Sunday, April 1, 2018

A Visit to Crater Lake and Searching for the Klamath Falls




Only a few isolated patches of snow remain of what was winter as the temps touched 6o this week. Since this was our last week here we concentrated on adventures rather than work.
Crater Lake National Park is less than an hour north so we spent a day exploring that area. The majority of the park is still closed due to the snow. Both East Rim Drive and West Rim Drives are closed but the road to the Visitors Center and Rim Village were open.

The snow was so high that it was up to the roof on most of the buildings and covered many of the entrances. We had to use a side entrance to get into the Visitors Center as there was about 8 feet of snow covering the front door.
Lily, Forrest and Somer
The views of the lake combined with the snow were incredible!
 On the way back to Klamath Falls we stopped by the Fish Hatchery which too was very cool. They had numerous tanks each containing a specific age of fish. We spent an hour walking the grounds and feeding the fish.

There was a mayfly hatch going on while we were there, it was fun to watch them try and fly over the tanks. Trout would jump out of the water and snatch them out of the sky. Try as I might, I just could not get a picture of one in the air.
I would love to fish here!

Lily and Grandma walking along the pond

A pond with thousands of smaller trout

Hard to see but these were some of the bigger fish
We also went out in search of the “infamous” Klamath Falls after which the city was named after. We figured they had to be spectacular given they named the city after them. We drove the town north to south and east to west but try as we might we just could not find these spectacular falls. Returning home I googled Klamath Falls to see where they are.
The city was founded in 1867 under its original name of Linkville where the Link River joined Upper Klamath Lake to Lower Klamath Lake. In 1893 it was changed to Klamath Falls but even then there were no “falls”  it was just a series of rapids instead of an actual water fall. A hydroelectric project in 1921 eliminated these rapids so even they are gone. Today it is home to about 21,500 who refer to the city as “K Falls” rather original name. And that is your history lesson for the week!

This week was Barbs turn to get out fishing with Forrest. They went out on the Klamath River to the same spot we had gone the week before and caught several Rainbows. Unfortunately they are both horrible at remembering to take pictures but Barb did manage to get a couple pictures of Forrest as he was fishing.

A nice Rainbow!
Our final adventure of the week was climbing the “hill” behind his house.  Forrest and I have been eyeing and talking about that hill behind his house since they moved in. How high is it? How long would it take to climb it? What’s on the other side? We had walked little way up it last week looking for his property markers but we were still a long ways from the top.
I does not look that far!
So this week we decided to see if we could conquer it. 
Over the past 4 years Barb and I have completed some pretty strenuous hikes; Angels Landing, Guadalupe Peak, Pikachu Peak trails. The one we consider our toughest was the Sheep Creek/Bullion Plateau trail in the Yukon. Although this hike was only 6 miles, 3 miles of it was uphill with a 1,400 foot elevation change. I still remember hiking some of the tougher stretches of that trail; going 50 yards and taking a break, then another 50 yards, taking a break and so on.

With these hikes in mind Forrest and I set out on our adventure. 5 hours later we were back at his house totally exhausted and legs like rubber. Although we only hiked a total of 3 ½ miles it was by far the toughest hike I have been on. According to my GPS data it is only ½ mile to the top as the crow flies (we must have covered 3x's that with our switchbacks) but the terrain climbs over 1000 feet making for an almost 40% grade. The fact that there was no trail made it even tougher. We followed game trails when we found them, created our own switch backs or just trudged right up the hill. We had to constantly watch out for rocks being dislodged and tumbling down from the person in the lead. With all the switchbacks we hiked well over a mile on the way up spending more time resting than we did climbing but the view was incredible!
Multiple rest stops were needed along the way

Another breather.....
The view from the top, Upper Klamath Lake in the background
Once at the top  we explored the area for an hour or so before heading back down. The coolest thing we found up there was a set of mountain tracks in the snow!
Mountain Lion tracks
As you can guess the hike down took a fraction of the time as we more or less did foot slides straight down rather than doing switchbacks. Cross that off my list, not sure I am doing that again!

The day before Easter was not a fun day for Lily and Dakota. For the past three days Dakota has had a pretty bad cough and throwing up a lot. We thought maybe she had something stuck in her throat so Barb took her into the vet. Two x-rays and a thermometer probe later, ends up she has a bad case of bronchitis and a fever.  I did not even know that dogs could get bronchitis. The vet said she was on the verge of pneumonia which is almost always fatal in dogs. So now she is on antibiotics for a while. Oh, and a diet. How dare he call Dakota overweight!

Barb also took a road trip of her own this week down to Redding California to see her stepmother. It was about a 3 hour drive each way and she said they had a great day together. No pictures though as she forgot the camera.

Lily had a traumatic day as well. We had looked up the schedule for the local Easter egg hunt and saw that her age group started at 10:15. When we arrived at 10:10 everyone was heading to their vehicles with full Easter baskets. We figured it had to be the other age groups but when we got to the event site we asked and they said it was over. Evidently they had set up different sections for different age groups and the guy on the loud speaker was supposed to announce when each age group could go. Well, no one could hear what he was saying so when he said "Go" all the kids went and the entire event was over in about 30 seconds. So poor Lily left with an empty Easter basket!
Lily showing off her empty Easter basket
 She was a trooper though and we assured her that the Easter bunny would make up for it!

We leave here bright and early Monday morning to start our trek to South Dakota, sure hope the weather warms up and the snow melts before we get there!





32 comments:

  1. We've yet to make it to Crater Lake, have only flown over it. We did that trail in the Yukon and almost gave up and turned around several times. Looks like the valley and lake view was worth all the huffing and puffing! Poor Lily, she must have been crushed leaving with an empty basket. Hope Dakota is doing better. I think Dianne has the same cough 😜 Safe travels as you head to SD!

