Saturday, July 20, 2024
I hiked up to The Watchman in Crater Lake National Park on a hot smoky day.
I haven’t been to Crater Lake National Park since I was a kid, I’m sorry to say. Unfortunately today presented less-than-ideal conditions for visiting the park. This was the view from overlook at the trailhead:
There were photographers there to catch the sunrise. Terrible conditions for it, though:
View of The Watchman from the trailhead:
I put on my pack and headed for the trail:
There were some nice western pasqueflower that had gone to seed:
The first part of the hike follows the former route of the rim drive:
I had read that this snowfield can linger well into summer. It was not hard to hike past today:
Then I turned left off the old road and onto the trail, which switchbacks up the mountain:
I saw some wildflowers:
In short order I reached the old stone and wood lookout, which was built in 1931:
The lower level used to contain a little museum back in the day, but it’s all boarded up now, along with the lookout:
The views were limited due to the wildfire smoke: Looking north at distant Diamond Peak, with Hillman Peak and Llao Rock in the foreground above the lake:
Looking northeast at Llao Rock and Mt. Scott:
Looking east across the lake at Mt. Scott:
Looking southeast at Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak:
Looking south at Mt. McLoughlin and Union Peak:
Looking west:
Looking northwest at Bohemia Mountain, Fairview Peak, Garwood Butte, and Mt. Bailey:
I saw this cute little chimpunk as I hiked down:
Under better conditions I would have spent more time exploring the park after my hike, but not with all this smoke.
Gaia stats: 1.8 miles, 440′ elevation gain
