way to the lush Oregon forests. 

We stopped at Watson Falls, the 4th highest in Oregon.. 


...and at Toketee Falls, so we really got hiking today! 

Toketee Falls had an old redwood water pipeline (leaking like a sieve) that services the power station down stream. 

At the end of the byway, we turned North on the Interstate 5, heading to a place called Cottage Grove, about 90mins north. Cottage Grove is the home of the covered bridge and we are hoping to see a few tomorrow. Because we were in after 6, the first couple of RV parks were full, and we got the last spot in the local Masonic RV Park. The people are lovely and helped us set up while having a chat. There seem to be mostly permanent vans here, it’s like a retirement village with lots of lovely old people. Steve cracked a beer called “Arrogant Bastard Ale” and we have settled in for the evening.   

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