Snow Covered Roads and Beautiful Lakes

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May 29th 2012

Published: May 30th 2012

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OffOurRocker

Crater Lake

what can I say?

Monday, 28 May

It was 33 degrees this morning at 6, but had warmed into the upper 40’s by the time we left the campground.

The north road into Crater Lake National Park is closed due to heavy snow cover, so we went around to the west and up to the south entrance. As the elevation rose, so did the depth of the snow drifts along the sides of the roads and in the woods. Inside the park you could only see the roof of the Visitor Center and the Administration Building. The parking lot was mostly cleared, but the drifts were well over the tops of the cars. We drove up to the Rim Lodge and to Discovery Point and took pictures of the magnificent lake and surrounding mountains. There was only 1 mile of the rim road open, the rest was still being cleared of snow, a job that will take at least until the 4^th of July to complete. Crater Lake is truly breathtaking, well worth the trip.

We stopped in McArthur at the fairgrounds for the night. They have a very nice campground there.

Tues, 29 May

We had planned to go

Mt. Thielson

elevation 9,162'

to Lassen Volcano NP this morning, but Kerry called first and found out that the road through the park is not open all the way due to heavy snow on the roads. Going around would have been a lot of miles, and we’ve seen a few volcanoes already, with more on the itinerary. So we decided instead to head to Lake Tahoe.

We drove up and down and all around on the roads to get there, but it was pretty countryside, with a variety of scenery, from high desert to green pastures with fat cattle. We drove past the Olympic village at Squaw Valley before finally reaching Tahoe City on the California side of Lake Tahoe. We drove several miles with only glimpses of the lake before finding a pulloff where we could get out and take pictures. It is a stunning lake, beautiful blues and greens in color. It is surrounded by mountains, some with snow on their peaks still. We could see ski runs on the Nevada side and there were boats tied to mooring balls on the California side. We were told the water at the surface has warmed to around 50 degrees, so I guess

Hwy 62

nearing Crater Lake National Park

those boaters don’t swim out to their boats. We drove on south to Emerald Bay and enjoyed the view from an overlook that was crowded with tourists like ourselves (only not as good looking.) The roads were pretty crowded around the southern end of the lake, but the traffic thinned out some as we crossed the state line into Nevada and headed north then east to Carson City. As soon as you cross into Nevada there are casinos everywhere. There is even one right next to our campground.

Kerry, Gena, and I enjoyed the hot tub at the campground tonight after supper.

Additional photos below

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