Crater Lake

A mesmerizing clear deep royal blue makes you stop in your tracks as you make it to the rim of this volcano and look into the lake. The stunning blue left me breathless… I had seen plenty of photos but none compared to the real thing. At almost 2000 feet deep Crater Lake is the deepest lake in America. There are no inlets, all the water comes from snow and rain, and there’s plenty of it there. The area receives about 500 inches of snow a year!

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Because the lake only gets it’s water from rain and snow, nothing is carried into it like mineral deposits for example, which makes it one of the cleanest lakes in the world. Visitors can swim at a designated area only and if you do get ready to be cold! There was still snow in June. There’s also a short boat tour where they tell you a bit about how the lake was formed. Make reservations for this and be ready for a steep hike to the water.
A quick stop at the lodge afterwards will warm you up.

Crater Lake fills a caldera that was formed by the collapse of a volcano called Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago. The collapse devastated a huge area and spread ashes as far as Central Canada. It took between 700 to 1500 years for rain and snow to melt and create the lake we see today. The small island, called Wizards Island, within the caldera is created by a cinder cone.

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Just rest your eyes on it, feel and absorb everything around you.

I’m a bit of a bird lover so I was really hoping to spot a Clark’s Nutcracker. You should never feed wildlife but I had read it was okay to share a few (raw) nuts with these guys.

I don’t let just anybody hold my hand but this guy insisted!

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We entered the Crater Lake area from the south. I highly recommend stopping everywhere you can. You’ll get to see the Rogue river and learn more of the incredible history of the area.

These rocky spires below are a result of thousands of years of steam and ash erosion.

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Stop and explore everywhere you can. You wont get disappointed.

Make sure you stop at Union Creek Historic District. A must try is the Huckleberry ice cream at the ice cream shop. And Beckie’s has tasty Huckleberry soda and a huge variety of homemade pie. The general store was almost out of bug spray. Make sure you bring your own.

A few suggestions…
– first and very importantly, do not forget this, bring deep woods mosquito repellent. We didn’t get bit by the lake, but everywhere we stopped prior to it, we were swarmed!
– bring food and drinks.
– be ready for cold weather. Snow in June.
– look here for camping https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/119140 it’s biking / walking distance from the small town and right on the creek. Or this one which is right next to the first https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/rogue-siskiyou/recarea/?recid=69828
– lodge and cabins at Union Creek https://www.unioncreekoregon.com/

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The best way to end an adventurous day is sitting by the fire with some good tequila and telling stories until you can’t keep your eyes open anymore. Pack those bags, tent/RV and go!

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Joshua Tree National Park

The Famous Joshua trees … their adventurous spirits are in a constant dance of trying to figure out which direction would be the very best to grow their branches and outdo their neighbor. Which kind of ends up looking like a dysfunctional struggle of trying to find the right direction… but it is exactly that, that makes them so beautiful.
They’re slow growing and some years they may not even grow at all. Their age? Impossible to tell as they don’t grow rings. On top of that, they aren’t actually trees! They are a kind of yucca, a succulent that stores water. But not just any yucca, they are the largest yucca and they grow only in the Mojave Desert.

The Joshua tree got its name from Mormon settlers who crossed through the area in the 1800s. The shape of the Joshua trees reminded them of a story from the bible in which Joshua lifts his hands up to the sky in prayer.

But it’s not just the yucca that make Joshua Tree National Park so amazing, it’s also the massive rock formations that are arranged in such a way that it looks like giants carelessly scattered them around in fun patterns and shapes. But, of course, the truth is that these rocks were formed over the course of millions of years. Great information can be found on the geological formation here https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm
I love spending time climbing the rocks, finding amazing creations resembling faces, bizarre fantasy creations and animals in them and exploring the vegetation that lives around them. A favorite stop is Skull Rock and Grumpy Guy across the street from him.

I probably shouldn’t admit this… but I got lost. But sometimes getting lost can lead to great things and it did. I ran into a Frenchman who had been coming to the park for over 16 years who helped me back on track. And then we saw this…

Desert bighorn sheep. Supposedly between 200 to 300 of them live in the park but the Frenchman told me that in the 16 years he’d been in the park he had never seen one before. We watched this lady in silence for a long time while she stood there posing perfectly like the queen she is, then we went and saw the petroglyphs (below), when we came back we were surprised to see the baby right underneath trying to find it’s balance on shaky legs.
What a treat!

The Petroglyphs give you an idea of what Native Americans once created there, but the spot seems pretty ‘updated’ and painted over in a kind of wanna-be graffiti that is obviously new. A shame… but you’ll just need a little imagination to think of what once was.

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If you like rock climbing like I do and venture out on hikes, be aware of snakes and spiders. Bees can also be pretty intense. At one point, by the Keys View outlook below, my car was surrounded by a large swarm. Keep an eye out for signs warning of bees and stay away from those areas if you’re allergic.
Coachella valley and the San Andreas fault line can easily be spotted from Inspiration Peak, Keys View and you might also get a glimpse of a little snow far away from the hot desert.

A short 1.3 mile hike that is worth going on even in the middle of summer is Barker dam. Bring water with you and make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes. The hike is breathtaking and the path is easy to follow.

There’s not much water left…

If you have a little more energy left then there’s another really great spot in the park to visit. The Cholla Garden. Also known as the Teddy Bear Cactus but don’t let that name fool you into starting a cacti hugging habit. It will be unpleasant… really unpleasant! This is also known as the ‘most dangerous trail’ at Joshua tree because these teddy bears will pretty much throw those spines at you if you get near them. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration but stay on the trail and if you’re bringing children now would be a good time for that piggy back ride! Don’t let all that stop you from going though. It is incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

A few thing…
– wear good shoes. (cacti/critters are everywhere)
– bring lots of drinks and food in a cooler. You will need it.
– we had absolutely no phone signal anywhere in the park

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  Lunchtime

Secrets…

You should be having fun! Like laughing and letting yourself feel that tummy tickling sensation, swinging and basking in childhood glee, while remembering that favorite swing from way back when.
The hard part here, yes there is a hard part… the secret!! How to find this swing. It is one of the hidden Secret Swings located somewhere on the coast in San Diego. Should I tell you how to find it? Would you want to come swing with me? Because there’s plenty of room for two. And then after our sides hurt from laughing, tell me all those stories, those favorite memories of that swing from back then? You and that swing… And how the neighborhood boys threw snowballs at you while you were swinging as high as you could, which almost made you fall off. So then you got so mad you went and got your friends and you made hundreds of snowballs and you threw those perfect snowballs back at those boys at extreme speed and with perfect aim? Yes stories like that… it’s a great place to sit and talk while looking at that view… oh that picturesque view… is just breathtaking facing La Jolla Cove.

Legend has it that a local artist takes the swing down every once in a while and creates a new one and that he/she sometimes even moves it to a different location. Once there were 3 of them next to each other. I’ve seen this one dressed differently and with different messages on it, but who this secret artist is is still a mystery.

Love and appreciation. It’s the little things …

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No one is supposed to talk about where it is, secrets are supposed to stay secrets after all, but maybe a few hints might be okay. Shh… don’t tell anyone. But if you ever happen to go to Birch aquarium in La Jolla, which is definitely worth a visit, and …

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… park all the way at the end of the parking lot, then you might see this tiny little wooden bridge, that you could cross if you’re a little adventurous. Then climb up the hillside until you see a really big beautiful tree…

Now go out there and have some fun!