Crater Lake in the Snow

Squinting in the bright sun

The day after Christmas, we headed up to Crater Lake National Park for the day. It is a long drive for a day trip, especially with icy roads in the mountains, but I have been wanting to go to Crater Lake while there is snow on the ground ever since I went in October a few years ago (gorgeous, but well before any winter weather hit that year).

The view over the Rogue Valley (apparently Shasta was visible in the distance, but I couldn't pick it out)

Crater Lake in the winter is pretty hit and miss, with more misses than hits. The lake is often covered in clouds and mist and either fully or partially hidden. I got super lucky when I went in October a few years ago, and lucked out this year as well. The weather was clear and sunny, with just a few high wisps of clouds.

Posing in front of Wizard Island

The larger dog kind of blocks Wizard Island from view while posing in front of it...

The snow was gorgeous up there. It had melted and refrozen, so had a solid layer of ice as a crust, which made it less than ideal for snowshoeing, hiking, or skiing. But with the use of snowshoes, we were able to enjoy the rim of the lake without breaking through the ice crust and stepping knee deep into the snow with every step. (There are snowshoes for rent up there if you don't own any, and there are free ranger guided snowshoe hikes all winter long as well.)

The three of us, staying well back from the edge, keeping the tiny dog warm in my jacket

The dogs aren't actually the biggest fans of cold weather and snow. Koira tolerates it, and actually enjoys the snow a certain amount, but Ptera thinks that cold is stupid. She rode around tucked inside my coat about half the time, despite it being a balmy 38 degrees while we were there.

Tucked in where it is warm

We play now?

A few hours at the lake, then we turned around and headed home. It was a long day, especially for so little time actually spent at the lake, but still well worth it, and with only two iffy ice encounters while driving (one being turning around in the parking lot, where we watched a few other people have issues as well).

This sign wasn't kidding. Especially with the ice on top of the snow, it was slick, and the drop into the caldera is steep. You would not want to slip or fall

The day just kept getting clearer the entire time we were there

Dogs are only allowed in the parking lot and the viewing areas right near there, so it isn't an ideal destination for traveling with dogs. But it was warm enough that we went ahead and brought them and just bundled them up in their crates in the car when we went places they couldn't go, and they stayed plenty warm. Overall, with or without dogs, Crater Lake is certainly worth visiting.

Fall in Oregon

The fall colors are appearing on the trees this week. Oregon doesn't tend to get the brilliant colors that some places enjoy in the fall, and windstorms (like the one happening right now) tend to rip what color we do have off of the trees before we have a chance to enjoy it much. I spent yesterday afternoon taking a few pictures of Ptera and the fall leaves in town before they are gone.

You can see the raindrops in this photo as well. Fall here means rain.

I realized while doing this shoot that Ptera thinks "wait" means "sit and wait" so didn't get many photos of her standing, or doing anything other than sitting. Something to work on.

Getting cold toward the end of our wet walk around town.

Spring is Upon Us

Our famous Oregon rain finally arrived this year. Our winter was weirdly dry and sunny, which was enjoyable in the moment, but made everyone worry about drought. The past few weeks now, though, we've been trying to make up for the rest of the dry winter. Between the sun to make things grow and the rain to green things up, Oregon is pretty officially in spring now.

Stoic faces

The park we like to go to has gravel and dirt trails through the woods, as well as a paved path through the sports fields. As of the beginning of April, the sports fields are off limits to off leash dogs. Baseball, softball, soccer, and other sports are starting up, and they both don't want dogs interfering during practices and games, and don't want irresponsible people with off leash dogs letting their dogs poop on the sport fields and then not pick it up. I totally understand, since I wouldn't want to be running to catch a fly ball and slip in a big pile of dog poop. But the long and short of it is that if we want to walk off leash, we have to hit the trails.

The vegetation everywhere has been growing like crazy, and greening up with all our rain. This path was mostly dead and brown even just a couple weeks ago (though I hear that dead and brown in Oregon is still greener than a lot of places in the world).

"Okay"

When we go off leash to the sports fields in the winter, the dogs spend a lot of time running, chasing each other, and wrestling. Pallo loves to roll in the grass and grunt. Sometimes we bring toys and spend some time playing fetch in the open fields.

The trails are different. With the exception of one trail, they are all pretty narrow, lined with heavy woods, and mostly covered by trees above. Instead of running and wrestling, the dogs tend to spend time trotting down the trail, sniffing in the brush, and looking for squirrels. I feel like it takes longer to get the dogs tired this way, but that when we do get back to the car, they have worked both physically and mentally, what with all the sniffing and squirrel hunting.

