Towards the end of July, we packed up our camper for a trip to Southern Oregon for a weeklong camping trip to Crater Lake National Park.
Hannah and her buddy thoroughly enjoying the ride to Crater Lake.
We had planned to take two shorter days driving to Crater Lake, but between the heat and lack of campgrounds we drove almost all the way the first day and ended up staying at Collier State Park. Collier State Park is only about 30 miles from Crater Lake and turned out to be a wonderful place to visit along the banks of the Williamson River.
Christy loves to go camping. On this trip her job was to keep the squirrels away from the picnic table which she was happy to do.
Just outside of Collier State Park is an amazing outdoor museum of historic logging equipment.
Here Bob is checking out one of the old Caterpillar's. It was only after he got up on it did he see the note stating: "Please don't climb on the equipment." Oh well...
Bob and an old logging truck that reminded him of the trucks that used to go past the house he grew up in when he was a kid in Montana.
A great picture Hannah took of this old spool of skid cable.
Another picture taken by Hannah of the well restored old road grader.
Don't you love this original Caterpillar logo?
Lisa couldn't resist putting on this pioneer bonnet in the museum's store.
Even Christy got to go along for the ride.
A historic sawmill blade. This park was a really fun place to visit.
Our next stop was Crater Lake National Park. What a great place to be a tourist.
Hannah and Lisa Potts.
This is the second time we've been at this very place. The first time was in 2000 when we were on a road trip to climb Mount Hood and Mount Shasta.
Caleb and our wonderful little Christy.
Crater Lake and the larger of it's two islands, Wizard Island.
The lake is intensly blue because of it's depth (1,946 feet) and because all the water that feeds it is from either rain or snowfall. It is the deepest lake in the United States.
Interestingly, Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States at 1,645 feet deep, and it's just over the hill from our house in Carson City.
Hannah and Christy "living on the edge"
It was quite rainy the first day of our trip so we took a scenic drive around the lake to enjoy the many great views and intersting sights along the way. This is a picture of Vidae Falls, one of the first stops on our drive.
Our second stop was at the trailhead to Sun Notch where after a short hike we were rewarded with this great veiw of Phantom Ship Island, the other island in Crater Lake.
This is a picture of Mount Thielsen, a 9,182 foot peak just to the north of Crater Lake National Park.
What a fun family time.
A close-up view of Phantom Ship Island. Looks just like a ghost ship doesn't it?
The next stop on our crater rim drive was a short, seven mile detour to "The Pinnacles." These amazing formations are what's left of volcanic vent tubes that are hardened by heat and remain after the less resilient surrounding formations erode away.
A park resident.
Hannah loves the natural world and feels very at home there. She's our camping girl and always ready to go at the drop of a hat.
The view of Crater Lake from the east side at Cloudcap Overlook.
Another view of Crater Lake and Wizard Island.
The last stop on our rim drive was to take another short hike along the Castle Crest Wildflower trail. It was a short loop hike that took us through beautiful rock gardens full of wildflowers like these Columbine's.
Queen Anne's Lace.
Lewis' Monkey Flower.
We enjoyed the Castle Crest Wildflower hike so much we came back again a couple of days later to enjoy the beauty and take more pictures.
The campsite we enjoyed was right next to the Annie Creek Canyon trail and was the largest we can ever remember having. It was great having so much room and a beautiful trail to walk on every morning.
Chef Lisa serving an amazing dinner of Teriyaki salmon and stir fried vegetables.
Bob and Hannah got out early one day for a morning photo shoot.
This is a picture Bob took of Hannah just as the sun was starting to light up the eastern sky.
Sunrise over Crater Lake with Wizard Island in the foreground.
Although there were many forest fires this season, they weren't a big problem for us on our camping trip. The smoke from them, however, made the sunrises very orange in a beautiful sort of way.
Our dear Hannah while on a photo shoot with Dad.
Another great hike we took was just outside the Visitor's Center almost to the summit of Garfield peak (8,054 feet). Unfortunately we couldn't make it quite to the summit because the trail was still blocked with snow from record snowfall the winter before.
The view back to the Visitor's Center and the Park Lodge from the Garfield Peak trail.
Our family at Crater Lake National Park.
Joining us part way through our trip was our friend Christopher Robison. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with him hiking, enjoying the scenery, and playing games at camp. Thanks Christopher for joining us!
Wildflowers were everywhere.
A black and white of Queen Anne's Lace.
One of the hikes that Bob and Christopher went on was to the summit of the highest peak in the region, Mount Scott (8,929 feet). This picture was taken early in the hike through this beautiful meadow before it turns steeply up the ridgeline to the summit.
Looking back down the trail from the summit of Mount Scott. In the distance you can see Mount Shasta.
The view from the summit of Mount Scott across Crater Lake to Wizard Island and Hillman Peak (8,150 feet).
A panorama of Crater Lake from the summit of Mount Scott.
Bob coming down from the summit of Mount Scott. Behind him you can see the summit with the fire lookout station on top that hasn't been in service since 2000.