I left the California coast and headed north for Oregon.  I learned that in OR you cannot pump your own gas and the attendant cannot top off your tank because that too is the law.  Fortunately OR law does not require you to have an attendant present when you use the gas station restroom.

I drove to the very popular Crater Lake region.  I began to see snow on the ground at 5000 ft altitude.  By the time I reached the crater rim at 7113 ft there was significant snow cover.  Unfortunately there was also significant cloud cover and I didn't get to see the famous reflection of the mountains in the deep blue lake.  It was still pretty spectacular.

 They get so much snow here they have to use snow tunnels to get from one building to another.

 The drive from Crater Lake to Portland was long and tedious thanks to the single lane roadways that lead through the mountainous region.  But again the views were spectacular.

Along the way I snacked on my homemade trail mix.  Then after consuming a fair amount I noticed the hole in the bag.  It was obviously made by some sort of rodent that chewed its way into the bag.  No doubt this occurred when I had stored the bag in the bear box at Yosemite.  Yeah, I was totally grossed out!  No more trail mix for me.




I have now driven 4,165 miles since leaving Columbus 2 weeks ago.