Due to COVID19, its currently only open to guests staying at the lodge. For us, that meant it was quite empty.
We woke up to a much more promising day at Crater Lake National Park. Now that the snow has stopped and the fog has lifted, the view from our lodge room is stunning. We can see Wizard Island from our window!
Crater Lake used to be a large mountain. Actually, scratch that, it was (and is) a large volcano! After it erupted a few thousand years ago, it collapsed into a crater. It was still active, and one of the resulting cinder cones is what we now see as Wizard Island. The crater filled with fresh water from the rain and snow, and that water is actually extraordinarily deep. One of the signs we read said that Crater Lake is the deepest lake in all of North America! One of the cinder cones is tall enough to peak out of the water, and thats Wizard Island.
On a normal year, you can take a boat during the summer months to Wizard Island. This year, those boat tours have been canceled because of COVID19. I dont think there was really a way to offer those while maintaining social distancing. Even if boat tours were to be offered this year, they
wouldnt be happening right now. The East Rim Drive is still closed, and the only access to the docks is from Cleetwood Cove Trail, the trailhead starting from East Rim Drive.
My guess is that East Rim Drive will open soon. When we pass by the northern and southern entrance to the road, it is closed but looks plowed. Although East Rim Drive isnt open yet, were happy that West Rim Drive is open, as it opens up more of the park to us. So, after spending some time marveling at Wizard Island from our resort room, we packed up our hiking gear, ate some breakfast, and set out on West Rim Drive. We wanted to head back to Watchman Overlook at take the Watchman Trail to The Watchman. Its a building on a mountain peak that is supposed to offer beautiful views of the lake.
We actually ate breakfast at the lodge. We havent eaten out in months, but the lodge is limiting its restaurant to resort guests only. When we went downstairs, we saw that there was only a single table occupied for breakfast, and it was an older couple in a corner. We asked if
we could sit in the opposite corner of the restaurant from them, and that was no problem. As a bonus, we got incredible views of Crater Lake. The resort modified their breakfast buffet. You go up, one at a time, wearing a mask. The food is behind a shield, and you let a worker know what youd like. The worker is also wearing a mask and goes through the buffet, adds stuff to your plate for you, and hands it to you at the end. This way, there isnt a bunch of people touching serving spoons or standing over one another. We ate our breakfast in the mostly empty restaurant of the lodge and really enjoyed ourselves. It was a little bit of normalcy during a scary time, so we appreciated it very much.
After breakfast, we set out for Watchman Overlook. Wed been there yesterday when everything was shrouded in fog. When we arrived at Watchman Overlook, it was much clearer. We didnt even need to get out of the car to see the trail head was closed. Its no wonder. The trail follows the side of a mountain, and it under snow. We couldnt see
We felt disappointed. On our way back down West Rim Drive, we stopped at the pullout for Lightning Spring Trail but couldnt even see the trail head in the snow. At that point, I understood that the hiking adventures wed planned werent going to happen, but I still held out some hope. We went back to the lodge hoping to try the trail up Garfield peak. When I was out on the patio earlier, a man told me that it offers good views of the lake, too. I didnt expect to actually hike the whole mountain, but I thought we could at least hike for an hour and see some pretty sights. Nope, that one was closed, too! Theres just so much snow still.
We tried one more change of plans.
