Crater Lake and Ashland, Oregon

Our highlight of southern Oregon was supposed to be Crater Lake.

As diligent travelers though we checked the weather while still is McMinnville. They claimed that there was a 70% chance of snow the next afternoon. We were skeptical of snow in early October, but begrudgingly started shifting our schedule anyway.

The next day, the drive down 99 and 5 to Ashland had lots of nice scenery and was wonderfully sunny. About five miles before the Crater Lake turnoff, curiosity got the better of us and we called the visitor center again. They said it had been snowing off and on throughout the day without accumulation and gave us a 50/50 chance for a view. We liked our odds and pointed the car east. The first half of the detour was filled with beautiful fall colors and sing along songs. Then the clouds started appearing quickly followed by rain which turned to sleet near the park entrance until finally the rim view looked like this…

If they hadn’t had accumulation earlier, they did now. The driving deteriorated rapidly and during the twenty minutes it took us to head out the other side of the park there was about three inches on the ground.   We managed a fleeting glimpse of the lake through the clouds, but are hoping for better luck next time.

We spent the night with a couchsurfer in Ashland (thanks Debbie!) renowned for their Shakespeare Festival. We tried to get tickets to a show but they were sold out, probably because it was Columbus Day weekend.