What to do on the way to Portland?

The drive from Napa Valley to Portland was going to take over 8 hours and not something we wanted to do, so we spent a lot of time trying to find something to do in between. We thumbed through the Lonely Planet guide, searched the Internet and even asked around, and no one could come up with anything half decent to do. As a last resort we unfolded the paper map (yes they still exist) and scoured the area and spotted Crater Lake, a mountain area located about 3 hours South West of Portland. A bit of Google-ing later we decided to give it a go and we are so glad we did.

The park was the best we stayed in. It was run by a retired couple that are ex rv-ers who wanted to build and run a park that they would want to stay in. It was in a terrific location right in the alpine forest, it had super fast and free Internet, steaming hot showers that were spotless, the bathroom it's self was very warm, the site was huge that we allocated to park in and to top it all off, it was one of the cheapest we had stayed at.

As it was late when we arrived, I paid the following morning and went to find Jim, the owner. We chatted for over 25 mins about what to do , what to see and where to eat, so Cazzie and I tidied up and headed off to go and see the waterfalls, lakes and raging rivers.

The main river that flows through this area is called the Rouge River. This flows fast enough to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools every minute and is a whitewater rafters idea of heaven.


The river has created holes in the softer rock and in some parts disappears underground before reappearing a few meters later. This tunnels are called Lava tubes and were very cool to see in action.

After a bit of a walk up and down the river, we headed to Becky's Cafe and as we walked in we saw a huge sign advertising their "Famous Homemade Huckleberry Pie". Huckleberries grow in mid-alpine regions, often on the lower slopes of mountains, so we were in the perfect location. We ate our sandwiches and couldn't wait for our pie and I'm pleased to say it was fantastic. So flavoursome, so juicy, so sweet and so bitter, all at the same time. Almost worth the trip on it's own.

So it was now time to head to Crater Lake, a place we didn't know much about. It's the deepest freshwater lake in North America (1,949 ft deep) and sits in the remains of a blown out volcano, now known as Mount Mazama. As we drove the van further and further up the mountain, the snow got deeper and deeper until it was over 4 foot high, which took us both by surprise.

We parked the van and walked towards the lake which is where we hit the waist deep snow!


After a very tough walk in this snow, we found ourselves in full view of Crater Lake, which was surrounded by snowy covered mountains, over looked by clear blue skies and littered with evergreen trees. A truly stunning sight.




We spent over an hour here wandering around and taking lots of pictures, that can all be seen here.

Crater Lake is not one of the famous tourist hot spots in the States and I'm sure not many people have heard of it, let alone go, which is a real shame. There is lots to see and lots to do here and the decision to come here was totally the right one.

Love

Stuoobs

xxx