November 23, 2015
The night was cold at Lava Beds, but it was nothing compared to the morning. My fingers were frozen to the bone while packing up the tent, so cold I briefly regretted the decision to camp in the tent. This would turn out to be the only night we were able to camp and my fingers warmed up quickly enough, so it all worked out.
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| Lava Beds National Monument, CA |
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| Lava Beds National Monument, CA |
Lava Beds is a pretty cool park. There are a lot of caves that can be explored. Well, if you don't have a dog along with you, of course. There are also a number of wildlife refuges nearby. Tule Lake has plenty of deer and waterfowl. It would be fun to spend a few days here. I'd have to leave Pongo at home.
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| Lava Beds National Monument, CA |
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| American Pika -- Lava Beds National Monument, CA |
I spotted a Pika on the lava rocks. That was a surprise. I was even more surprised when he/she stuck around long enough to let me switch to my long lens for some nice photos. What a nice little Pika. I've never seen one in the wild before, so the day was already a big success and it wasn't even 9:00 yet.
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| Pongo insists on driving the first leg -- Lava Bed National Monument, CA |
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| Lava Beds National Monument, CA |
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| Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
If you were wondering how cold was cold, check out the frozen ponds just up the road from the campground. It got down to twenty degrees around Tule Lake which is just a few miles from the Lava Beds.
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| Crater Lake National Park, OR |
Our main stop on the drive up to Salem was at Crater Lake. It was pretty, but the clear skies made for a boring set of photos. Pongo enjoyed the snow and we had a nice walk around the South part of the rim. I got a little confused and didn't realize I could have driven around the rim to the North exit. Instead I took the West exit and we had an unexpected adventure.
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| Crater Lake National Park, OR |
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| Crater Lake National Park, OR |
While driving around the park and back to 99 I saw a sign for National Creek Falls. It sounded fun so we took the detour. The trail head is a few miles off the main highway. I didn't see a single soul on that road nor at any point during our hike down to the falls. That was pretty cool. I saved Pongo's life when he tried to jump into the creek just above the waterfall. Not the first time.
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| National Creek Falls, OR |
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| National Creek, OR |
Soundtrack:
- Johnny Cash -- Live at San Quentin
- Elvis Costello & the Attractions -- Trust
- Gun & Doll Show -- Working on the Bomb
- Ramones -- Ramones / Rocket to Russia
- The Band -- The Band
Lava Beds is a pretty cool park. There are a lot of caves that can be explored. Well, if you don't have a dog along with you, of course. There are also a number of wildlife refuges nearby. Tule Lake has plenty of deer and waterfowl. It would be fun to spend a few days here. I'd have to leave Pongo at home.
Our main stop on the drive up to Salem was at Crater Lake. It was pretty, but the clear skies made for a boring set of photos. Pongo enjoyed the snow and we had a nice walk around the South part of the rim. I got a little confused and didn't realize I could have driven around the rim to the North exit. Instead I took the West exit and we had an unexpected adventure.
Brave or crazy camping out in that cold. But the snowy landscape sure looks beautiful. Have never seen Crater Lake with snow. Been 40 years since I walked on the scrunchy lava beds or climbed into a refreshing cave, during summer. Cool to see the Pika.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I've never seen Crater Lake without snow. :-) Seeing the Pika was a real surprise. I wasn't expecting to see any animals at all in those lava rocks.
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