Pallo was too busy sniffing to come back when I stopped for a picture. 

As a plus side, the trees over the trails makes it easier to walk there in the rain without getting totally soaked. These photos are from our walk earlier this week. This particular day had rolling thunderstorms. It would be clear and sunny for a bit, then the heavy clouds would come in, and it would pour. Then it would clear up, then the clouds would roll in, and it would pour, rinse, repeat.

Classic Oregon greenery and trees

If you look close in the photo above, you can see that where Koira is standing in the sun is also being rained on. It stayed sunny for the rest of our walk from this point, but it kept raining. But that's okay. I've always said I live in Oregon for the green, and the price we have to pay for that is rain. I'll pay it gladly. A little rain never hurt anyone.

Crater Lake

Last week, I went to Crater Lake for the first time. My grandmother was in town from Minnesota, so I went with her and my cousin.

We arrived at Crater Lake National Park about an hour before sunset, and began the long drive through pumice desert up to the actual lake the park is named for (Crater Lake makes up only 7% of the area of Crater Lake National Park). We got our first glimpse of the lake from one of many pullouts that are along the road. We were all hungry and tired, though, so after a brief stop, we pressed on to find the cabin we were staying in for the night and the restaurant nearby. None of the lodging at Crater Lake except for the campground allows dogs, so keep that in mind if you choose to visit. In early October, it was 28* at night, which for me, is way too cold for camping. That said, three of the hiking trails in the park are now open to dogs (dogs used to be restricted to parking lots only). Service dogs, of course, are not subject to those restrictions when accompanying a disabled handler.

After we checked into our hotel room and had some dinner, I talked my grandma and cousin in going back up to the lake so I could try some night photography. Neither of them really wanted to go, but I managed to talk them into it, and we took the seven mile drive back up the hill to the lake. And in my opinion, it was well worth it.

Crater Lake, two hours after sunset

I did try to get a photo of Pallo in front of the lake with the stars, but since it was dark, neither the camera's autofocus nor my manual focus actually managed to focus on him very well. Still, I thought this photo was decent, especially since it was a 20 second exposure, meaning Pallo had to stand perfectly still for 20 seconds for the picture to not turn out blurry.

Pallo posing on the wall at Crater Lake, two hours after sunset. I didn't quite get the focus right though.

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast, packed up the room, then drove back up to the lake. We were aiming to go to a ranger talk about the history of Crater Lake and how it was formed, but we missed the first one and decided to just go on our hike before the day got too hot. We ended up choosing the Sun Notch hike, since it was rated Easy (my grandma has bad knees, and my cousin is 7 months pregnant, so an easy hike was a must). Sun Notch was the only easy rated hike that had a view of the lake. It was well worth it.

A glimpse of the lake through the trees. There were a ton of pine trees.

Sun Notch is also the best place to view the island formation known as the Phantom Ship.

The Phantom Ship, which is actually the remnants of another volcano, stripped down to just the hard lava tubes.

After our hike, we decided to take the trolley tour around the lake. The whole drive around the rim of the caldera is long and has some really steep drop offs that I was not at all comfortable with. Since my grandma wanted to do the trolley tour, that saved me from driving on the scary roads around the lake too much. The trolley tour is led by a Forest Service Ranger, who talked about the history of Crater Lake and the surrounding park, the types of trees found there (mostly just 7 varieties of pine tree), the varieties of rock and how they ended up where they were, and even some of the legends the Klamath People have about the area, which is particularly interesting since the Klamath People actually witnessed Mt. Mazama blow up and eventually form Crater Lake. The trolley stops at a variety of the pull outs along the way so everyone can get out, take a look at the lake and surrounding countryside, and of course, take pictures.

Wizard Island, the biggest island in Crater Lake and the one in most of the iconic Crater Lake photos

At every single stop, Pallo couldn't wait to take a look at the view.

Pallo taking in the view during one of the trolley stops

We only stayed for one night, and headed home that afternoon. We had the most beautiful weather imaginable while we were there, with clear, bright blue skies and great visibility. We could see all the way to Mt. Shasta in the south and the three Sisters in the north. Because we had such great weather, we got to see the incredibly unique, clear blue color that Crater Lake is when the sun is shining.

Taken on the Sun Notch hike, this view almost straight down showed the brilliant blue colors of the lake.

