What this meant in all practicality was that you couldn’t see the lake. I stopped at the gift shop and from the 3rd floor you could kind of peek the lake. Many people were climbing the snow drifts (even though signs said it wasn’t safe), but I wasn’t gonna be one of them.
Luckily for me, there was a kid taking his lunch break by the windows, and we started talking and I found out he has some family in Spanish Fork. As we were chatting he said that if I drove to the lodge and then walked around to the back there were great views of the lake. So that’s what I did, and I got some great pictures there. I also started talking to Wanda and Dave who were there from Washington. Dave gets the photo credit of me by the wall of snow.
The Rim road was also only open to Discovery Point, but I was able to get some great picture there from a different angle. Close ups of Wizard Island and the interior coast.
On my way back to Medford, my cell did not have service. This is important because I usually use it to navigate (since I have no sense of direction), but I knew that I needed to be on 62 West for, like 50 miles, so I thought I could manage.
The real issue here is that Google Maps shows the speed limit. The reason this is important is that I got pulled over for going 45 in a 35. Luckily, the Sheriff cut me a break and let me go without a ticket – he even joked that he has a buddy in Texas and knows we have insane speed limits (there are several 2 lane roads with a 70mph limit, for example) so please, just slow down. Honestly, I was thinking that I was driving really conservatively – believing the speed limit was 45 – and I’d just restarted Google maps, so I was actually thinking I was getting pulled over for “texting” and driving. Phew. Must have been my lucky day.
Anyway, Crater Lake is beautiful – it’s crazy blue (the pictures don’t do it justice) and the trees looked crazy green, and with a backdrop of the snow….just look at the beautiful scenery.
