I'm headed back home to WA for a little more than a week between work stints!!!! Enroute I stopped off at Crater Lake National Park for my first time. Parks are getting so expensive. So to avoid the $20 campground fee I did another "cheater" backpack, between dayhikes, by getting a free backcountry permit to the Lightning Spring backcountry camp. It is a whopping .3 miles off the rim road! I had done similar at Lassen last month:
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My first look of this amazing lake was from the Garfield Peak Trail, a couple mile trail to an 8054' peak above the Crater Lake Lodge. It was a nice launching off point for a 1.5 mile meadow traverse to Applegate Peak 8126'.
First Look!
Crater Lake National Park, OR
Storm's brewing
Big drop
Back at Garfield
Darkening skies
Retracing my footsteps I detoured up a short exciting 40 foot high downsloping rock face scramble of Dyar Rock 7840' Just exciting enough to keep my attention.
Dyar Rock and Garfield
Downsloping Class 3
Scary
Dyar NE scramble
Dyar Rock
Returning to the lodge parking lot, I drove up to the Lightning Spring TH and walked my third of a mile to the designated free backcountry camp!
Colorful!
A few flowers left
Union Peak from Lightning Springs
The next morning I rapidly packed up camp and returned to my car for a fine breakfast at the Crater Lake Lodge! After much coffee and a leisurely feast, I checked out a flat one mile trail through old forest to a nice waterfall.
Plaikni falls
falls and flowers
Red Fir oldgrowth
nice forest
I then moved on to the Mt Scott TH for a hike to the 8929' high lookout and its' great views. The weather was a bit finicky for the classic blue sky-blue water Crater Lake days but a fine brief trip to this iconic NP!
Mt Scott trail
Thielsen and Scott Lookout
From Mt Scott
Parting shot
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
― MLK Jr.
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“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
― MLK Jr.
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Welcome back, and thanks for all the great TRs!