Overall, Crater Lake was amazing. Despite living in Oregon my entire life, with Crater Lake only a 3 hour drive away, I had never been before. You do have to pay a park use fee ($10 for seven days), camping or hotel fees, and food (which isn't exactly cheap on the top of a mountain). And most of the areas are not pet friendly, so it isn't ideal as a destination while traveling with dogs. Despite all of that, I think it is a must-see if you live in or travel through Oregon. I certainly plan to return in the future.

*A note, since I know people will be wondering- Koira stayed with my mom while we were on this trip. I have a disability and Pallo is being trained as my service dog, and performs vital tasks that allow me to function. That is why Pallo accompanied me on this trip and is wearing a service dog vest. 

Paddleboarding at Walton Lake

The whole point of staying at a campground at Walton Lake was so we could go paddleboarding and kayaking while we were there. Originally, we were going to go to Green Peter, which is closer to home. But Green Peter has speed boats, which means wakes and possible danger of being hit if you are in the water. Since a friend of my mom was staying at Walton Lake for the week, we decided to go there instead, and avoid the potential danger involved elsewhere.

Kayak and paddleboard, with lifejackets, sat waiting at the lake's edge below our campsite.

Since we just have the one paddleboard, we also brought along my kayak to use as well. I like the paddleboard better, both because it is easier to load and carry on my car by myself, and because it is better for doing with the dogs. I can really only fit a single dog in the kayak with me, and it's kind of cramped.

Of course, the most important thing before getting into the water is making sure everyone is safe. I always wear my lifejacket when I am kayaking or paddleboarding. The law says I have to have one on the watercraft with me- I know, however, that if I need a lifejacket, unless I am already wearing it, chances are I won't have enough time to get it on. Same goes for the dogs. All of us always wear our lifejackets. Period.

Adorable in her blue lifejacket. 

Pallo wears the older orange lifejacket. It still works well for keeping the dog buoyant in the water, but the handle isn't as reliable on it. Since Koira is more likely to need to be hauled back up out of the water, she wears the one with the better handle.

While I can and have put both dogs on the paddleboard with me, I wanted to spend some time with each of them individually. We all have the basics down of paddleboarding, so now it was time to reinforce the desirable behaviors and work on getting rid of the undesirable for Pallo, this means no whining, not standing at the very tip of the board, and not moving from the front to the back of the board over and over.

Pallo standing in the right place, back from the nose of the board and on the anti-slip matting.

For Koira, this means no barking and no jumping off the board without specific permission to do so. She has upset the board a few times previously, knocking both me and Pallo into the water. She gets so over the top excited about being on the water, just like she does at dock diving, that her brain kind of checks out a little bit. And since she does dock diving as well, she has no hesitation at leaping off into the water. For her safety and my own, I needed to get that behavior to stop.

Koira, sitting where I want her, calm, no whining, no jumping off, no chasing ducks. 

I used the treat pouch at my waist to reinforce the desired behaviors, and stopped regularly to reward.

Overall, everyone made some great progress. Attaching a treat pouch to myself really made both of the dogs check in. I was able to reinforce desirable positioning and behaviors for both dogs, which resulted in calmer, more enjoyable trips on the lake. Now to see if we keep that when I add both dogs.

Koira, sitting centered, attention on me, no whining, no jumping. She is hoping for treats. 

Camping at Walton Lake

Wednesday afternoon, I took off to eastern Oregon to go camping for three days with my mom and the dogs.

Pallo was hanging out in the tent during our afternoon break. Koira was laying outside in the sun.

We arrived after dark on Wednesday evening and quickly set up the tent.

I set up an x-pen around the tent for the dog to hang out in while we were in camp. Easier than tethering, and the dogs like being able to go inside and lay down or hang out outside in the sun.

Thursday, we spent all day hiking and on the lake, alternating between the two. One end of the picnic table bench had all the dogs' boots laid out between hikes, while the other side had their life jackets drying in the sun between trips to the lake.

The dogs' Ruffwear boots. Eastern Oregon has a lot of lava rock and cheat grass, both of which can be hard on dog feet.

The dogs' lifejackets got dried out in the sun between trips to the lake. 

Lots more pictures, and more about our trip, to come later. 

WillaMutt Strut

Today, my flyball team was invited to take part in a flyball demo along with Muddy Paws Flyball team. Both of our teams are based in Salem, Oregon, so we all headed down to the riverfront park in Salem to help draw crowds to the Willamette Humane Society fundraiser the WillaMutt Strut.

