Crater Lake

Covert camping, just how we like it ;) Minus the early morning roadworks next door.

After being told by the campsite attendant at Crater Lake National Park that the campground was full and “no, we could not camp at the walk-in site” although it was virtually empty, we’d found a nice spot to camp just off of the main road outside of the park. (Take that, lady!) It appeared to be national forest, so not a problem, until we woke up at 6am to the sound of work trucks and pilot cars guiding early morning drivers along the road next to our camping spot. We were well-concealed by the towering trees, so we were quite a surprise for the road workers when we came riding out of the forest. Fortunately we only had to wait a few minutes for a pilot car… it got a little awkward.



We spent the morning touring around Crater Lake, captivated by it’s beauty and the nearby aspects of geothermic activity.


Crater Lake Pinnacles




In the afternoon, we headed for the California border. Another rider had recommended a road that we ultimately could not agree if he had said he’d “ridden” or “wanted to ride,” as it eventually turned into a twisty, one-lane, pock-marked logging road that we seriously doubted he would have taken his Harley on. That is, IF we were even on the road he’d recommended, as apparently this county had neglected to post any signage in the last 30 miles. Our old GPS (that we usually only use for cities), was completely lost and as the road wound up and over the second high peak we’d encountered, the valley below showing no sign of civilization, we began to make fuel consumption/consolidation estimations. Like, given how far we’d already ridden, how much further could we ride before it would be necessary to pour all of our spare fuel into the Africa Twin (it has a larger tank) and siphon the fuel out of the Transalp in hopes that we’d make it to the next town on that.  Fortunately, before we did either, a house appeared, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. And then another. And then another. And then a “town.” Phew.

We made it over the border into California just as the sun was setting, and found a really nice campground next to a river… perfect swimming in lieu of a shower to wash off the stickiness of the day.