Bald Crater Oregon – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Rim Drive (and the North Entrance) in Crater Lake National Park close for the season if it snows enough or when November 1^st rolls around. There hasn’t been any meaningful snow yet (or much rain for that matter). Regardless, the clock is still ticking and we wanted to get in one more hike in the park’s interior before the Rim closes. For that we picked a climb of Red Cone, another of the 40 cinder cones and shield volcanoes in the vicinity of the Crater Lake caldera. The Cone rises just northwest of the lake on the southern edge of the Pumice Desert. It’s easily reached via a ramble on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and a bit of steep cross-country up one of its sides (we went with the southeast side).

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Sphagnum Bog Crater Lake National Park Oregon

Crater Lake National Park is not generally considered a hiker’s park. True, there are some excellent hikes there: Mount Garfield, Mount Scott, and The Watchman provide great views of the lake, Union Peak has extensive 360º views, and Crater Peak provides nice local views and has a charming flower meadow in its crater. However, other than the main Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which moves through a green tunnel, and its alternative route that runs along the west side of the lake, the only other established hiking trails in the park are in its northwest corner. Sullivan (Hike #122 in his Southern Oregon hiking guide (Third Edition, 2014)) describes visiting the Sphagnum Bog on the park’s west side. He has you coming at it via the PCT, which makes for a mostly green tunnel experience. However, there’s a shorter way in from the west – via the Bert Creek Trail – which allows you to visit the bog and also get some views from a climb of Bald Crater.

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Tag: Bald Crater Oregon

Red Cone (Crater Lake National Park) 26-Oct-2020

From Bog to Bald (Crater Lake NP) 05-Jun-2015