In the summer of 2017, my middle daughter had just graduated college. She wanted to go on an adventure, so she flew to San Francisco to meet up with her brother, and together they rented a car and drove up the coast to Seattle. Being the good mom that I am, I saved them the cost of a one-way trip charge on their rental car and met them in Seattle to pick up the car and do a solo road trip south to San Francisco. Anything for a trip!

I headed south and had some great adventures on the way. On the day I visited Crater Lake, I had woken up at Timberline Lodge on the top of Mt. Hood, and driven through Oregon, along the east side of Mt. St. Helens. Everything was beautiful!

When I got to Crater Lake, from the north, I had intended on going along the west rim road to the Visitor Center, but learned that it was closed due to a forest fire on that side of the lake. The rim road to the east remained opened, so I ended up taking the long way around. If you run into this, it really isn’t an issue, the ride is beautiful, and there are several spots to stop and take in the view.

I stopped at the first overlook to get my first glimpse of Crater Lake, and it was beautiful! From there, I went along the north edge to the Cleetwood Cove Trail. This trail leads down to the water's edge, with about a 700-foot drop in elevation in about a mile of hiking. With every step, I was worried about the walk back up. It was SUPER steep!

I got down to the water, waded a little bit. There were several people swimming or jumping off the rocks into the FREEZING cold water, and just basically enjoying the area. At this spot, you could get on a boat ride, and there were several people there for that too. Along the way up, I walked with a Park Ranger for a little bit. He told me that he goes up and down the trail about 3 times a day, and that he is a seasonal Ranger, with this being his first season at Crater Lake. He said that no matter where he is in the park, he is worried for the visitor's safety, since there are so many cliffs that can be fallen off. I stayed on the path.

After getting to the top, I took the east rim road around the park to the Steel Visitor Center. In some places, the road is VERY winding, and rather narrow - it makes for a bit of a more harrowing experience than I had thought I was in for. The visitor center was busy and was one of the only places that I had ever seen a full house at the movie that is shown. It was interesting and was a beautiful place to visit!