Lost Lake

At the Santiam summit

I left the Ochocos when it got a few drops of rain, hoping there would be enough rain over in the Cascades to bring out the fall mushrooms.

I camped at Lost Lake, next to US Hwy 20 just below the Santiam summit. It was October and there was nobody else there.

It’s a lake with a big hole in the bottom. By fall, the lake is empty. Here’s what it looked like:

Fall colors at Lost Lake, near Santiam Pass

It’s a pleasant enough place, even when the lake is empty.

One day I moseyed over to Clear Lake, not very far away, where there is a resort. It is aptly named: you can see the lake bottom even at the deepest part. I got some nice shots there. Here are boats for rent at the resort:

Boaters enjoying Clear Lake in autumn colors

And on a trip to town for groceries I took a side trip up Three Creeks to see the view there.

Three-fingered Jack (L) and Mt. Jefferson (R) as seen from 3 Creeks Road

And I visited Big Lake, which is just up the road from Lost Lake, and literally on the summit of the Cascades.

Oregon’s Mt. Washiongton and Big Lake, at the Santiam summit

This lake isn’t as picturesque as it used to be. Those silver trees under the mountain are all whitened dead snags that were killed in a wildfire back in 2002. For what it’s worth, the Pacific Crest Trail goes through that silver timber on its way past this mountain.

I never got any mushrooms. It just didn’t rain enough that year. It was getting late in the year and I needed to find an RV park to hole up in for the winter. Lost Lake has cell service and therefore Internet, so I started researching and came up with two RV parks to call.

I never called the second one. Something about the tone of the woman who answered the phone at the first place convinced me to go there.

I’m still there. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had found my new permanent home.