We slept in and then left Medford via Oregon Hyw 62 to Crater Lake. The storm had brought in rains and winds but we decided to keep our plans to go to Crater Lake and then over to Klamath Falls for the night. Off we went towards Crater Lake with the big Pacific Northwest Storm making itself known. But we had some beautiful trees on the way!
The vibrant red just doesn’t show up with the rain
Beautiful color contrasts
We stopped at a Rouge River trail and scenic overlook to see and hear the power of the flowing river.
The beautiful river
As we were enjoying the beautiful autumn colors of all the trees, I spotted a car coming towards us with snow on the roof. The outside temperature was about 48 so we assumed it must have snowed overnight at Crater Lake. As we continued on, snow was along side the road. Then as we got to the Visitors Center it was snowing, heavily! Snow was not a problem for our Subaru but surprised us. Luckily, the park service does plow part of the roads and will open up more roads after a storm has passed.
Most of the park roads were closed due to the snow. But they were plowing the road from the Steel Visitors Center to the Rim Village and Crater Lake Lodge which normally have spectacular views of Crater Lake.
Our disappointing view at the Rim atop Crater Lake
We saw a flyer for this Historic Hotel and may give it a try next time we go to Crater Lake from Oregon. If you want to see some beautiful photos and information about Crater Lake check out this site.
We stopped into the Rim Visitors Center, Store and Cafe and drove past the Crater Lake Lodge which was open but very quiet. Luckily we had been to the lake in summer about 20 years ago, but we will be back! We drove out of the park and headed towards Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Beautiful fall foliage
Looking out at the beautiful sky & pasture land on the way to Klamath Falls
Klamath Falls was not nearly as busy as the town I remember from my Southern Pacific days visiting there for work. But the Klamath upper and lower lakes are very pretty and we had a great dinner at the local pub, Klamath Basin Brewing Company. Best fries I can remember and great Rib Platter and many good beers on tap. Bob really liked their Notch Eight IPA, I was driving.
Leaving Klamath Falls until we reached I5, we had some rain, but also some beautiful views.
Rainbows along Highway 62 heading toward I5
Our trip home was long with terrible weather from Weed, CA until we got down to Corning on I5. The storm hit northern California and we had lots of wind and rain. Three big rigs jack-knifed on the windy I5 it what seemed like 25 miles. It was evident that some of the trucks were going way to fast for that weather. Originally, we had thought about extending the trip from Klamath Falls either by staying in Shasta City or going over to the California coast but the weather deterred us, so we carried on home.
So much rain!
Well, sadly all good trips must come to an end so you can take time to plan another one! Also, I need time to finish the Galapagos Island posts.
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