Snow Shoeing at Crater Lake, Oregon

January 29

Snow shoeing at Crater Lake National Park

Not only was this event amazing, breathtaking, informative and fun-- it was all free! Just the Cheap Camper style! Every Saturday from December to April, rangers in Crater Lake National Park host a free tour of Crater Lake, snow shoes provided. On this unseasonably warm and sunny-ish Winter Saturday, we joined about 20 other eager folk to follow around Ranger Terra. Terra stopped every 15 minutes or so for a small, interesting informational session about animals of Crater Lake and how they survive. The rest of the time was filled in with tromping around 8 feet of snow and plenty of crisp photo-ops. 

Crater Lake definitely looks different in January! Gone were the swarms of mosquitoes that plagued our last journey here. Snow covered every tree and hillside which made for much prettier surrounding scenery but I was sad to see the signature reflective mirror-like property of the Lake diminished by the wind and cold. Still, the sites were majestic and gorgeous.

          

We camped with our friend and fellow Cheap Camper Charlie about an hour away at a lower elevation. Instead of crisp, fluffy snow we slept within a veritable downpour in an already damp section of Umpqua National Forest called Island Campground. Island Campground is open in the winter, had 8 available sites with bathrooms nearby. Not a soul braved the rain with us for both nights we stayed here. We could not have started a fire without a generous County Store Clerk from Union Creek who donated a few pieces of dry firewood and a Duralog. We cooked our breakfast with the above pictured contraption-- a tin of fire gel underneath a pan held up by rocks.  

On the way home we took a shortcut to I-5 and drove along a very windy road with some beautiful scenery.  We stopped to snap a few pictures of this cute little lamb!

Fun trip, all around. Total cost = $60 for food and gas.