After Outside Lands road trip adventures #1, #2 and #3 plus a wonderful festival experience in the bay, we departed north for Washington. Obviously, no California road trip is complete without some overindulgence at In-n-Out. After a few animal style double doubles, we worked our way up the hot, dry central valley past Lake Shasta and further up the 5. We kissed the 5 goodbye and veered towards the Oregon border.

While I’m personally familiar with the I-5 route through Oregon from commutes to college, I’ve not been on the eastern side of the Cascades in Oregon. Our diversion toward this route snuck us past a clearly visible Mt Shasta, the second tallest Cascade behind Mt. Rainier. Klamath Lake accompanied us on the side as we traveled towards the “Gem of the Cascades”–Crater Lake. Crater Lake, pictured at the top, is a former volcano that imploded upon itself and formed the nearly 2,000 foot deep lake. Crater Lake is also the deepest lake in the United States and seventh deepest in the world. Chilly place for a dip, but candy for the eyes.

Departing Crater Lake, we set our sights on Bend, OR. Bend sits near Mt Bachelor and is a ski capitol during winter. During the other seasons (and it has a distinct four unlike other sisters on the west side), it’s still an outdoor haven. Shout out to Bend for having multiple microbreweries with a population of 70,000. On the way up from Bend, there was a point when Mt Bachelor, Three Sisters and Mt Hood were all visible with a swoop of the head. Not a bad way to end our Outside Lands road trip…

On the heels of Outside Lands Road trip adventures #1, #2 and #3 and an awesome festival experience in the Bay, we departed North for Washington.