Accidental Tourists
Journal Entry #31
June 3, 2022
After a few days of convalescing in Bend we were ready to move again. We had hoped our next stop would be Crater Lake, but knowing that our Mt. Hood camping had been canceled due to snow a few days earlier, we weren’t surprised that camping near Crater Lake, at an even higher elevation, would have to wait. We still had no plans set for Monday night and Tuesday night of the Memorial Day weekend and knew it might be a challenge to stay at popular campgrounds.
Tom did some research in preparation for our departure and found a beautiful high volcanic lake, the US Forest Service’s reservable campground, called Little Crater in the Newberry Volcanic National Monument. Amazingly, it had availability - just one site left - so we grabbed it. It felt good to have a plan for the next day.
We started to get suspicious on our drive to the campground when google maps tried to reroute us on a circuitous fire road, which would have added an hour to our trip. Instead, we ignored google and followed the very obvious main road in. As we pulled into the campground, the place looked oddly deserted and all the signage was covered in thick black plastic. As we slowly rolled around the loop we found one sign exposed; it said “area closed.” We pulled into the site we thought we had booked. Tom looked up the reservation on the iPad. We were at the right campground, and at the right site, but Tom sheepishly announced “Oh, I see. It looks like we booked this site for two weeks out from now- it was the last site available when the campground actually opens up for the season.”
Oops.
We saw one other couple car camping. They were packing up. We stopped and asked if they had any issues with staying overnight. They shared that they had stayed and no rangers had been by. At this point we did some rationalizing. First, we were on USFS land which, unless posted otherwise, you can generally camp anywhere you want. We also rationalized that there were no posted signs that actually said “no camping”. Though there was no water available or trash bins yet, the vault toilets were unlocked for day visitors to the trails. That seemed a welcoming and good sign. Our best rationalization was that since there were NO other campers in the area, why not take a more “prime” lakeside camping spot? So we did.
In the end, we stayed two nights and had the campground to ourselves. We learned quickly why the camping season hadn’t begun; our first night there was a bracing 28 degrees and flurries began around sunset (this is May 31, mind you)! The next morning, Tom ran into deep snow on his mountain bike at the higher elevations and ultimately had to turn back. The trail around Paulina Lake, where we hiked, which was at about 6300 ft in elevation, still had patches of snow. But it was one of the more spectacular camping sites we’ve had. The weather on both days was beautiful and the hikes were picture perfect.
We wouldn’t have intentionally considered staying a in closed campground “pre-season,” but our honest mistake was a VERY fortunate accident.
Upon reflection, we realize that earlier in our journey we would likely have turned around and moved on. Now, after ten months on the road, we’ve become more confident in our self-sufficiency and more willing to take calculated risks for potential rewards.
Beautiful site and serendipity is a thing.
I’m glad you are feeling better! What an awesome camp spot