Oregon/California 5/13/08

On the way to Crater Lake National Park, we were a little concerned as we saw the snow increase along the sides of the road. We also saw signs that mention chains on tires and snow areas so we turned around to go to the ranger station and check on the road conditions. The ranger told us there were no problems and that we didn’t need chains so we continued on to the park. I was amazed at the height of the snow and took lots of snow photos. In fact, the buildings were almost covered with snow and you had to enter through these snow tunnels from the parking lots. One lady told me that they have gotten 45 feet of snow since October and all of it won’t be gone until July. The view of the lake was awesome and one I have never seen before. No river or stream feeds the lake and all of the water is from rain and snow.

We left there and headed to Lava Beds National Monument and had to go through a town called Klamath Falls, Oregon. I didn’t know until we saw all the law enforcement and heard on the radio that Bill Clinton was speaking at the college right as we passed by. That was a kind of neat moment because I don’t recall ever being in the same place as the President or the former president other than in Washington DC.

Since it was so late in the afternoon, we didn’t go exploring the caves but we did do a hike around Captain Jack’s Stronghold. This is an area where the Indians in 1872 refused to go to back to a reservation. The 60 Indians held off 600 soldiers for a long time at this place. The caves were really neat to look at and imagine the Indians hiding there. We will return in the morning and explore some of the caves.