Tag: Snow

Riffe Lake and Mt Rainier

After Portland we found an awesome spot on Riffe Lake that was beautiful and surrounded on all sides by mountains. It was a pretty popular spot as it seemed a lot of locals came out for the day and to camp.  It is also a landing zone for hang gliders. It was entertaining to watch them glide back and forth so quietly in the air.  They made it look easy!  The boondocking spots are just a mile or two from Taidnapam Park where we also were able to dump and get more fresh water for $5….Well actually it was only dumping but we sneakily got some fresh water too, leave a comment if you want to know how.

We went hiking around our campsite. Apparently the water level on Riffe Lake is low at this time and we were hiking around what appeared to be old building foundations.  Was there a town buried under the lake?  There were big trees that had fallen and made for some cool photos.  We were trying to hike to an old cabin but every time we tried to find the path to it, it disappeared! We called it the Blair Witch cabin and said forget it.  It was too creepy how it kept disappearing.

The drive to the Nisqually enterance of Mt. Rainier National Park only took about 40 minutes from Riffe Lake.  At first we felt like we were driving through West Virginia as we passed by some of the locals homes.  Once we reached the park we had some gorgeous views.  When we got to Paradise visitor center it started snowing and we couldn’t see the mountain at all. We ended up going for a hike on one of the only trails open (which was covered in snow) and let Zygi play in it. Unfortunately all the footage we took for Zygi’s first snow experience got deleted because of my Chinese fleece lined pants. The skin on my thigh touches on my phone in my pocket and ended up resetting my phone because it tried to unlock it to many times.

We also went on a hike to The Grove of the Patriarchs which had some absolutely massive trees. They were Douglas firs, western hemlocks and western red cedars. Some of them were 1000 years old! We haven’t seen trees this big since we saw the Sequoias in California. It was a beautiful hike and we probably would have had it to ourselves but they were training seasonal rangers that day and they were sitting along the trail interviewing each other. It was still amazing, there is just something about trees like that which really impresses you. Victoria says she can feel the energy coming from the old trees.

We never got to see Mount Rainier.  She hid behind the clouds the whole time we were there.  Even on the day we left we saw a tiny glimpse of the behemoth but not the whole mountain. We were a little disappointed, but we had a good time anyways.  We got to play in the snow with Zygi and saw some giant trees.

Can I get a ride?

Next up, crossing the border into CANADA!

  • Writers: Tim and Victoria
  • Photographs, mostly Victoria’s but I took some too, with her directions, lol

 

Crater Lake National Park

We were on the fence on which route we should take through Oregon.  Last time we came through on our way to Seattle we took the coastal route up US 1. We ultimately decided to go up through the middle of Oregon via highway 97 because we really wanted to see Crater Lake and Mount Hood. The drive was so gorgeous passing through Ponderosa pine forests with large snow capped mountains in the background.

Mount Shasta

We decided to camp at Hagelstein County Park in Klamath Falls.  The location was convenient being right off 97 and within an hour of Crater Lake National Park. Hagelstein park is large enough to fit any size rig and fairly nice as far as a park right off a highway can be. Unfortunately the spigot for water was turned off, for whatever reason. Instead you were supposed to use a fresh water spring. So unless you have a water pump system or like using water jugs to fill you tanks with somewhat questionable water, be sure to bring your own water. Good thing we always do. The park was big enough for twelve or probably even more large rigs but there were mostly tent campers and car campers. The best spot faces the pond.  It was entertaining to watch the local marmot go about his work building a nest and ducks digging head first for food. It always makes me chuckle to watch them with their butts in the air and legs kicking while they dig with their beaks underwater.

We got up the next day and drove 45 minutes to Crater Lake National Park, which was absolutely stunning. Because there was so much snow, the north and east side of the park was closed. What was nice was they had it plowed 6 miles of road of the west rim, past discovery point.  The didn’t allow cars, only hikers. So with huge snow banks on each side we got to walk to several scenic overlooks of the crater. It’s not just the crater but the surrounding mountains that really make it something special. We could even see Mt Shasta from there. Bikes really would have been the way to go but we had both of ours stolen in different parts of California over the past year unfortunately, cable cut and all. Homelessness and bike theft is a huge problem in all of California and meth is a serious problem in Modesto.  Bikes are like candy to them.

Crater Lake was formed when a volcano, the highest in Oregon at the time, exploded several thousand feet of it’s top off. The little island called Wizard island in the lake was formed later from much more subdued volcanic activity. The water is purportedly the cleanest and clearest in the world with 140 ft of visibility, that would be nice for diving. This is because the only water added to the lake is from each years snow melt. There are no rivers running into the lake. The lake maintains it’s level by seepage out of the mountain. This also happens to be one of the snowiest areas in the world, receiving 12 or 13 ft of snow a year regularly.

We went ahead and purchased an America The Beautiful Pass for $80 rather than pay the $25 to get into a mostly closed park. This pass allows you to enter pretty much any national land for free for a year including national parks, national forests, national monuments, etc. You also receive half price camping at certain nationally owned parks (which we happened to use at our next spot). For anyone who visits any national owned land regularly it’s a great value.

Zygi and Mama

Next spot, camping in the middle of nowhere southwest of Bend on a stunning boondocking spot.

  • Author: Tim
  • Editor: Victoria
  • Photographer: Victoria