From the Tallest to the Deepest

When I woke up in the morning there was somebody missing from the tent. Apparently, Mom couldn't take the tent conditions, so she ended up in the passenger seat of the car. It was probably because she didn't get a full ULTRA day in before. That would definitely change today. We woke up Nick and packed everything up, then set off for our 11-mile hike. Now we were pretty much on dawn patrol, but not as intense as in the past. We were off on the hike by 7:30 AM. I knew the hike was going to be pretty flat, but then again that is all relative when I was hiking up 14er's a week ago. The majority of the hike was through the Redwoods, but then there was one section that was more or less the pinnacle of the hike. After 4.5 miles we ended up on the beach, and this was the first time we had actually gotten to the Pacific Ocean (when we were in San Fran, it was technically the San Fran Bay). It was pretty cool to make it there again. This time I wasn't able to take the plunge or else I may have suffered from hypothermia. The coast was lined by the Golden Bluffs that were smaller versions of the White Cliffs of Dover. Looking down the beach, there was a heavy fog that engulfed the bluffs and the trees that stood atop of them.

We then hiked a mile north on the beach and dipped back into the woods. This was where the pinnacle of the hike was, and I was nervous that it wouldn't live up to expectation. It was called Fern Canyon, and it was apparently one of the most lush places in the US. It definitely lived up to expectations. The walls of the canyon were about 70-100 feet and completely covered with ferns. I couldn't believe that this just happened naturally, it looked like something from Longwood Gardens. There was a stream running through the bottom of the canyon that had planks across it, allowing for easy crossing. The pictures are online and do it some justice, but it really was awesome.

After that, we hiked another 4.5 miles back to the car (even though that last 1.5 took forever). From there we had to depart with the massive giants that had fascinated all of us, but hoped that they would be there for centuries to come. Our next stop was Crater Lake NP. I had very much been looking forward to this stop. Honestly, I was looking forward to every stop, but now that I was in uncharted territory, I was feeling that sense of the unknown again. We made an effective stop in Crescent City, CA, which included Jack-in-the-Box and Safeway. Jack-in-the-Box is by far the best fast food stop in the country and I am glad they aren't in Philly or else I would eat there more than I wanted to. You can get curly fries (delicious) and if you get a combo you can turn your soda into a float for on $.50 (insane!). Safeway was needed to stock up on Clif Bars and get some tortillas for dehydrated wraps. (Don't worry I did learn my lesson in VA, so I am staying away from the Beef with BBQ sauce wraps.)

Back onto the windy roads of NorCal. I guess people just allow plenty of time to get places because if you get stuck behind a truck on these roads, you are screwed. All of our drives after San Fran have taken longer than anticipated because of these roads. Oh well, we are still getting in everything that we planned. It was pretty cool that once we crossed into Oregon, the climate changed. It went from dense, lush pine forest, to pretty much a desert with pine trees. Definitely not what I was expecting, but it was still pretty cool. We drove for about another 2 hours before getting to the park. We then set up camp, and then went to the much anticipated rim of the Lake.

A quick background on the lake: ~7600 years ago the lake used to be Mt Mazama, one of the largest volcanoes in the world. It had an eruption of epic magnitude and collapsed in on itself creating a giant crater, 7000 feet above sea level. Over the years, rain and snow melt have contributed to what is now the deepest lake in the US and one of the deepest in the world. There is no other source of water contributing to the lake, so the water is some of the freshest and clearest in the world.

As soon as we got on the rim, it was awesome. Because you were 7000 ft high, looking away from the lake you had views for miles, and looking at the lake, you were seeing the bluest calmest water ever. It was hard to appreciate the size of it, but the peak of the large island (Wizard Island) in the middle is 800 feet above the surface of the lake. The smaller island (Phantom Ship) is as tall as a 16 story building. As you look at some of the pictures, keep that in mind. We went around and watched the sunset brighten up the lake, which was magnificent. Then we headed back to the campsite and picked up some firewood and s'mores materials. I hadn't had smores since senior year of college when we had a firepit in the backyard. They were still delicious though, and I still had the touch to cook a mean 'mallow. It was getting very cold that night, and I could tell that it was probably going to be close to the cold we felt when we camped out in the Rockies at 12,000 ft. We were all huddled around the fire as long as possible and then headed into the tent. Hopefully, Mom would be able to sleep tonight, and it wouldn't get too cold for any of us. ULTRA day 17/39: COMPLETE

JM