Prospect, Oregon.... Hiking from the Campground and Moving On

Roger here..... The Rogue River rolled directly behind our campsite.  

The entrance to the National Forest trails could not have been closer to our campsite.  

We walked the dogs along the trails a couple of times every day while we were at the Crater Lake Campground.

If we turned right on the trail, we eventually arrived at a small dam and reservoir.  

Walking across the flow of fast-moving black water.....

brought us to a quiet picnic area and a continuation of the trail.

If we walked to the left,  we could descend to the river and...

Take another look at the raging river.

Bandido and I were forced to hop around a number of river pools to get the photo on the right.

A lot of very green plants also edged the trail.






One morning, after a night of gentle rain, the greenery on the sides of the trail looked as if they were covered with diamonds.  The opening photo show the identity of the small sparkles.

 Some of the water droplets decorated the plants.

Some smothered spider webs.  All were beautiful.

It was always a short, easy stroll back to the motor home.

Two days before we were to depart our spot in the forest, the water in the campground failed.  The problem was eventually solved, but not until midmorning on the following day.  We decided to leave a day early, but not with bad feelings about the campground or the people who were in charge.  The next leg of our journey was going to be a five- or six-hour drive.  We decided to cut it in half.

We drove back to I-5 following our arrival route to avoid snow.  We then drove to the small town of Winston, near the highway, where we spent the night in a great campground, Rising River.  

Retama friends, John and Audrey, emailed us about a winery in that area that had a tasty Tempranillo.  

We were in the Umpqua wine region of Oregon, known for excellent wines.  We managed to arrive at the tasting room more than an hour before closing.  The wines were excellent, in the opinion of someone who is not a wine expert.  We bought some Tempranillo and some Viognier.  

The pet pictures of the day show a couple of scenarios along the trails at the campground.  The first shows Bandido flaunting a stick he found on the trail.  He protected it in the same manner that he protects his precious toy balls.

The second shows Tequila.  Her obsession with lizards in the desert has now transferred to an obsession with squirrels.  She remained frozen in this pose, staring at the squirrel that she ran into the tree, until we pulled her away.

Rogue River Gorge (OR) --- from blue to white

Roger here....  On the drive back from Crater Lake we debated whether to stop at the Rogue River Gorge Overlook.  Quite honestly, we were both still reveling in the sights, the very blue sights, we had just seen at Crater Lake.  However, the campground host where we were staying told us that we should definitely stop.  It was not out of the way, so we stopped.  Glad we did.

We walked from the parking area to the river.  The very nice view was similar to other views of the Rogue River that we had already seen.  We could have gone back to the car at that point, but there was a paved trail that followed the river, so we decided to walk a bit.  

As we walked upstream, the rock walls rose, and the river narrowed and became more turbulent (and white).  

There was also an abundance of green here.  Lots of green in Oregon.

At the end of the paved trail we discovered a turbulent series of waterfalls.

Dianne here: To get the complete multi-sensory affect of these photos, you should sniff a pine-scented candle while viewing them.  The woodsy-piney scent with the roaring water in the background was truly awesome.

We reached the end of the paved trail.  A nice looking dirt trail continued beyond the waterfalls, but we were weary, and the dogs missed us.  So, we made our way back to the car, and then back to the motor home.

Just a little more of that green moss that is so prevalent in this part of the country.



The title of the pet picture of the day is, "a dog and his stick."  More about this in the next post.

Crater Lake --- nothing can possibly be this blue!

Roger here...  I have had the good fortune to see many of nature's wonderful landscapes.  As I reflect upon the most spectacular natural sights I have seen, the short list includes: St. John's (Virgin Islands), the Nepali Coast of Kauai, Bryce Canyon, the hills of Tuscany and the Grand Tetons.  I can now add Crater Lake to that personal list.  Wow, I cannot believe anything in nature can be that shade of blue.  
We knew we would be in the area for six days and wanted to pick the best day to see the lake.  We were afraid that snow, rain or fog might ruin our views of the lake.  The forecast for our second day in Oregon called for full sun, no snow, no fog, and temperatures in the mid-fifties on top of the mountain.  This was the day.

I was anxious to get to the national park.  The entrance was only about 20 miles from our campground, but I was not in the mood to waste any time getting there.  About half way to the park around 10:00 a.m., we approached a local eatery, Beckie's.  

Dianne informed me that her breakfast was not filling enough and that she wanted a piece of Beckie's famous berry pie. I suggested that we stop on the return trip.  It was a hopeless suggestion, and I knew it.  Dianne had cherry a la-mode.  I had apple.  The pie was good.  Time to move on.

