You may have seen previous postings of the view from the Lodge overlooking Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. It looked like this today, as you look east from the Lodge :

View across the marsh

Today was a beautiful day, so I went for a drive around 30 Mile Land, past the Wood River Wetlands and ended up at Agency Lake. Here’s the view looking back to the west, toward Crystalwood Lodge across Agency Lake.

Agency Lake and Cascades with Sky Lakes Wilderness

As you can see, the Sky Lakes Wilderness and the high country atop the Cascades are still snow-bound. In a year with a normal winter, that situation would continue perhaps even into July, but this year, I’m guessing the trails will open earlier than normal due to the light winter we had. Right now we’re having very mild spring days, so stay tuned for the hiking updates!

Last but not least, you can’t talk about spring around here without talking about birds. Hearing birds, seeing birds. Everywhere. The cliff swallows that grace the sides of the lodge and delight our guests are back as usual, and busy nesting and eating the emerging bug population. I tried to catch a few shots of them near sunset, as they congregate before calling it a day:

Flock of cliff swallows at Crystalwood Lodge

Flock of cliff swallows near Crystalwood Lodge nests

So there you have it. Birds, fishing, snow remnants, budding trees, marsh greening up, beautiful days…spring and summer are a very special fleeting time around here! Hope you have the chance to get away and enjoy it with us!!

Don’t forget…for a complete calendar of all there is to see and do around Crystalwood Lodge, make sure to check out our new local visitor website, Things To Do Near Crater Lake. An outgrowth of our award-winning local visitor newspaper, the website is a tremendous resource for the myriad of recreational opportunities and services in our area. More about that in an upcoming post!

Daffodils bring the promise of spring at Crystalwood Lodge

Daffodills welcome the longer warm spring days

The birds are definitely coming back early, the grass is greening up…can spring be far behind? Crystalwood Lodge and the Upper Klamath Basin near Crater Lake are gearing up for spring migration, fishing season opener and  looking forward to the long lazy days of summer! We welcome you to join us!

I wanted to pass along an exciting fishing report for those guests and prospective guests who are fishermen…the fish are here, hungry and waiting for you right outside the front door of Crystalwood Lodge!

Our first fisherman of the season visited this week, and had “his best day ever in our area”.  This gentleman has fished our general area many times, usually putting in at Malone Springs which is about 3-4 miles below us on the spring creek system, halfway to Upper Klamath Lake.  This time he brought his float tube and put in here at Crystalwood, allowing him to fish Crystal Spring itself and the upper part of Crystal Creek.

What a day he had!  He landed 15 redband rainbow trout, which are our native trophy trout here in the spring creek system encompassing Crystal Spring, Malone Spring, Crystal Creek and Recreation Creek.  Many of them were good sized with the largest being at least 10 lbs!  That one also happened to be the closest one to Crystalwood Lodge, as Crystal Spring is just a few yards from our front door.  Here’s a couple of pictures:

Redband Rainbow Trout at Crystalwood Lodge May 2009

Redband Trout landed at Crystalwood Lodge May 2009

Most of the day’s successful fishing was done with a leech pattern custom developed for this area, although mid-day the fish were rising and he did get one on a caddis dry fly.  Another fish in the deep part of Crystal Spring was landed on a small chronomid.  Typically the really big wild trout in Crystal Spring and Creek respond to either leech or wooly bugger patterns, as they need lots of food to grow that big!

For those of you who haven’t had the thrill of being able to fish our area, it is one of the finest wild trophy trout fisheries in the West…and one of its best kept secrets!  We boast large redband rainbows, which are genetically related to steelhead with their size and fight, and although they are landlocked, they are highly migratory because of the extreme fluctuations in water temperature which occur in our waters.  This time of year and throughout the summer, they head up the spring creeks and rivers seeking our cold water — Crystal Spring is a high volume chilly 39 degrees year-round!  Locally we also have big German Browns on the nearby Wood River, lake fishing on Agency and Upper Klamath Lakes, and brookies in our local alpine creeks and lakes.

If this is your first time fishing in our area, we’d suggest a guided trip to maximize your chances of getting on the fish.  As mentioned above, the fish are highly migratory, and the guides are on the water daily and know exactly where the fish are.  We can hook you up with an expert local guide, and would be happy to provide Oregon fishing licenses here at the Lodge as we are a license sales agent.

Whatever your fishing preferences — fly or lure, bank or boat, dry or wet flies, self or professionally guided — the fish are waiting for you to take your best shot at them!

Crystalwood Lodge at the base of the Oregon Cascades viewed from the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Forest walking trails on the Crystalwood Lodge property

As you can see, everything is lush, green, and bursting with life! As I’ve mentioned in past posts,the birds have all arrived and are busy nesting and working on the next generation. Next time I’ll post more bird pictures, and I hope to be able to get out and take pictures of our prolific Great Blue Heron rookery, in the lodgepole pines along the east edge of our property and the marsh. It’s quite a sight!

Meanwhile, back at the Lodge, the view changes daily. Within the last week the aspens have almost all leafed out, likewise the willows. The grass and garden is being tended, and flowers are appearing.

One of our ponds in the front meadow through the early spring leaves of the aspen grove

View of the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge from behind Crystalwood Lodge

This is the view on the opposite side of Crystalwood Lodge from the front meadow.
Weather this week is supposed to be wonderful — nicely warm, in the upper 70s/low 80s, perhaps a small chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Those are amazing…to see the storms roll across the marsh…if we get some, I’ll definitely try for some pictures!

The front of Crystalwood Lodge as seen from a canoe out on Crystal Spring.

Come and enjoy springtime in the Klamath Basin...and don't forget your best friends!

As you can see, it’s still early, but spring is sprung!  Fishing season is open, the water is high for canoeing, and there’s plenty to do in the area.  Our seasonal staff is onboard (more about that in another post) and we’re looking forward to a great summer season.  Hope you can join us!

Oh yes, and the cliff swallows are back and already nesting on the Lodge!

Western Trek Day 16 – Peaceful Valley, originally uploaded by emace.

Starting April 24, the 2009 season will open for reservations at Crystalwood Lodge bed and breakfast inn.

While the lodge is open year-round for event rental, the summer season will start on April 24, which corresponds with the opening of trout season on Crystal Creek, the Wood River and many of the other surrounding fisheries.

The Klamath Basin features one of the finest native trout fisheries in the Western United States.  Trophy sized redband rainbows and German brown abound the the cold rich waters.  Crystal Spring, on the southern edge of the property just out the front door of Crystalwood Lodge, boasts a large population of 12+ lb. redbands, thanks to the spring water being a brisk 39 degrees year-round.  Come prepared — the water is so clear, the fish can see you coming a mile away!  You can get them to bite, but you might have to go the extra mile to outwit them first!  Come try your luck and see what happens!!

sunrise at crater lake, OR, originally uploaded by Pavan Chitumalla.

The summer is always a popular time to visit Crater Lake, and it is beautiful in the summer. But if you have never seen the lake in the winter or the spring, then you are definitely missing out on many of its charms.

A Crater Lake sunrise is a special occasion, and one made possible by a stay at Crystalwood Lodge, one of the closest lodging options to Crater Lake National Park.