Are Humans Good? And Crater Lake.

Day 35. July 30.

In my last post I mentioned how I try to avoid camping near roads. Last night proved my point.

Around 12:30 a vehicle came by with loud music and male voices. Somewhere down the road they stopped, made some noise, and then drove farther.

Around 1:30 am, a car drove slowly up the road, killed its lights, and stopped at the trailhead. I listened as one person got out. The sounds I heard were coming from the water jugs. It sounded like the person opened a jug, drained it, and then moved it around. Whatever. Maybe a local just needed some water.

Then the same set of sounds: plastic top off, glug-glug-glug, moving empty jug around. Repeat.

I was laying in my tent and considered the plausible scenarios. It could be a zealot that hates backpackers and was just dumping the water out of spite. I could confront them, but I had no weapon, didn’t want to deal with legal hassles, and could not call 911. Besides, zealots are zealots.

The other scenario I could think of was a local needed money. They were emptying the jugs to return them for the deposit. If that was the case, if they were that poor, then who was I to interfere?

So, I laid there and did nothing. It lasted almost two hours. It was depressing. Either it was a nut job or a desperate person. Society was not such a good place. I was frustrated at the situation and my inability to do anything.

In the morning, I went to see the damage. Guess what? All the jugs had been replaced by fresh, new jugs. It was the good samaritan who replaced all the water! In the middle of their night, they came out and put out at least 25 five gallon water jugs. Now my guilt was over not dragging my butt out of bed and helping them.

With my spirits raised, but my eyelids sagging, I started up to Crater Lake. It was going to be hot and the uphill started gradually.

I think it must’ve been the anticipation of seeing Crater Lake, but the walk seemed to take forever. I did see lots of backpackers coming down.

When I finally made it to the Lake, I was a little disappointed. Part of it was the usual shock of going from being a self-contained backpacker and encountering huge RVs where the people are so lazy they just drive up to the viewpoint and snap photos and drive to the next spot. The other part of the disappointment was the smoke that partly filled the crater.

I hiked the Rim Trail. My attitude changed. The wind picked up and blew the smoke out. Views improved. Crater Lake became a jewel.

If you have never been to Crater Lake and have the chance, definitely take it. Yes, it is just a collapsed volcano that created a crater. It is filled with water and there is an island. That is the description but it does not describe the beauty. It is huge. It is deep. It is the most unusual shade of blue. It is marvelous.

I got in line to get a cruddy hot dog at the cafe. Very crowded. I was out of place. I then hiked downhill to Mazama Village. This was a developed campground for vehicles that also had a section for backpackers. There was a store, restaurant, laundry, and showers, too. I had a resupply package.

It was about 4 when I arrived. I got my package at the store and got a spot in the backpacker area. It was $8.00. I was told there were no showers and no laundry due to covid. I tried to be as polite as possible and asked what exactly my $8.00 was buying since I could walk 100 feet to the forest and put my tent on the ground. The grumpy guy said a tent site and indoor plumbing. It seemed to me this was just like flying sometimes: you know you are getting screwed, but fighting it just makes it worse.

I set up camp, met some amazing people, and generally had a good night. One lady was from Portland and said she knew many of my high school classmates. Another guy from Portland opened a small bottle of Knob Creek bourbon and shared it. I was eager to go to sleep after that.

Well, just like the night before, sleeping around motor vehicles was a mistake. One set of campers in the RV section decided drinking and being loud after the 10:00 PM quiet time was a good idea. You know the inevitable: the later it got, the more they drank, the louder they got, and the less sense they made.

$8.00.