[TR] Crater Lake NP - Circumnavigation 4/17/2009

[scheissami]

Trip: Crater Lake NP - Circumnavigation

 

Date: 4/17/2009

 

Trip Report:

Six of us had been chatting about doing this for several years, but we finally managed to get it together this spring. Couldn't have asked for a better forecast, really. Scattered showers the first evening, then clear blue skies for the next three days. 30-33 miles or so over three nights.

 

We travelled counterclockwise, a decision with which we're pretty happy. Despite the slogging nature of much of the travel, five of us were on tele or AT gear, only one of us was on lightweight touring skis. The plan was to ski Mt. Scott (2k vertical feet) on the SE portion of the loop.

 

Due to aspect/time of day we didn't manage to ski Mt. Scott (some of us were pretty cashed from the heat and 10-11 miles we had put in the second day). Terry and I did manage to get some laps in early in the morning on the second morning and we skied Watchman point on the final day. Terry skied the NW face, I skied the west ridge (I suck at skiing so chickened out). Great views of the lake.

 

This trip can't be beat for scenery. We had the park to ourselves, didn't see another person till we were about 2 miles from the trailhead on the final day. As far as the timing goes, well, we had to boot it for a total of maybe 50 yards on the north side of the loop as the road was exposed. If you really, really didn't want to get off your skis you could have made it work.

 

Overall pretty happy I rode my AT gear, as skiing the numerous sub-peaks was really fun and gave us some rad views. I'm so terrible at skiing that having fatter skis was also nice due to hauling big packs around. The loop is frequently done in a day on cross-country skis with firm snow, but I think you'd miss out on some excellent distractions.

 

Anyway, enough talk. Some pics:

 

Sunset at the notch, camp first night:

 

 

Exceptional views of the lake:

 

 

 

Terry, out for a morning ski, 2nd morning, Mt. Scott in the background:

 

 

Terry contemplating the NW face, Watchman Peak:

 

Gear Notes:

Skis!

 

Approach Notes:

4WD/high-clearance not necessary as the road is plowed to Park Headquarters year round. Carry chains, but we certainly didn't need them.

Edited April 28, 2009 by scheissami

[BillA]

Nice pictures! My buddy and I did the circumnavigation going clockwise in March. It was an awesome trip, we were really stoked. There are some pics from our trip here if you're interested.

[el jefe]

looks like you guys had splendid weather. nice pics!

[scheissami]

Alas, no PBR's for us, had to make do with scotch and whiskey. Even better is the canned ale from Caldera Brewing out of Ashland, OR. Stuff is stellar!

 

Nice pics...

[cman]

nice pictures. I was flying back from red rocks on 4/20 and got a great look at crater lake out the airplane window. I was thinking the mountains looked pretty cool and i was wondering about the skiing potential. looks like a fun trip.

[rocky_joe]

its a great tour or xc ski. unless you hike up Mt. Scott there's not a ton of downhill to be had. Better head to thielsen...the ski from the ledge looks fantastic...might be in th/fr this week since it's supposed to get some fresh pow...

[scheissami]

I agree, if I did the circumnavigation again I'd use touring skis. If I return, though, I think we'll likely just head to the Mt. Scott area since there are several aspects to ski and you still get the swank views of the lake. Probably just set up "base camp" by Mt. Scott and ski, ski, ski.

 

There are several small sub-peaks to ski as you circle the lake, most of them around 400-600' vertical and worthwhile distractions, but tough to justify the 33 miles of slogging.

 

Thielsen looked rad from the park, didn't get any close up views, though.

 

BTW, anybody ski the East face/flank of Jefferson? It looked amazing on the drive back, big open slope of snow. I understand access is pretty challenging, though...