26
Jun
2017
jloomis

Diamond Lake and Crater Lake, Oregon

It's been a long time (pre-Loomis Adventures), but we finally planned a trip back to Diamond Lake. We took Friday and Monday off to make it a long weekend camping trip. As always, our Mini Adventurer was super excited to go camping. We were meeting my parents (staying at a different campground in their Airstream) and Uncle Pat at Diamond Lake campground.

We were greeted by swarms of mosquitoes as soon as we arrived at our camping spot. After generous helpings of bug repellent, we pitched our tent and unpacked our supplies. We went for a walk down to the boat ramp and ran into my parents and Uncle Pat on our way back. We firmed up our fishing plans for Saturday morning. Pat rented a boat (I didn't bring ours because I still don't have a kicker) and we planned to leave around 6 am. There was a fishing tournament Saturday, but we did not enter.

It was a beautiful morning Saturday, perfect weather for fishing. We were trolling needlefish lures, me with a downrigger, and my dad with lead core line. Uncle Pat was our "guide". Not long after we started my Dad hooked and landed a nice rainbow trout around 12 inches long. Soon we both had fish on. He ended up catching more than me, but I caught the biggest one at 17-1/2 inches. I think we finished the morning having caught 16 trout. I should have entered the tournament as my fish would have placed me in the top 20 of 30 winners.

Mt Bailey at sunrise from Diamond Lake, Oregon     Trout fishing on Diamond Lake

We fished again Sunday morning. This time I was on fire. Before we even started trolling I landed a fish. I just happened to cast while my Dad was rigging up his rod and nailed a nice rainbow. After that I caught another 9 fish one after another. My downrigger was proving itself. Finally my Dad started catching fish. We finished the morning catching 18 trout.

Diamond Lake rainbow trout in-a-bag     Dad and Uncle Pat bringing a fish in

On Sunday afternoon Katie, Julian, and I drover over to Crater Lake National Park. They had just opened the North entrance a few days prior after plowing the road. Crater Lake received about 5 feet more snow than usual this winter and there was still tons of it on the ground. It was beautiful.

Mt Thielsen from Diamond Lake, Oregon     Mt Thielsen from near Crater Lake rim

We stopped at a few viewpoints to take in the beauty of Crater Lake and the surrounding area.

So much snow still at Crater Lake at the end of June     Family portrait with Crater Lake in the background
Crater Lake and Wizard Island     Someone skiing down Mt Scott

We enjoyed a picnic lunch near the Crater Lake lodge and explored the area a bit more. The snow was nice as it kept things cooler (it was close to 90°F back at Diamond Lake and only 76°F at Crater Lake).

Crater Lake, Oregon     The snow is deeper than Katie and Julian

We had a fun trip. It was great to catch lots of fish and enjoy Crater Lake as a family. Maybe one of these winters we'll make it here on the snowmobiles.

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