Crater Lake to the Coast

Our band of travelers moved on from Sisters, heading south.

Our next stop was Collier Memorial State Park - a great

place to unwind and visit Crater Lake National Park.

Coller is located at the junction of a river and a cold spring fed stream.

I did take advantage of the Cold water for some quick swim time.

While there we visited the Logging Museum and took this picture

while crossing the stream.

Of course the highlight of our stay was a visit to beautiful Crater Lake.

Almost 2,000' deep the dark blue water is reminiscent of the water color

in the middle of the deep ocean.

The Crater was formed by the collapse of ancient Mt. Mazama during

a volcanic eruption.

With no outlet, the lake is filled entirely with rain and snowmelt.

With an average of 44' (that's feet) of snow each winter - the lake is

like a giant bathtub filled with water.

Meanwhile I continue to be impressed with the girls artistic talents.

Each night they create little villages out of sticks and plants.

A campfire.

Horse stables with Moss for hay.

Franchesca and Gracie

Isabella and Lucy

After Collier it was time to move on and another milestone of the trip.

We had to say goodbye to Ron & Maxine as they headed south to home.

We've traveled together for over 2 1/2 months to Alaska and back and it

was sad to say goodbye, but we'll see each other soon.

From Collier we headed first to Medford Oregon.

Along the way we stopped along the headwaters of the Rogue River.

The cold clear running water feeds a rafting and Kayak industry downstream. 

We also stopped for lunch at one of the numerous National Forest Campgrounds

along the way.

At our lunch stop this scenic stream - a tributary of the Rogue - ran

behind the campground.

Just after our lunch stop we lost track of Marcel and Company in our mirror.

After waiting for about 5 minutes we turned around to find them on the side of the road.

Their rental RV had thrown a tread on one of the rear tires.

So we limped into the small town of Prospect, Oregon and waited while the

rental company found someone who could come out and fix it.

The temperature was almost 100 degrees.

Right where we were parked however was the trailhead for a short trail to

a pretty waterfall, so we headed down the trail and...  you guessed it - I got wet!

Eventually Kate and I moved ahead and did some food shopping and

we met our friends at the next campground with dinner ready.

We spent a warm night in Medford and then on Thursday headed

towards the coast and cooler temperatures.

Headed down US 199, about 20 miles from the coast I noted the outside

temps begin to drop.   Slowly at first the mercury dipped to 97, then 96...

Soon it was dropping 2 degrees at a clip and before you know it, we were in beautiful 70

degree weather.   By the time we got to the coast it was 69 degrees.

Almost 30 degrees of temperature drop in 20 miles!

Our home for the next few days is the KOA at Crescent City, Ca.

We are in Redwood Country...  Home of the Giant Redwood Trees.

This KOA encompasses over 27 acres and is more like a state park.

We were extremely lucky to find a place to stay as most places were sold out.

Since we don't mind dry camping however we actually got a great spot!

The rest of the folks who want hookups are in the front of the park jammed nose to tail.

Meanwhile - we are parked in a group camping area right in a grove of Redwoods, out 

back in the park and we have the whole area to ourselves.

Peace and quiet in the Redwoods.

The drive thru the grove to our campsite.

Its a beautiful park and quite unique for a private campground..

Today we visited Crescent City and the lighthouse.

Tomorrow we will head off to see the big trees.