A few weeks ago, with family from out of town visiting, we got our first chance to use my husband’s recently acquired senior lifetime parks pass.

Back at the start of the summer, I wrote about some ways to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. In researching that blog, I learned that citizens 62 and older may get a lifetime pass to enter our national parks for an unbelievably reasonable cost of $10. Shortly thereafter, Harry stopped in at our local National Forest Service office where he filled out the paperwork, presented his I.D., handed over his 10 bucks and, after less than 10 minutes, walked out with his pass.

Some in our party had never visited Oregon’s sole national park, Crater Lake. A mere 90-minute drive from our home, we decided it offered the perfect day trip for a sunny summer day. Everyone in the car was admitted under the pass hanging from our rearview mirror. Better yet, at the direction of a ranger who spotted it, we pulled out of the long line of cars waiting to pass through the entrance gate to zip right on into the park, saving us precious time better spent once we arrived at the rim of the caldera. We spent some time wandering along the pathways at Rim Village, admiring the views  and finding the deep blue of the lake stunningly beautiful.

Displays at historic overlook buildings provide information about the history, geology, flora and fauna within the park, and Park Service rangers present talks at set times to familiarize visitors with various aspects of the region. We also took time to visit the public rooms of the historic and restored Crater Lake Lodge, operated by park concessionaire Xanterra and a member of the Historic Hotels of America.

Originally built in 1915, the 71-room property sits right on the rim of the imploded volcanic crater, and one can sit outside on the wide stone verandah and drink in the views. Inside, large, old-growth timber, bark-on log pillars  and stone fireplaces  provide rustic charm  and a sense of solid history.

Visiting the park provided me a chance to reconnect with a bit of my personal history, as I spent a summer working there nearly 40 years ago while I was in college. It pleased me to see this beautiful old building, once a dangerous fire trap and threatened with demolition, restored to its original splendor and still sheltering visitors from all over the world.

We took the park Rim Road part of the way around the 26-mile circumference of the lake; although it was early July, the eastern half of the drive was still closed due to the winter’s heavy accumulation of snow. It nevertheless afforded us stunning vistas both down into the lake and out to the surrounding countryside, even offering us a peek at Mt. Shasta, far to the south across the California border.

Our trip to the nation’s deepest lake proved a great (and inexpensive!) outing, and one which we’ll be sure to repeat again and again.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor