Crater Lake

Today we left the camper in Klamath Falls and headed north to Crater Lake National Park.   It was a cold, windy day with temps in the 30s as we left. There was a light snowfall in the mountains last night and it was still spitting snow as we drove north.  Just north of Klamath Falls is Klamath Lake.

Crater Lake is atop this mountain.

After about a 2 hour drive we reached the park.
 As soon as we entered the park we started noticing patches of snow along the road which kept getting bigger and deeper as we climbed the mountain.

By the time we got to the visitor center it was over 15 feet deep and the temperature had dropped to 28 deg F.

Taller than me and Yoda together

 The ranger at the visitor center said visibility was poor at the lake and the forecast was calling for clouds all day so I was afraid we had wasted a trip.  We watched a movie about the park then started to the top. We had to drive another 3 miles up to the lake itself and there were still patches of snow and ice on the roadway but we made it to the top without incident.

 At the top we had to climb a 20 ft snow bank to view the lake.  It was windy and 25 deg F so the wind chill had to be near zero.
Fortunately, while we were watching the movie the clouds had started to lift and we had a good view of the lake but the cloudiness meant we did not get to see the deep blue color the lake is famous for.

Crater Lake

Frozen wife

Frozen me

After taking some pictures we headed to the snack bar for lunch but they had just opened up and nothing was cooked so we had crackers and bananas in the truck.

 A nutcracker bird kept sitting on the truck hoping for a handout but he was disappointed.

We started back down the hill but just as we left the parking lot the sun came out so I turned around and went back for a few more pictures.

This deep gorge borders the road most of the way down the mountain.

Stopped at some of the same spots we stopped at going to the park on the way back, what a difference the sun makes!

Coyote and cows

When we got back to Klamath Falls Nancy did some shopping to replace the clothes she forgot to pack then we went back to her friends' house for dinner.