(I am writing this series about a year after the event, pulling the content from memories evoked by the photos and from my journal, but I want make them to tie together the map and the pictures)
- Night 1 – Eagle Lake – Pretty expensive campground ($20) considering I only used it as a parking place, but it is very quiet and pretty. I followed a nice trail around the corner of the lake for good spot to watch the sunset.
- Day 2 – On my way around the wild side of Eagle Lake I explored the other campgrounds. They were all expensive and I liked mine better than any of the others … except that the biggest (Merrill) had alleged wifi. I always forget that the drive up the west side is a winding pain in the ass. At the north end of the lake is a BLM campground that looks quite nice! I meet backup with 199, and settle into the familiar drive up to Klamath. I was jones-ing for a breakfast place, and there is not much going on between where I stayed last night and where I plan to stay tonight. I stopped at an Eagle Lake restaurant; it was closed for the season, but the lady gave me the 411 about me about the biscuits and gravy at the Adin General Store, so I checked that out and it was the perfect answer to what I needed!
- Afternoon 2 – Lava Beds National Monument – The campground here is beautifully situated – looking out over the lower end of the vast Klamath valley. Also, it is a few hundred yards downhill from the Visitors Center and from the excellent little lava caves behind it.
- Evening 2 – Tule Lake Wildlife Reserve – I arrived early enough that I foolishly decide to head over to the “nearby” wildlife refuge marshes for a little sunset bird watching. It turned out to be MUCH more driving that I intended (about 80 miles!), so I wore myself out and created a little “out of gas” drama for myself in the morning. It was pretty sweet though, … when I wasn’t stressing about the “out of gas” light glaring at me …
- Night 2 – lava caves – I do make it back to the campground – and am ready for EVEN MORE fun! So I take my little flashlight and walk the hill up to the lava caves in the very, very new moon dark. This was creepy and scary and awesome. The cave I went to was lined with LEDs that came on when you got near. It was pretty awesome to go down in there in the middle of the night with no one around.
- Morning 3 – gasoline – I did have enough gas to make it up the hill to the Visitors Center, where I threw myself on the mercy of the cute park ranger. The nearest gas station is about 45 miles away, and I was not the first such fool to wander through there on no gas. She got in her official ranger golf cart, and kindly led me down the hill to the official ranger gas pump and sold me a couple of gallons of official ranger gas at $5 per, which was only a few pennies more that the rip-off prices at the real station when I eventually got there.
- Midday 3 – The cutie ranger had pointed me to the Bagel Store in Klamath Falls as my best bet for wifi. Good call. The food and ambience were excellent, but my crappy, dying laptop battery made it harder than it needed to be to do my internet thing.
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