Sat, Jan 15
01.18.05
We drove to Crater Lake for a 1:00pm ranger guided snow shoe walk. It was a 1.25 hour walk around the park headquarters. They usually do the walk near the rim but couldnt because the brakes in their ranger vehicle were not working properly and its a Bad Idea to drive around up there with no brakes. The park provided the snow shoes. It was very informative and we loved walking in the snow shoes. They are definitely better than cross country skis in powder snow, which is what was at Crater Lake. After the hike we watched a video on Crater Lake at the visitor center and went to the rim to view the lake. It was cloudy but the lake was visible and Harlan got some great pictures and a video. (The audio is another story, however! A car alarm was going off most of the time ) We then drove back to Fort Klamath and spent some time chatting with the owners and played frisbee with their dog. We also saw a bald eagle fly over us at the motel as we were heading out for a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Vallarta?) on 97 about 10 miles from our motel. The rest of the evening was spent at the motel watching TV and doing internet stuff. We had a modem connection. Slow at times, but better than nothing. We learned the best time for us to go back to Crater Lake to enjoy better weather for cross country skiing, lodging at the lake and boat trips (particularly at Wizard Island) is in May before Memorial Day and Sept after Labor Day. The park ranger told us snow is there until July and the busiest season is Memorial Day thru Labor Day.