Newberry Volcanic National Monument and Crater Lake National Park – Day 4

After our fill of breakfast at Days Inn in Bend, we drove just south to Newberry Volcanic National Monument where we started a line to gain entrance to the park. At 9 a.m. the gate opened, we showed our National Parks Pass, and the ranger gave us a ticket to drive up to the caldera; the ticket gave us two hours. Because the caldera is so small, they have to monitor how many people go up at a time.

We were thinking the further south we went, the smoke from the forest fires near Mt. Hood would be less evident, yet a fire was ablaze in the Three Sisters/Mt. Bachelor area too, just southwest of Bend. So our view from the caldera, Lava Butte Lookout, was less than spectacular. But the short hike around the rim was nice. At the top friendly chipmunks begged for something to tuck away with their other winter supplies, but we heeded the warning not to feed the animals.
Back on level land, we entered the Visitor Center, I got hiking/touring advice for later, and we walked out back to the easy mile-long trail though the lava field. The top of Mt. Bachelor to the northwest peaked out of the settled smoke, yet the Three Sisters were still hidden. After the easy lava rock trail we took the easier tree trail bordering the parking lot and then drove the access road to Benham Falls. (One must first turn into the Newberry Volcanic National Monument from 97, and the road to Benham Falls is to the south before the entry gate to the NM.)

The day was beautiful, and the hike, along Deschutes River, was the prettiest, most pleasant hike I’ve ever taken. Locals fished from the banks, and plenty of tourists strolled the mile or so back to the falls, some rode bikes. Too bad smoke still hung on Mt. Bachelor, which we could see occasionally through a break in the trees. At one point I wanted to climb out on a rock on a cliff over the river and have Mark take my picture, but he said he didn’t want to encourage that type of activity so he wouldn’t do it and continued on. I climbed out anyway then climbed back and took a picture of the rock. I’ll tell people to imagine me on it. (Mark had the digital camera; I had the one with film—so no pic for the blog.)

Just before the falls, the running water was so loud, and we walked out to look up stream, and so powerful the water looked, roiling through the rock walls. I can’t imagine anyone surviving any kind of attempt to ride the rapids, whether in a vessel or not. Rough is the only way to describe it—besides beautiful and blue. I could have spent hours there, hiking down to the falls and back, enjoying the day and the calm, easy trail, however, we were on a schedule, hoping to get to Crater Lake National Park later today. So we drove south to the Lava Cave.

The tour was unescorted so Mark and I walked down to the entrance, declining the lantern rental since Mark brought a flashlight all the way from Ohio. In the mouth of the cave he discovered that the batteries barely had juice. So I trudged back up to the shack and rented a lantern to take with us.

I really enjoyed the cave. It’s the first I’ve been to without a guide, which in itself was kind of exciting. Most of the time it was just us and the latern. The temperature stays a chilly 42 degrees F throughout the year. We wore our Gortex jackets. At the entrance to the cave, the floor was rocky and uneven, like someone had dumped a truckload of petrified grapefruits, then it smoothed out in sandy bottom layers, like on a beach. We estimate to have walked a mile or so before the ceiling got too low for us to walk upright. After 100 yards or so walking in an uncomfortable, bent-over fashion, we chose to turn back.

Continuing with the lava theme, we drove further south to the Lava-Cast Forest and took an easy trail around the lava field and saw holes left where lava encased trees (and the trees are now gone). The holes reminded me of little kivas (Native American meeting places dug into the earth). On the trail we paused to look north to Mt. Bachelor, and even the Three Sisters were faintly evident through the thinning smoke.

Finally, we were on our way to Crater Lake, what we expected to be the highlight of the trip in the way of beauty. Surely the forest fires’ smoke wouldn’t reach that far south. Yet the nearer we got, the hazier the air became. We gained entrance with our Park Pass and drove south to Rim Drive and stopped there and climbed to a lookout. The caldera in which the lake sat was filled with smoke. We couldn’t see the blueness of the lake; it looked gray. We were disappointed.

We drove east around the lake, stopping frequently. The lake, even in all the smoke, was pretty and National-Park-worthy, we just expected so much more. Mark took a picture of the phantom ship, a tiny island that looks like a pirate ship.

The day was late, the air was smoky, and we had all the following day for the park, so we exited out the south and drove 25 miles east to Crater Lake resort, an RV park with about five cabins. We showered and went out to our little patio and ate the calzone, left over from dinner last night, while we watched three dogs from campers in the RV park familiarize themselves with the grounds and each other and while the mosquitos ate us up. Mosquitos in Oregon in September, Who knew?