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    1. If you are in the area it is worth swinging over and taking a look at. I did not see any length restrictions on the roads but there are a couple of tight switchbacks you may need to watch out for.

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  2. We had the same thing happen at a Easter Egg hunt while I was in Arkansas, but thankfully we were early and my kids got to find eggs...but being pushed aside by older kids. We love Crater Lake, also tried to find the falls, and climbed that same mountain (well, it is April Fools, so I had to toss that last one in there...)

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    1. Ha, The hill was a challenge that is for sure. Lily finally got her Easter egg hunt in here at the house yesterday so life it good!

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  3. Safe travels to SD, looking forward to seeing you there. Hope Dakota is on the mend, poor pup.
    Crater Lake is on our list for late May, haven't been there since 2004 so it's time for a return trip, if the weather cooperates.

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    1. Doesn't look like it is going to warm up in SD for at least another week. Hopefully that forecast changes so we don't have to stage up somewhere along the way!

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  4. Crater Lake is gorgeous. We were lucky enough to get there in a snowstorm in late September but still got to drive all around the rim. We saw pictures of how high the snow got in winter but were skeptical. Now we have the proof!
    The hatchery looks like a fun place......as does the fishing.
    The hike to the top of the 'hill' was certainly worth that view.......or so says this guy that didn't actually have to climb it, I just looked at the pictures.
    Safe travels back to SD.

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    1. The snow there is crazy. They have signs on the buildings asking you to stay off the building roofs. There are obvious signs of people climbing the roofs and using them as sledding hills.

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  5. Crater Lake gets so much snow even in a year that doesn't have a lot of snow. It's like snow magnet. Sure is beautiful with the blue water and white snow border. We stayed in Klamath Falls for our visit to Crater Lake. I didn't realize there weren't falls! Too funny! Maybe Forrest can build a nice switchback trail this summer!! Sure is a beautiful view from the top:) Poor baby Dakota!!! Glad she got to the vet. Please keep us posted on how she is doing. So sorry to hear Lily missed her egg hunt. Safe travels as you move on!

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    1. Dakota is feeling better already, she did not cough at all yesterday. She isn't liking her new diet however. The vet said to feed her one less cup of dog food and replace it with pea or carrots. She is not a fan.

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  6. Wow, what a hike. Crater Lake in the snow is something I would like to see. We had no snow when we were there.

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    1. From what we were told the snow will stick around until Late June even July in some years!

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  7. Glad to see you guys having fun instead of working all of the time. Nice picture of Grandma and Lily. I laugh because now Lisa has to get used to that label. Safe travels and we hope there is room in SD for a visit. After it warms up.

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    1. Congrats again on the birth of your grandson! We are used to being called grandma and grandpa, I think we were in our mid 40's when our daughter had her first. Stay warm up there!

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  8. Nice that you took some time to play tourist. We've been to Crater Lake once and just did the drive. On our list of places to stop when we get to the northwest again. Hope Dakota is feeling better. Safe travels to SD, hope you don't run into too much white stuff.

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    1. We found out you can fish there for free! No license required, so Dave should bring his pole when you guys go there.

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  9. We were at Summer Lake ourselves yesterday viewing the wildlife. Sorry we missed you in Arizona. Steve and Holly in Bend.

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    1. We have never been to Summer Lake, looks beautiful. We will have to check it out next time we are in the area.

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  10. Not sure if my previous comment went through?? A few hill repeats will whip you into shape! Glad to read Dakota is getting better. Close call by the sound of it. Safe trip to SD.

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    1. That is Forrest's plan, he wants to hike it at least once a week with a pack on to get him in shape for the upcoming hunting season.

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  11. How nice to end up the visit with a fun week. Glad to hear Dakota is on the mend. Poor Lily. I'm sure the Easter Bunny made up for the hunt. We just got back to CA and with the weather warming up I'm looking forward to some Bass fishing with my brother next week! We drove up 395 along CA to get back and were missing our favorite fishing river. That hike up your son's hill looked like fun! I remember one hike I did in the Sierra's where some friends and I stopped for lunch at the peak. After eating and resting we were scouting around and just behind a large boulder we were eating on was quite the bloodbath spattered around in the snow as well as some huge prints! We all got the willies and decided it was time to hike back down post haste!

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    1. Funny story about your hike! I wonder what that was. Make sure you post some pictures of your bass fishing adventures!

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  12. Poor Lily.....looks like she was a good sport about it!!

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    1. The Easter Bunny more than made up for it, she had a great day with lots of eggs to find. Which she re-hide countless times throughout the day and made Barb find them.

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  13. Oh, my....I hope Dakota gets over that crud! And thanks for saving us from hunting the Klamath for the falls! Same thing happened in Grand Rapids...the Rapids are covered with the backwater from a dam.

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    1. She seems a lot better, still taking her meds but not coughing at all. I think she is on the mend!

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  14. Take your time. For us 8 inches of snow strong winds now another 4 to 6 on top of 30 inches of ice. Bob

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    1. Too late, we are already in Wyoming and it looks like we are going to get hit!

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  15. To soon to go north they are get some of that bad weather in Wisconsin too.
    Be safe and hope you have a good trip to South Dakota

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  16. Remind me not to hike with you and Barb. We did a half-mile, moderate hike today in Zion NP with an elevation of 164 feet. I thought I was gonna die. Of course, most of that elevation was within the first 500 feet. So there's that. Safe and happy travels back to SD!

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    1. It seems like we cannot do anything in between, it is either taking it easy or finding the most extreme hike we can find.

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