June 18-21, 2018

TL;DR: We managed to squeeze in an epic day of sightseeing at Crater Lake thanks to the long hours of the summer solstice—and it was magnificent. But Umpqua National Forest was a surprise standout, with a little bit of everything and lots of opportunities for exploring its mountains, forests, and lakes on foot, by bike, and car.

The sights

Lemolo Lake

North of Crater Lake in the Umpqua National Forest, Lemolo Lake was calm in the morning and evening, and pretty choppy in the middle of the day, with tons of fishermen (and fish jumping).

The lake was covered in pollen and attended by harmless but annoying bees. We could see Mount Thielsen and two other peaks from the water.

Diamond Lake

Went on our first bike ride (11 miles) around Diamond Lake with sweeping views of Mount Thielsen.

(We have these beautiful Public bikes that aren’t exactly the mountain-riding type—but they made it.)

The paved trail was nice and cool, and kept us going at a good pace. We finished just before it started raining.

Crater Lake

Watchman’s Point

Woke up at 4:15 AM to get to Watchman’s Point for the sunrise. It was a chilly but beautiful setting to watch the lake, which was still and reflective in the morning light.

Then we realized it was the summer solstice—and we had the longest day of the summer in front of us. We even had the park to ourselves for a few hours since it was so early.

Garfield Peak

After the sunrise, we parked at Rim Village near the South entrance to hike up Garfield Peak. At this point in the day, the lake had turned into a deep, true blue that rivals Tahoe.

The trail was steep and a bit precarious at times with the snow, but views around every turn made it more than worth it.

We also had a great view of Phantom Ship, which was this tiny little island that looked just like a ghost ship. Jess could have watched it for hours.

Details, details, details

We went to Diamond Lake Resort for breakfast one morning and honest to god our waiter was Dusty from Just Friends. Super nice but also might kill you.

Had mom’s spaghetti for dinner and sat up front for the first time which felt very fancy (will take pics soon!).

Made breakfast at one of the turnouts with a view of Crater Lake, which means no bowl of oatmeal will ever live up to that one.

Stopped in a valley on the way to a gas station and stopped in our tracks because of the fog, which was sitting right in the middle of the trees. Felt like Harry and the gang had been through casting spells.

Sat at the lodge at the bottom of Garfield Peak and had a few beers. Overheard some pretty great conversations, including, “I don’t think this is prettier than Kansas wheat fields, do you?”

And then this happened…

About five minutes into working out with our new resistance bands, Jess hit herself in the face with one and thought she had lost an eye. Nope. Just a small bruised ego.

The more you know

Paddleboards need the front fin. We forgot them on Lemolo Lake and went in circles for a few minutes before figuring it out.

Oregon does not believe in self-service gas. We went to a station at 6:30 AM and there was no one there. So we used the complimentary phone and they sent someone down from the mountain to help us. Apparently he’s on call 24/7.

The Crater Lake boat tour experience was quite the runaround. Got to the kiosk right on time (24 hours in advance), but then they told us the boats might not run… but that we could buy them anyway. So we optimistically did to find out later that all tours were cancelled. It took us about an hour to cancel them on the phone. Nobody had any idea what was going on.

There might be such a thing as a rhubarb crisp with too much butter. Not that we didn’t eat it.

Where we stayed

Nights one and two: Lemolo Lake

This was one of the most beautiful spots we’ve stayed so far, and would be number one if it weren’t for the savage mosquitoes and unlevel ground.

GPS coordinates: 43.313039, -122.170773

Night three: Sun Pass State Forest by Annie Creek

This was a really pretty rainforest-like setting with a raging creek and level ground. It was raining most of the afternoon and we left at 4:30 AM for Crater Lake (otherwise we would have gotten pics).

GPS coordinates: 42.763508, -122.058834

Night four: Salt Creek Sno-Park

At night, when we arrived in the dark, this felt like a very creepy sno-park. There were very loud crickets, and Jess had a nightmare that someone was chasing us. Woke up to a beautiful scene, and no one chasing us.

GPS coordinates: 43.608346, -122.116952