03-01-2020 Celebrating Mo’s 80th

If there is one thing I know for sure about Mo, after all these years, it is that a big party in her honor is about her least favorite thing.  When my kids said, “Geez, Mom, it’s her 80th!  We need to have a party!" I said the best birthday present we can give her is NOT having a party.

Instead we celebrated by spending the entire day doing something just for the two of us.  The last time we had a meal at Wolf Creek Inn was in 2009, a year when we still lived in snowy Rocky Point.  A trip over the mountain was a great way to get away from winter, and I still remember the rather incredible Bacon Lettuce Avocado Tomato sandwich I had on that lovely day.

Mo found a coupon in our local paper for Sunday brunch at the Inn, which has been remodeled and refurbished since we last visited. One morning she said to me, “This is my choice for my birthday”.  Perfect.  I called and made a reservation.  She also said, “After brunch, let’s go to Crater Lake”.  Another perfect choice.  We haven’t been to Crater Lake in a couple of years, and most of the time we go there in order to show the magnificent blue to visiting friends.

Going to brunch north of Grants Pass first meant returning south of Grants Pass to continue east toward the mountains.  We knew there would be snow at Crater Lake, where the snows often pile up a dozen feet deep clear into May.  What surprised us was the gorgeous blue bird day that greeted us on Sunday morning, Mo’s special day.

Wolf Creek Inn was built around 1883 for Henry Smith, a local merchant-entrepreneur. Wolf Creek Tavern, as it was known then, was exceptionally well crafted by local sawyers. It served local traffic to mines and stage travelers connecting between Roseburg and Redding prior to the completion of the Oregon and California railroad through the Siskiyou Mountains in 1887.

Wolf Creek Inn is the oldest continuously operated hotel in the Pacific Northwest. It is here that Jack London completed his novel Valley Of The Moon. As an important stop on the 16 day stagecoach journey from San Francisco to Portland, the Wolf Creek Tavern has housed practically every important person found in the Northwest during the early history of Oregon.

Back in the early days of movies, the Inn became a refuge for beleaguered actors seeking an escape from demanding Hollywood studios. Clark Gable was a good friend of the innkeeper in the 1930s and stopped by several times while fishing the Rogue River just a few miles west of the Inn. Other visitors that have signed the guest register include Carole Lombard and Orson Wells.

Between 1975 and 1979, the Inn was acquired by the State of Oregon and restored. Wolf Creek Tavern is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is among the best preserved and oldest active travelers inns in Oregon.

When we arrived at the Inn, there were only a few guests, and our reservation may have been unnecessary. We settled in at a small window table and enjoyed the ambience of the old wooden floor and the wide ceiling planks.  A photo of Henry Smith watched over us as we dined.  The brunch was interesting, completely different than any we have enjoyed in the past.  The buffet portion of the brunch was in another room and consisted of some strange offerings for breakfast, including various German sausages and sauerkrauts, some kind of meat balls with gravy, and apple strudel.  Our brunch purchase included a cocktail of our choice, bloody mary or mimosa, the buffet choices, and what was called the “main plate”, which could also be ordered off the menu.  It was a bit confusing, with the buffet choices offered first so that by the time we received our main plate we were already well sated. For me, the bloody mary might have been enough.  Delicious!

After we ate, we retired to the front parlor with our unfinished drinks and enjoyed the warm fire.  A few folks came and went, a tiny girl running and playing, a young woman sitting down at the piano, people wandering around the house looking at the antiques and waiting for their turn at breakfast, or simply enjoying the public areas after staying at the Inn.

Leaving the Inn around 12, we headed back south on the interstate to the exit for the road east to Crater Lake.  Highway 234 winds along the Rogue River toward Shady Cove where it intersects with Highway 62.  We are very familiar with the other end of Highway 62 since it follows the southern boundary of Crater Lake National Park toward Fort Klamath in the Wood River Valley not far from where we used to live in Rocky Point.

One of my favorite vistas along Highway 62 as it approaches Prospect and Union Creek is the huge forest of Douglas fir and incense cedar that lines both sides of the highway.  The Rogue River flows unseen just to the west of the highway until it reaches the natural bridges area where trails and swinging pedestrian bridges cross the wild chasm of the Rogue flowing through basalt caves.  A wondrous place during the season, but the road is closed during the winter so no visit to the bridge this time.

As we continued up the mountain toward Crater Lake the snows got deeper and deeper along the highway, with the vertical walls created by snowplows more than a dozen feet high in places.  With the brilliant sunshine we marveled at the shadows of trees on the snowbanks.

We entered the park with our geezer pass and were surprised that the road leading to the south rim and Crater Lake Lodge was actually in better shape than parts of Highway 62 outside the park boundary.  The skies were incredibly blue and as we approached the Rim we could see strong winds blowing snow off the ridges around us and a heavy rime of ice on the trees along the highest ridges.

It was 27 F when we reached the Rim, and the snow banks were high enough that it was impossible to see the lake without climbing up the deep snowbanks.  We drove around the parking lot of the closed lodge and found a place to park not far from an access point that seemed not terribly difficult, even though it was hard packed snow and ice and incredibly slippery.

The shock of 27 degrees and a strong wind coming up from the lake was a surprise, and I had a terrible time trying to get photos of the lake with the phone.  Good thing I hadn’t tried to carry a big camera.  The lake was literally navy blue.  I have seen it at all stages of weather and all colors of blue, but I think this was the darkest ever.  I was completely frustrated that there were bright yellow cords and orange poles marking the boundary of what was safe enough to avoid a snowy crash into the crater.  With my freezing hands and the brilliant sun in my eyes, taking photos was almost impossible, and Mo and I laughed ourselves silly trying to get a selfie with the lake in the background. 

We walked back to the parked car and found another access point a bit farther down the rim and got out once again to brave the cold and to give Mattie a bit of an outing.  She was so excited to be on that snow, and we are pretty sure she thought it was just another cold sand dune and was ready to run wildly in circles.  Mo didn’t dare let her off the leash or she might have gone flying right down those snowy cliffs.  Once again, I tried to take photos of the two of them walking on the snowy ridge, but with my freezing fingers, trying to hold on to the sticks to keep from falling on the ice, hold the phone and see the completely blackened out display, I just gave up.  Only in our memories.

We didn’t stay long, happy to get back into our warm car in the warm sunshine.  Enough time had passed that we could adhere to tradition and stop in at Beckie’s Cafe for berry pie on the way home.  Beckie’s is famous locally, and most everyone who lives near Crater Lake on either side of the Cascades knows about their pies. 

On this sunny Sunday afternoon, we were lucky to get a booth for our delicious late afternoon dessert.  The pie was a delicious as always, and the coffee was served in heavy old fashioned mugs that have been part of old fashioned diners since I can remember.

It was a great day to spend a birthday.  When we returned home just before dark that evening, Mo found many birthday greetings, both email and facebook to honor her day.  Say what you will about Facebook, one of the more delightful aspects is getting all those birthday greetings from people who might never think to send an actual card.  Mo had real cards as well, and we lined them up as we traditionally do for birthdays and holidays on the bookshelf near the fireplace.

Happy 80th Birthday Mo!