Manifest Part 3 (Crater Lake + Portland)
Chapter 7: Crater Lake
We were well fueled by In N Out from the night before. The drive to Crater Lake from our campsite was short, and the line to get into the park was no longer than 15 minutes. Upon entry into the park, it was obligatory that we wear our In N Out hats from the night before.
Crater Lake has its scenery very densely packed. Once you get to the lodge that overlooks the park, you can basically see the entirety of its beauty. We went inside the lodge for a bit, so Nick could connect to the wifi and pay his rent. During that time, the rest of us walked around the perimeter of the lake and snapped a few pictures. I'd been here many years ago, but it was just as pretty and the water had never been more blue.
We left the lodge and circled to Cleetwood Cove on the other side of the lake. Along the way, Jeff read some interesting facts about Crater Lake lore. There are no inlets or outlets which prevents the diffusion of sediments and pollutants. The lake itself was formed by a caldera (volcanic collapse) not an actual crater.
Chapter 8: Cleetwood Cove
Cleetwood Cove is the only area of Crater Lake that grants you direct access to the water. The trail itself is only about 2 miles roundtrip, but the decline down and the incline up had my calves burning for a bit. I informed the rest of the Manifest team that there was a pretty sweet cliff jumping spot at the bottom of the hike. They were all pretty stoked for the jump until they saw the actual jump itself. It wasn't the height that scared them which was only about 30 feet. The water was also more than deep enough. The issue was at the bottom, right besides the water, there were rocks that jutted out from every direction. If you wanted to hit the water (optimal), you could have to broad jump at least 8 feet to clear the rocks.
With a countdown from Sam, I leaped far into the water. I had a fraction of a second to look beneath me and to my relief, I saw myself rapidly approaching the pollen in the water. Once I entered the water, the real shock hit me. I quickly swam to the surface. My friends asked me how I was to which I responded in-between gasps of air from my spazzing diaphragm, "IT'S COLD." I don't even think I got those words fully out of my mouth before I beelined it to the shore and bearhugged a boulder for warmth.
Soon after, my friends followed suit. Sam Kumar didn't even know if he could swim, but after some questionable peer pressure from us, he jumped anyways. Nick edged us for a bit, but with a bit of encouragement performed a cheeky backflip off of one of the ledges. After each jump, we sped back to the shore to warm up. As we hiked back up the trail, we noticed that we had started a small trend of cliff jumping.
Before returning to I-5 and making our way to Portland, we stopped at Toketee Falls for another quick day hike. The terrain down was super steep, and I would have to be very careful with my camera bag. The end of the hike presented a waterfall in an open clearing. Jeff and I tried to swim behind the waterfall to access what looked like an alcove, but bailed due to the force of the waterfall and the temperature of the water. Sam, once again doubting his swimming abilities, jumped in but also bailed due to the frigid waters. After the quick ice bath, we merged back onto I-5 and headed towards Portland.
Chapter 9: Portland
In Portland, we would have our first opportunity to shower and sleep in actual bed for a few days. I tried to reconnect on my phone for a bit, but I got tired and overwhelmed too quickly. There were too many Instagram reels that my friends sent, and I wasn't too interested in what was happening immediately outside of my little universe at that time.
We had a little bit of time that night, so we decided to walk around Portland for a bit. Cities usually blend together and don't leave too large of an impression on me. We went to a nice Vietnamese restaurant and would find on Reddit that the top thing to do in Portland was to go to Voodoo Doughnuts. After waiting in life for about 45 minutes, Jeff and I get relatively straightforward doughnuts, but Sam Kumar decided to get the "Cock and Balls" doughnut. He says he's straight, but I was dubious after watching how expeditiously he gobbled up that doughnut (it was really good).
We rested well that night and would go to the Rose Garden in Portland the next morning before making our way to the Olympic Coast.
