Day 41, May 12, 2019, Sunday. Prospect, OR
Although our campground is conveniently located and the closest to Crater Lake National Park, it is still 34 miles from the Rim Village. On the way there, we stopped at the Rogue River Gorge Overlook. A raging river cutting a deep canyon was impressive and loud. Next we arrived at the Crater Lake NP Visitor Center had to use the side door as the main entrance is blocked by snow up to the roof. We watched a brief film explaining the history of Crater Lake.  12,000 foot Mount Mazama was built up over thousands of years of volcanic activity. Finally, 7700 years ago, it erupted so violently that when the magma which had been under it providing support was expelled it caused the entire mountain to collapse into the void under its own weight. The experts claim the collapse occurred in a matter of a couple hours. Centuries of rain and snow filled the caldera. No streams run into or out of the lake so the water remains pure with very little sediment to cloud it. The lake at 1,943 feet is the deepest lake in the U.S. A subsequent eruption created Wizard Island in the middle of the lake. Mazama is not an extinct volcano, merely dormant. The usual season for the park is mid-June to mid-October. So only a small portion of the rim drive was open when  we visited and snow was everywhere. At the Rim Village, we got our first view of the lake. It is incredible. The blue of the lake is indescribable when viewed without sunglasses. However, it is so bright with all the snow that we could only forgo sunglasses for brief periods. After stomping around in the snow getting every vantage point we could, we drove the rim road to Discovery Point, about 3 miles. That was the extent of the road opened. After more viewing of the lake, we walked along the rim road beyond Discovery Point that had been plowed and opened only to pedestrians. Walking the road down the double yellow line with snow piled higher than we were along both sides of the road was quite an experience for this Florida native. What was really surprising is how hot I became with the sun despite all the ice around. The jackets went off and on depending on the wind.  Along the way we had more vantage points of the lake and several snow covered mountains in the area. We walked for about 50 minutes and approached the snow plow/blower team working to clear the road. Clearing the road of snow seemed agonizingly slow going. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the Natural Bridge, a portion of the raging Rogue River that runs under an old lava tube. The river is so full and fast that it also flows over ground at the lava tube so it is difficult to trace it. After a brief rest at the coach, we hiked to 2 waterfalls in Prospect, one over 240 feet, the other a mere 170 feet. What a fantastic and memorable Mother’s Day for my bride!

Day 40, May 11, 2019, Saturday. Prospect. OR (162 miles)
After 3 quiet nights we departed Chinook RV Campground and headed north through redwood forests and into Oregon. We parked the coach at the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve Visitor Center in Cave Junction, OR, and drove the car the 19 miles to the caves.  The last 8 miles was a very winding, mountain road not suitable for an RV. We took a 3:00 tour of the cave which lasted about 90 minutes. Cave temp was a constant 44 degrees. The cave was discovered in 1872 and became a national monument in 1902. Unfortunately, the interim time allowed the cave to be abused and lots of the features were broken and there is even some spots where people were writing messages on the cave. The writings cannot be removed as they are covered by layers of calcium as the cave is very active, meaning wet. There were some nice features such as walls of marble which is unlike other caverns we have visited. The cave trail includes 500 stairs and many places where one cannot walk upright. The 19 mile drive back to the coach took about 50 minutes. We then headed to the Crater Lake RV Park in Prospect, OR, and had a late check-in for a fhu, 50 amp, pull through.