Make Time: Crater Lake and the Lost Creek

After eating a big fat burrito in Eugene I got on my bike and rode through the University of Oregon campus to check it out. Kids playing football. Protesters. Activists. Classic. The colors on the trees around campus are so beautiful right now, so it was nice to just ride around and enjoy the natural beauty. After my bike ride I jumped in the car and set my GPS for Crater Lake, which a few people have told me to go see. I got there just as the sun was going down and it was unreal. So beautiful. So peaceful. Luckily there weren't that many people around so late in the day, so I basically had the place to myself. I stopped on the many bluffs around the rim of the lake and took in the views. The sun setting. The lake, which is the deepest in the US at 1,943 feet, was being pushed around by the winds. So much beauty. On the opposite side of the road, as I drove around the lake, were some of the most dramatic tree covered mountain views. Hard to put it all into words, but it was extremely peaceful and perfect. As I was about to come back around the rim of the crater, I noticed a sign for Lost Creek Campground - only three miles away. Hm. Ok. Worth a shot. Anything's better than the Walmart parking lot from the night before, right? :) I drive into the campground, which is surrounded by beautiful trees, and notice a few people setup. The sign says that this is the last night that the campground is open for the year, so I take it as a sign that it's perfect for me right now. I pick a campsite right next to the creek, and I setup my tent so I can hear the water. I grab some firewood from another campsite and, to my surprise, I get a huge fire going. I was loving every second of this. Fire going. Perfect campsite. Peace. The stars were coming out and around 8:30pm I poured water on the fire and got into my sleeping bag. Completely content. Warm. Comfortable. Listening to the water run by me was one of the best ways to fall asleep (not to mention looking up at the stars through my tent). I woke up about an hour later to the sound of my fire...going strong. Huh? Ha. I guess I needed to really put it out more than I did, so I get more water and I really put this sucker to bed. After that I passed out and didn't wake up again until about 3am. I went to the bathroom and then noticed that I couldn't see the moon as brightly as before. The trees were making a lot of noise from the winds, and I couldn't see any stars anymore. Hm. I had read that rains might come in, so I picked up my tent and moved my sleeping quarters into the car and passed out. Woke up again around 8am, and to my surprise there wasn't any rain on the ground. Nice. I clean up and then decide to drive towards Ashland, Oregon, which is supposed to be a cute little hippie town. I'm in a cool spot called Ruby's Restaurant, and about to eat a breakfast burrito before continuing on to Jedediah Smith National Park. I'm excited to see the vastness of the redwoods, and so that's my plan for the next two days before getting down to SF.