We pulled into the visitor center about half-way up the mountain so Dianne could get her National Park Passport stamped.  Lots of snow on the ground here.  I was ready to see the lake.  Time to move on.

We pulled into the cafe and gift shop parking lot at the top of the mountain and walked (plowing through the snow) about 50 yards and saw the lake for the first time.  We were so lucky to be able to see this on such a clear day.  Amazing.  It really was that blue.  If you don't read the entire post, be sure to look at the pictures at the end.  The lake gets a different hue of deep blue in different light.

The views of Crater Lake are even more spectacular due to the steep cliffs that surround the entire caldera (it is a volcano, after all).

The snow and the trees also enhance the feeling this place emits.  It gave me chills, and not because of the snow.


Here are a couple of gratuitous pictures of Dianne and me.  What a backdrop!

This is a "zoomed-up" photo of one of the two islands, the Phantom Ship.   The east rim road was closed due to snow, so we were not able to get closer.  Still, not a bad picture.

After a lot of gazing, we walked back to the cafe/gift shop.  Did I mention there was a lot of snow?  Fortunately for us, none of the snow was on the roadway.  We bought a couple things in the gift shop and checked out the "fast food" cafe.

Dianne posed to show the depth of the snow, and then....

We drove a short distance to the Crater Lake Lodge.  I love these old national park hotels.  I informed Dianne that my apple pie from Beckie's was not filling enough, and that I required lunch.  She informed me that she really was not that hungry.  We need to get on some kind of synchronous eating schedule.  We looked at the menu, and it did look good; however, $30+ for a luncheon entree and $16+ for an appetizer!  Neither one of us could enjoy eating, knowing what the bill would be.  

We did step onto the patio to look at the lake from a different perspective.  What a place to sit and dream on a warm summer day.

The cinder cone in this picture (the lake's other island) is Wizard Island.  Its name comes from a resemblance to a wizard's hat like the one in Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice.  During warmer weather (July) tour boats circumnavigate the lake and make a stop at the island.  We could not do that, but we would get closer to the island before we left.

On the way back to the car, we snapped a picture of the view away from the lake.  Were it not for the amazing views of the lake itself, this could easily have been the opening photo for the blog.  What a place this is.  OK, back to the cafe/gift shop for fast food.  We both had chili con carne that was pretty tasty.  And, our stomachs are both in equilibrium so that we will be ready for supper at the same time.  The picture below will make you smile.  As we were leaving the parking lot, Dianne noticed that an older gentleman was writing something in the snow bank.  How cool!  "Steve loves Cathy"

We were very lucky that the west rim road had recently opened as well as the north entrance.  We did not expect to be able to drive along the rim road at all.  We would have missed some of the most spectacular scenery, had we not.  

It does not seem possible, but as we traveled along the lake, the water seemed to take on a deeper blue color.  Look at the picture below.  Which is bluer, the water or the sky?

As we approached Wizard Island....

We discovered other shades of blue and turquoise emerging from the shallow, clear water near the shore.   

Look at the intensity of the reflections in the water.  So pretty.  Difficult to move on.  That water is so blue!

OK.  Time for a different color.  How about a little bit of brown (and white)?

The next photos that Dianne took are my favorites from the day.  The lake took on a deeper and darker blue color just before we dropped down through the north entrance to the park.  The reflections were like nothing I have ever seen.  For example.... What is this?  Modern art?  A blue arrowhead?  A Rorschach image?  Are you able to see where the shoreline is?  Does it even look real?

Here are some more amazing photos that Dianne took in the same area:

Sadly, we reached the end of the open road and were forced to exit through the north entrance.  You cannot imagine the difficulty I had in selecting which photos to publish (actually you probably can).   

We stopped on the way down the volcano so that Dianne could wave to y'all and so you could see the depth of the snow along the road.

The view from the other side of the road of the snow, the valley and the mountains was jaw-dropping.  

The pet picture of the day...

Following the advice of a friendly park manager in Patterson, CA, we purchased a couple of "stuffless" toys from Petsmart.  The advantage of these toys is that there is no stuffing to be spread around the motor home.  Uh oh.  Looks like the goose has been decapitated, but at least there is not a mess.

Hey, Bandido!  You look tired, and guilty?  I see that look in your eyes.  Can you tell us what happened to the toy goose?

Bandido napping with one of his new toys before IT was decapitated!