Summer Road Trip - Crater Lake

Crater Lake | Redwood Coast | Redwood Forest | Oregon Coast

After waiting two years to go on our next road trip we were finally on our way to visit Crater Lake and Redwood National Park. We barely were able to pack everything into the Mazda 5 for the week long trip, but thanks to small kids everything fit. Our first destination was Crater Lake which took two days to reach. Once in the park we got in some quick views of the clear blue Crate Lake before heading to our site at Mazama Village campground. Though our camp site was nice and in a good location we initially felt miserable due to the heat, elevation and dirt. The dirt seemed especially attracted to Lily as she was completely filthy within ten minutes. Eventually I got enough energy to set up camp and prepare for our first hike.

After dinner we headed back to the crater rim for a ranger led sunset hike up the 7881' Watchmen Peak. Things were going well until halfway up Lily decided she had to go potty. We ran he down as quickly as possible to the trailhead and when she was done I ran her back up to the top with just a couple minutes before sunset. Though we had succesfully made it to the top Vivian unfortunately decided to cry and didn't stop until we got back to the car.

We had a much better visit the second day. We drove around the rim taking plenty of stops to see the various views of the lake. At one viewpoint the girls were very excited to see a family of chipmunks and took no notice of the beautiful lake before them. We continued around to Cleetwood trail where we hiked down to the lake to take a boat ride. While waiting for the boat the girls splashed in the lake while I took a swim. I was surprised it was not as cold as I remembered. Perhaps because it was so hot out.

We next took a two hour boat ride around the lake. I wanted to go to Wizard Island, but the tickets we sold out. In any case the girls had a great time on the boat. Rachel and Lily enjoyed getting splashed by the waves the boat kicked up and Vivian was just excited to be on her first boat ride. Jamie did her best to enjoy the ride, but the high altitude was not treating her well. When the ride completed we had a steep trail to climb to get back to the car. Fortunately things had cooled off so we didn't have to fight the heat.

The next morning we packed up and headed south to Klamath Falls and took a side trip to Tulelake where Jamie's mom grew up. After taking a few pictures we drove west to our next destination, the Redwood Forest. We had a good time at Crater Lake, but the heat (80s and 90s) made it tough to get out and enjoy the area. It's surprising to find it so hot as the park spends most of the year covered in snow.