Good NIght Crater Lake and Goodbye

Dinner time yesterday we traveled back into Crater Lake National Park to get to Sentinel Point, a viewing area over the lake that the park ranger from the other day said that you would get terrific photos of sunset.  What a difference a day makes in terms of people visiting the park.  Just about empty.  We drove to Rim Village to see one more time, only about a dozen cars there.  As we were leaving a large hawk landed on a building right in front of us and we managed to get some great pics.  Actually, he was saying thanks for the visit, safe travels, goodbye.

Goodbye from Mr. Hawk

We then drove on to the east side of the park, along the rim road, to Sentinel Point.  Was a tidge early so we sat in the car and watched the colors changing on the cliffs.  We were struck that we did not hear anything but the wind rustling the trees.  No birds and of course no wildlife since the area is a volcanic ash desert - no running water, no grass.  Only wind swept/snow bent ponderosa pines and whitebark pine trees.  However, Mr. Hawk did come by to do a fly-by goodbye while we were waiting there.

With clouds over the western horizon we got the benefit of a lovely melon colored sunset.  The ranger was right, very pretty and very dramatic.  The bad part was driving in the darkening evening along the rim road and back to the campground.  Our concern was that driving this big truck along the road we would be hugging the edge but we straddled the middle of the road, no other cars or trucks were out like us.  We both had to keep a watchful lookout for deer or elk once we passed through the gates of the park and into the national forest and luckily we did not see anything.

Barely make out Phantom Ship and Wizard Island

Brighter as the sun sets over the Pacific

Gorgeous!

Crater Lake was a park that was not planned on, but so glad we came here. This deserves the WOW factor for us, the geology, the history, the environment.  And of course the stunning blue of the lake. I will never forget the color.

Today we do the normal 'get ready to move' things like laundry, vacuum, clean out the fridge, put things away.  I will be glad - last night was a chilly 38 and at daylight was 43. We are leaving tomorrow morning to go to Weed, California, a small town on Interstate 5 for just a quick 2 day stop to get groceries, etc., then move Saturday to Hat Creek, California, near another small town in the northeastern part of the state.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is there which we will visit.  By Saturday we will be in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

We have been camping in 5200 feet elevation for the last week, leaving 62 feet elevation of Heceta Beach and 26 feet of Long Beach, Oregon and we have paid for it here.  We were altitude sick the first two days here, headaches, bloody noses, not feeling well until we adjusted.  As a matter of fact we are moving up even higher in elevation in our next two stops.