Animal House, the lineup Koira wasn't in. The dogs, right to left: Neena, Chester, Ruben, and Zip

Overall, there was a great turn out. The flyball demos were a really big draw and people seemed to really enjoy watching the dogs.

Koira was a bit derpy, but very happy to play!

I did mention the derpy-ness, right?

We did I think four demos total. Koira ran in full lineups three times, with five heats each. Pallo ran just once, in a special all-corgi lineup. Since Animal House has a corgi and a corgi mix, and Muddy Paws has two corgis, we did a two-on-two corgi matchup. It was basically total corgi chaos, with no dog actually doing anything right pretty much the entire time. But the crowd loved it.

Pallo had a ton of fun, even if his participation was more the equivalent of the clown act at the circus than a serious demonstration of our sport.

Overall, the dogs had fun, the people had fun, the spectators had fun, and the humane society raised some much needed money to help continue to feed, house, and find homes for the dogs and cats in need in our area. And we have long ago accepted the fact that at demonstrations, even the best trained flyball dog tends to crash and burn. Instead of being upset, we just embrace it. After all, the crowd loves watching the dogs mess up!

WW: At Harris Covered Bridge

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On the Beach

So, while I didn't take any photos of the dogs on the beach while we were at Happy Camp, I did feel guilty about it. Guilty enough that I made sure we stopped on the way home and played on the beach for a little bit so I could get some pictures.

It helped that our last day was absolutely gorgeous. It was actually cloudy and foggy and windy at Happy Camp while we were packing up that morning. I did take a morning run with the dogs, and it wasn't cold on the beach, just wet and overcast.

As we drove south, however, it cleared up. Instead of fog and clouds, we ended up finding 75 degree weather (nearly unheard of at the Oregon coast!), blue skies, and just enough decorative white clouds to make pictures of the sky gorgeous.

Koira thought it was great to play in the water. This should be a good indication that it was warm out, because the Pacific Ocean is particularly cold, and Koira is generally a wimp about cold water. She didn't even start shaking at any point!

Such happy dogs totally loving the beach. Pallo was busy bugging my mom and grandma to throw a stick for him, and wasn't into posing at all, so I didn't actually get many pictures of him on the beach. Just the one above and the one I shared last week when we first got home.

And just a goofy picture of Koira. Because I love pictures of dogs shaking.

It was just so gorgeous. Those of you who have never been to the Oregon coast may not appreciate this as much as I do, but man, it was AMAZING.

Good enough to get me to take a picture without the dogs in it!

Cape Meares

On Monday, my family took a short trek from where we were staying in Happy Camp, Netarts, OR, up to Cape Meares. It is a short ten minute drive up the cape to go see the Cape Meares Lighthouse and the famous Octopus Tree.

Of course, Monday happened to be the day that the clouds blew in. But, with the exception of my Grandma visiting from Minnesota, we are all Oregonians, so clouds, rain, and fog are what we expect when we visit the beach. Both dogs were wearing the coats for the trip, since I knew it would be windy and cold up on the cape.

Pallo in his jacket, ears blowing in the wind.

We parked the car and headed over to take a look at the lighthouse. The Cape Meares lighthouse is famous for being the shortest lighthouse in Oregon, since its height on the cape made a tall lighthouse unnecessary. As a result, it looks very short and stubby compared to your mental picture of a lighthouse.

Dogs at the foot of the lighthouse

Dogs aren't allowed into the small gift shop or up into the lighthouse, but the tour is free for humans. My sister was generous enough to offer to hold the dogs while I took the tour.

The below photos are a few I took while touring the lighthouse, which, even though it is short, still has two flights of stairs. When editing the photos last night, I apparently was on a kick with the black and white matte look. I guess it just makes it seem so much more dramatic, gets rid of the strange coloration from the different lights, colored lenses, and natural light spilling in, and gives it a bit of an antique feel. At least to me, anyway.

These are the gears that were used to turn the lens of the lighthouse, which was turned in a complete circle every four minutes.

And a glass window that was above me as I stood to take the picture of the gears, above.

After the tour of the lighthouse, the entire family trekked back up the trail. We headed over to the Octopus Tree for a quick look.

Pallo posing on the fence around the Octopus Tree

We got back to the cars just as the rain started for real, and spent the rest of the day laying around taking naps, eating, and playing card games. It was still warm enough to go out for a walk on the beach at sunset (though no sunset was visible through the clouds), though with the rain, mist, and fog you were pretty much soaked immediately.