My friend Agathe and I wanted to do a big road trip between San Francisco and Seattle, across 3 states: California, Oregon and Washington. We made some stops along the way, and one of them was in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Why did we want to stop in this small town where there is apparently nothing special to see? Well the reason is pretty simple: 40 minutes from Klamath Falls is Crater Lake National Park, a national park less famous than Yosemite or Yellowstone, but still more than worth it to see! The fact that it's less crowded encouraged us to go there as well.
But to be honest, we didn't know what to expect when we chose to stop in this region. It's not well-known and when we checked on the map, we saw only small towns around, and we really wondered what we could do for three whole days.
Well, the first day we went to Crater Lake National Park. From Klamath to the park, we drove through giant forests, and the higher we went, the lower the temperature was. By the time we arrived in the park, there was... snow. Yes, in June. The ranger at the entrance even told us that some roads were closed because of « too much snow ». Wait, what ?
The roads we took were breathtaking. We turned around a bend to see the crater, filled with this bright blue lake, one of the deepest in the USA. In the middle of which stood Wizard Island. The light, the white of the snow, the lake, it was a magical mix. We literally stopped every few meters to enjoy the view and take pictures so we actually spent the whole day in the park.
Further, it looked like a desert with no vegetation at all: it was not blue and white anymore, more like fifty shades of brown and all flat, but still majestic and awesome. The best part, as I said, was that it was not crowded with people so we felt like we were the only ones there!
If you're not far from Oregon, or if you want to visit Portland one day, you should really take some time to visit Crater Lake National Park (and don't forget to bring a jacket!).
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