#35: On to Oregon (& Crater Lake National Park)

As sad as I was to be leaving California, I was delighted with what we did and saw while there. After quality time with friends and their families, new places explored, and visits to nine(!) national parks, it was time to make our way up to Oregon, the Beaver State.

I had never been to Oregon, so it was new territory. Although Crater Lake is the only national park in this state, I wanted to see plenty of things, including Bend, the coastal dunes, Portland, Cannon Beach, and Mount Hood.

I decided that my best course of action was to first head inland to Crater Lake National Park. At this point, I was getting pretty comfortable with dispersed camping (dry camping in non-designated camping areas). I had started enjoying the challenge of trying to find a decent, free place to stay. I had scoped out some places before getting to the Crater Lake area, but they seemed a little sketchy when I got to them. I then tried a state park in the area, but it was completely booked. It was getting late in the day, and I needed to find a place to stay before the sun went down. Yikes.

Besides using camping apps, another tried and true method of finding dispersed camping is to drive down forest roads and scope things out. It gets tricky, though: usually, mobile service is limited, and you never know what condition the roads will be in or if you’ll be able to turn around with a trailer. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but you remain calm.

As I was exploring one forest road, a car pulling a small teardrop trailer approached from the opposite direction. I flagged it down to ask if they knew of any dispersed camping in this area. Luckily, they did, and they were leaving one of them. They gave me vague directions (there are no street signs or prominent landmarks, so “turn right on the dirt road ‘up a-ways,’ then bear left and then right again when the road forks” is always pretty ambiguous). I thanked them and drove on, looking closely for a path that somewhat resembled what I had been told.

I ended up finding one of the best dispersed camping spots I ever had. It was right along a river, surrounded by only a few other campers - which I prefer (instead of being utterly alone in the woods). The only negative was no cell service. Oh well. That forces me to read a book. Unfortunately, I neglected to take any photos of my camping site.

The next morning, Addie and I packed up and headed to Crater Lake. We weren’t going to do any intense hiking from the research I had done, so we didn’t need to prepare for that. We planned to drive around the lake, taking in the views from multiple locations. I followed a tip I had received: explore the east side of the lake in the morning hours and the west side of the lake in the afternoon hours to get the best lighting in photos. I was thankful for that tip!

We entered the park at the North Entrance. My first view of the lake from Merriam Point was breathtaking.

We drove east, stopping wherever it seemed like a good view - which was anywhere we stopped.

There is a section separate from the lake called The Pinnacles in the southeast area of the park. I made the drive over there to check it out.

The day was gorgeous, and the views were spectacular. It took us a full day to drive around the lake while taking our time. What a fulfilling day we had at Crater Lake National Park.