The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 2--Diamond Lake

Tue. May 4: A car alarm horn going off 33 times (we counted) served as our wake-up call at 6:50 so Marv got up then and started the coffee. The early start got us on our way by 8:30. We drove the full Drury Parkway and then took 101 up to Klamath where we made our first stop. We dropped off the trailer and then took the short but scenic Coastal Drive for dramatic overlooks of the ocean. Because we were so early the views were not that great; the fog was still rolling in from the ocean and wouldn’t burn away until afternoon and the temperatures were in the low fifties. We passed by the last standing WWII Radar Station along the coast, which was built to resemble a simple farmhouse and outbuildings to fool the Japanese, who actually shelled some offshore islands with their submarines. I didn't realize the threat was that close to the continental U.S. We were passed by only one car on the narrow winding road and we saw only one parked car the whole way.

WWII Radar station

After picking up the trailer we got some smoked salmon at a small smokehouse in the Yurok Rancheria (the word used out here instead of Reservation) and went on to Crescent City where we stopped for coffee and ice tea at a McDonald’s to use their internet, and got some groceries at a Safeway. From there the road turned inland, the skies cleared, and the temperature rose rapidly, eventually getting into the low nineties as we drove through some high valleys in Oregon. Before leaving California though we passed through the last of the three Redwood National and State Parks, Jeremiah Smith State Park. We made a quick stop to skip stones along the Smith River and then at their Visitors Center to get our last Western Area Passport Stamps. We followed the Smith River across valleys and slowly upward into the Cascade Mountains. Then we followed the Rogue River, gradually and eventually climbing to 5200ft. We were again seeing snow capped peaks and then there was an overlook and interpretive display about the massive explosion 7700 years ago of the Mazama Mountain, which defines the area for miles around and resulted in the creation of Crater Lake in its deep caldera. Just miles away from the north entrance to the National Park we came to Diamond Lake with its wonderful lakeside National Forest Campground. Once again we had received stellar advice from Chuck Eppelheimer. For $11 a night we got a campsite on the lake with a view of a snowy peak across the lake from our camper and no near neighbors. We have no electricity or water but down at the end of the campground, near the Host, there is a bathhouse with showers, if we want them. We got set-up and then called Marv’s Mom to finish the aborted phone call we had started earlier and then driven out of our signal without completing. After we hung up I was overcome with longing to talk to my mom and wept, just missing her and knowing how much she’d love to hear all about our adventure. We walked up to the gate to pay for our site and found our nearest rest room (up the steep bank from our campsite). Dinner was smoked salmon, a bottle of Smoking Loon Chardonnay, a round loaf of sourdough bread, grapes, Pepper Jack cheese, and smoked almonds, eaten sitting at lakeside on our folding chairs. It doesn't get any better than that! As the sun got lower Marv built a nice fire that we sat by until the sun dipped behind the mountain, the temperature dropped, the wind died, and the mosquitoes came out in droves. So we retired to the camper and watched twilight descend in the silent campground.