Day 114 – 8/19/11 – 14 miles (1837)

We rolled into Mazama Village at Crater Lake quite early, picked up our packages and bought a few goodies from the store. We were tipped off about some free showers available in part of the campgrounds there. They turned out to be out of hot water, but we still managed to get the worst of the dirt off. When we returned to the store area to do our laundry, we found it crawling with thru hikers. It’s funny how you can go days without seeing anyone (the only northbound thru hiker we’d seen since Ashland was Two Hats), and suddenly a dozen of you converge on a spot.
We got our money’s worth out of an all you can eat lunch buffet. Finally, a place with soft serve ice cream and rainbow sprinkles! I had four bowls.
We finally got moving around 3pm, and headed up the trail to get our first view of Crater Lake. Wow!

We tanked up on water at the rim, preparing for a 26 mile dry stretch. With 5 liters of water, this is the heaviest my pack has been since the Sierra.
I genuinely have no idea what the rules are regarding camping at Crater Lake, but we ended up along the rim with an amazing view.