Sunrise at Crater Lake National Park (8/19/2021)

- 8/19/2021 (Central Cascades Road Trip, day 8 of 9) It's a quick drive-by shooting. I was in and out of the Park in like 30 minutes. Also got a good look at Mt Thielsen, nicknamed "the lightning rod of the Cascades". It's a class 4/5 free solo challenge that I thought long and hard about. It was on my itinerary until swapped out the last minute. My "Central Cascades Road Trip" playlist --    • Central Cascades Road Trip (Aug 2021)   ====================== Central Cascades Road Trip ====================== A 2020 family event abruptly cancelled by Covid left me with a domestic flight voucher with a deadline. So in 2021 I booked this trip to Portland Oregon to explore the Central Cascade Mountains for the first time. From satellite images, Central Cascades look like a string of pearls -- each pearl a snow-capped volcano, approximately 30 to 50 miles from the next. They include Saint Helens, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters... just to name a few. For this 9-day road trip, I picked a few non-technical volcanos to summit. In between, I also hiked many incredible waterfalls that Oregon is known for. So, the theme for this trip is about "volcanos and waterfalls". Here's the itinerary -- Day 1 (8/12/2021, Thu) fly: Las Vegas NV to Portland OR visit Bridal Veil Falls and Latourell Falls overnight: Bridal Veil Falls TH Day 2 (8/13/2021, Fri) visit Multnomah Falls, Horsetail Falls, and Ponytail Falls hike Eagle Creek Trail to Tunnel Falls drive over Columbia River to WA overnight: Mt Saint Helens TH at Climbers Bivouac Day 3 (8/14/2021, Sat) summit Mt Saint Helens drive over Columbia River to OR overnight: Polallie TH Day 4 (8/15/2021, Sun) hike Cooper Spur at Mt Hood overnight: Cloud Cap Saddle CG Day 5 (8/16/2021, Mon) hike Tamanawas Falls at Mt Hood drive to Bend OR and resupply overnight: Mt Bachelor TH at Westside Village Day 6 (8/17/2021, Tue) summit Mt Bachelor overnight: South Sister TH at Devils Lake CG Day 7 (8/18/2021, Wed) summit South Sister overnight: Chemult Ranger Station Day 8 (8/19/2021, Thu) visit Crater Lake NP hike Toketee Falls hike Trail of Ten Falls (east loop) overnight: Silver Falls SP Day 9 (8/20/2021, Fri) hike Trail of Ten Falls (west loop) fly: Portland OR to Las Vegas NV 9-day total miles driven = 830 miles (16.91 gallon of gas for VW Jetta) 9-day total hours of hiking = 54.5 hours There are reasons that perhaps I shouldn’t have made this trip, such as the surging Delta virus and the historic Oregon wildfire. But the virus is now part of our lives going forward, and the west coast seems to be in perpetual burn. Things may not get better next year. Life doesn't wait.