Crater Lake Trippin' and Wine Sippin'

Crater Lake - looks like we're photo-shopped...but we're really there!

So much snow!

We left the Redwood Forest on Thursday and headed north to Oregon.  We arrived at Joseph Stewart State Park and were very pleased with our campsite.  It was a huge tree-covered spot right on the bank of Lost Creek Lake.  Oregon has such an extensive offering of state parks and recreation areas – it’s impressive.  You really can’t even drive 15 miles without running into another state park.  We set up camp and headed to a cute little town called Shady Cove on the bank of the Rogue River.  For the first time this whole trip it actually felt like summer – 75 degrees and sunny – so we treated ourselves to some Umpqua River Valley Ice Cream at Phil’s Frosty and enjoyed the weather.  We returned to camp and hiked to the other side of Lost Creek Lake to the marina.  The nice ranger warned us that the lake shore is adorned with a lovely plant – poison oak.  So we were very careful and watched where we stepped.  It's nice to end a travel day with a hike.  We woke up early Friday morning and headed to Crater Lake National Park.  As we climbed into the Cascade Mountains we started passing more and more snow.  All of the road signs are on very tall poles so they reach above the many feet of snow.  The roadside is also lined with ten foot wooden poles every 20 feet or so.  These mark the edge of the road for the snow plows.  Obviously they get a LOT of snow!  In fact, upon further research we learned that Crater Lake is the snowiest inhabited place on earth.  Our travel book says “Few people forget their first glimpse of Crater Lake” and we soon understood why.  We made a stop at the visitor’s center and couldn’t wait to get our first look at the lake.  We walked to an overlook and were in awe of the size and color of the lake.  It is SO huge – and the most beautiful deep blue color.  The air looked and felt so clean.  Crater Lake was formed when the dome of Mt. Mazama collapsed.  Subsequent eruptions filled the cracks with lava and formed a solid floor.  Years of rain and snow melt then filled this floor creating Crater Lake.  There are no creeks or streams that flow into the lake so the water stays unusually clear.  There is a road around the lake called rim drive that is actually closed for most of the year due to HUGE amounts of snow.  During our visit the east rim was still closed but we were fortunate enough to get to travel along the west rim enjoying stops at several overlooks with fantastic views of the lake.  We visited the Crater Lake Lodge (built in 1915) and ate lunch with a great lake view.  The area was still covered with large amounts of snow – well over our head in some places.  Because most of the hiking trails were closed (open for snowshoeing and cross country skiing) we finished at Crater Lake earlier than expected.  So we headed back to the quaint town of Shady Cove and visited the Crater Lake Cellars to do some wine tasting.  We were joined by a group of 8 ladies enjoying a bachelorette weekend of wine tasting.  They were from various places around Oregon and had lots of good information to share about the area.  We had a blast hanging out with them and joining their celebration for a bit.  The owner of the vineyard was happy to allow us to taste his wine.  As you know I don’t drink and Jake is more of a beer connoisseur but we enjoyed enough sips to choose a bottle for mom.  The owner recommended that we try a couple other vineyards along the Rogue River Valley.  We took his advice and headed down Nick Young Road to Agate Ridge Vineyards.  What a beautiful little spot!  They had their tasting room set up in a little farmhouse adjacent to fields of grapevines as far as we could see.  The vineyard is set against a backdrop of a huge oak tree and Mount McLoughlin (this image appears on their labels).  We met the vineyard dog, Piper (a golden doodle), walked through the vineyard, and tasted enough wine to pick out a bottle for Ian and Amanda.  Jake and I have never been on a wine tasting adventure before and we both really enjoyed it.  We’re excited for the next leg of our journey – a trip north on the Pacific Coast Highway.  We hope all is well where you are!

Wine tasting at Crater Lake Cellars

Exploring Agate Ridge Vineyards