camping at Clear Lake

We went for our first camping trip of the season for four days, at Coldwater Cove campground on Clear Lake in central Oregon. Clear Lake is spring-fed and is the primary source of the McKenzie River; the campground sits right on the lake and is quiet and primitive. It was a gorgeous spot - the campground sites were big and spread-out, with the forest blocking all views and sound of other campers. We were fortunate to have a site overlooking the lake, which is is blue-green and surrounded by massive trees, and is reserved for nonmotorized boat use.

 We (okay, I) have been pining after a kayak for a few summers, ever since we camped at Timothy Lake, but the logistics of storing and carting a hard-shell kayak made it impossible. But then a work colleague recommended an inflatable kayak, and I read a bunch of positive reviews, and last week went ahead and bought one. We tried it out in our driveway last week and found it fairly straightforward to set up and inflate, and light enough for Seb and me to carry on our own.

So on Saturday morning we picked up a rented SUV and bought groceries, packed the car with camping gear and our new kayak, and were on the road by 11. We arrived at 2 and promptly set up our tent and campsite, and then headed down to the lake to inflate our kayak and get it into the water. Jasper was of course thrilled by the lake and jumped in immediately. He was less thrilled with his lifejacket, but tolerated it.

The poor pup did not want to get into the kayak, but once we started paddling away from him he reconsidered his options and clambered in. Liesl fed him a steady diet of treats while we paddled around.

After kayaking we made a fire, ate cheeseburgers, and roasted marshmallows. We set up our hammock in a lovely spot.

 jelly bean + marshmallow

We had a really rough first night; I couldn't get to sleep and Liesl woke up at 3 am with what must have been food poisoning. She had diarrhea and then threw up a number of times inside and outside the tent. It was truly sad and miserable. But then we both fell asleep for a little while and when we woke up, she seemed fine. A little tired and weak, but ready for some adventures. She can be so determined and tough sometimes - it's really impressive.  So we had some instant oatmeal and blueberries and set out to circumnavigate the lake on the Clear Lake/McKenzie River trails. It was about 5 miles, a flat and easy trail, through a field of ancient pumice and then a lovely forest.

 I've never seen moss hanging from trees in this way -

Liesl found and picked huckleberries, which she recently learned (at Trackers Camp) were good for forest camouflage.

 She went for more of a horror movie/blood-everywhere look.

This bridge was so narrow that Jasper was unable to turn around in the middle, so after a fruitless effort to back it up, he ran past us to the end, turned around, and came back. It was cracking us up.

We were trying to reach Clear Lake resort, a restaurant/store/rustic cabin/day use area that appeared to be directly across the lake from our campground. But we walked and walked and kept finding new parts of the lake that we had to go around, and people were getting discouraged and hungry.

Fortunately, just as hope was about to run out, we reached civilization. I had thought we might just grab some drinks, but instead we sat down and enjoyed buttermilk pancakes and bacon (also learning that we had come the long way, having already made it 3.5 miles of the distance). Thus restored we continued around, singing songs until we returned to our campsite.

By then it was early afternoon, time to throw sticks for Jazzy and to take our kayak out for another spin. Liesl decided to spread out on our alligator floatie and be tugged along behind the kayak instead of sitting in it. It made it a little harder to row, but not terrible, and she was so happy to be perched back there, sunning herself.

There was also time for a mama nap while the kids curled up in the back of the truck to read and eat lunch.

 Liesl decided to jump into the frigid water - it was so cold - sooo cold! Such a shock to the system.

 And then back for another fire, pasta and meatballs and sauce, and more marshmallows.