Crater Lake

Day 1

We decided to drive around Crater Lake since it's supposed to take less than 2 hours. Starting down the West Rim, we stopped at the first lookout point we passed, Llao Rock. Practically jumping out of my seat, camera at the ready, I ran over to Chloe's side, and we put on some sunscreen while Lucy was rummaging through the trunk. Once Chloe and I were apt to set off, the two of us looked over to Lucy to see if she was as well. Unfortunately, at that same moment, she turned to us with her now broken cellphone, and we both just burst into laughter. We hadn't even made it through the first night, and Lucy had entirely shattered her phone even slightly bending it. We immediately asked her what happened and she told us that she set her phone down on top of the SUV while looking for another jacket. Then when she closed the trunk, it fell in between the door and wall of the car. Such bad luck.

We hopped back into the car after taking photos, and again we were off. The second stop we hit on the drive was Watchman Overlook. This place was highly enjoyable because of the literature provided about the lake's formation and the previous volcano that stood. Crater Lake has many viewpoints all around, some of the best ones even require a bit of a hike. So, our third stop took us up to Garfield Peak, a strenuous 3.4-miles. However, about midway up we had to turn back because it was closed due to lack of snow melt, making it pretty dangerous for anyone to continue past.

Continuing our drive around the lake, we next came across Vidae Falls. This must-see mini waterfall was off to the side of the caldera. It was a last minute addition to our agenda that I found on the map provided to us when we entered the park. We also learned then that the Eastern Rim was only partially open, due to snow. So after our final stop at the falls, we drove as far up the rim as we could, then we turned around and headed to Medford for dinner.

We ended up taking the 62 Crater Lake Highway while we tried to watch the sunset in the car, but the clouds blocked a majority of our view. Our first dinner together went really well! I had been missing In-N-Out burger for quite some time, and we were in more of a rush than trying to sit down, so we happily agreed to eat along the way. Southern Oregon is the only place you will find it in the Pacific Northwest so I had to take advantage and of course make my two British friends try all the rage.

After dinner, we then checked into our Airbnb which I will save for a post of its own because the place was mindblowing!

xoxo
Andrea Aloren