The last couple of days have found us back in the interior, headed east through Oregon. We spent a night at this great hidden gem of a campground called Casey’s Riverside RV Park.
The park runs parallel to the Willamette River and is hidden behind a well kept Mobil home park. At first we weren’t too sure, but as we drove in we quickly realized how well kept the place was. The kids wanted to hit the pool right away after we checked in and got set up; which I can say is down to taking about 10 minutes flat. The pool was not cold (it was mid 80’s outside), and the water was clean with very little chemical smell to it. John even took a splash and I sat poolside and dipped my legs in. It was refreshing.
There was a slight hint of smoke in the air from the nearby forest fires, but the gentle breeze kept it more than bearable so we could enjoy an outside BBQ dinner, followed by a swing on the riverside bench.
A final dip in the pool, and some soft served ice cream rounded out our night.
We got underway after home cooked pancakes and sausage (for John, Alex and I) and another soft serve cone for Addy. We double checked the fire reports and headed towards the Crater Lake area. Our booked campground (Diamond Lake Campground) left us empty handed as the sight we booked was impossible to get into and the other site they offered was already full of tent campers. So we moved to Diamond Lake RV Park, where we found a great back in spot with full hook ups.
We took the short drive to the North entrance of Crater Lake National Park, showed our annual pass and on we went into the park after receiving the warning that we would not be seeing the lake today as the basin was full of smoke. See they have had nine forest fires burning around the park, only two of which were being addressed or still needed work to extinguish. We knew this coming here but figured we would still take a chance since we are not sure when we will be back this way.
As we drove in we could see where the remains of one of the recent fires was. Completely charred trees on the west side of the road, and lush green trees on the east. The smell of smoke got stronger and stronger as we made our way closer to East Rim Road.
After we made the turn onto the road that circles the crater, we noticed all these great pull outs for viewing. Knowing what the ranger said, we still stopped and took a look. Yes, they were right, we couldn’t see across the lake, but we could see some of the lake. Here you can just make out Wizard Island, and then the beautiful cliff side.
I even snuck a picture of the family amongst the beautiful rocky, yet tree lined bluff.
We drove further around, stopping at a few other pull outs along the way. This one was to view Phantom Ship. The smoke from the fires actually enhances the picture of this one I think!
The next stop was at the Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. Since I wasn’t sure how our pictures would turn out, I quickly snapshot the info-sign just in case.
The good news is I really didn’t need to. This place did not disappoint! In fact I had a hard time choosing which photos to post here!
The trees in many places were so tall you felt dwarfed by their magnificent size. See how tiny Alex looks? And this is not even the whole tree!
The trail switched from dirt to stone pretty quickly. With wild flowers and small streams running throughout. These streams are the lifeblood of the wildflower forest.
There were points when it was just fields of flowers all around you, with beautifully placed stone pathways running through like a landscape artist had their hand in this beautiful garden.
Even this little bee caught my eye as it buzzed from purple flower to purple flower.
Though the smoke in the area was pretty thick, these running streams managed to make the air fresh.
We wrapped up this small hike and got to the visitor center just before close to get the kids passport books stamped and get some more postcards and a bumper sticker.
As we finished the rim drive and headed out of the park, we noticed the smoke had gotten much better on the west side of the park, most likely because the way the breeze was going.
These snow machine signs made us chuckle, but in all reality, it would be cool to come back one day and ride this area! They get over 40′ of snow on average. Very similar to what Valdez used to get.
We got one last view of the fire damage also, which was naturally caused (lightening strike) but still made my heart ache for the trees and the animals that were surely affected.
An already awesome day got better when we opted for a bike ride around Diamond Lake. 11 miles of beautiful paved bike path took us through varying terrains.
With more enormous trees, and their equally sized pine cones!
Addy even saw a snake on this stretch of the trail!
A few stops along the way were to let Andie take a break, and gave the kids a chance to dip their toes in.
We made it back with barely enough time to cook up dinner and get ready for bed. This dog is tired! Poor things pads were raw from all the blacktop but she is a trooper!
Good thing we have a short ride in the car to Grandma’s house in the morning, and everyone can take an easy day!
~S
Gallup Family Wanders 
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