1. Home
  2. Routes
  3. Crater Lake Rim High Route (OR)

Route: Crater Lake Rim High Route (OR)

Location
Oregon, US
Description

(Original Name was “Crater Lake Circumnavigation w/ 7 High Points"; changed 6/6/2020).

Established by Winston Mueller and Jason Hardrath in 2018 to circumnavigate one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

Choose any starting point so long as you finish where you start and tag all 7 high points. Route involves some route finding and many epic views. The high points provide perspectives of the lake few ever see. 

Llao Rock, Hillman Peak, The Watchman, Garfield Peak, Applegate Peak, Dutton Cliffs, and Cloudcap Peak are your checkpoints of the day. Use as much or little of the Crater Lake Rim Drive as suits you in your effort.

You will spend the day bouncing between 6000’ and 8000’, if you live low, it tends to become a factor towards the end of the day.

There is sometimes water (or snow) available along the route (some report at the bottom of Applegate peak), but it is a safe bet (if you are going unsupported) to carry start to finish. There are many great places to cache supplies if going self-supported.

Winston adds: "Our [original gpx] beta for downclimbing the back of the Dutton Cliff is dis-recommended."

27-29 miles depending on the line you take
~ 7500’ of vert 

Good luck! Enjoy the views! 

Due to the unique “choose our own adventure” style of this FKT route, a group of the first FKT holders chose to jump on a zoom call during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 to chat about their experiences and advice for future attempts over beers. There are nuggets of beta and entertaining stories throughout, enjoy that here:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNQ-ILPbDEs

Audio: https://bit.ly/3dkT7DM

- Submitted by Jason Hardrath

GPS Track
Crater-Lake-Circum.gpx1.71 MB

FKTs

Comments

Jason Hardrath…
Fri, 06/05/2020 - 03:36pm

Here is a more current route write up for the Crater Lake Rim High Route:

Established by Winston Mueller and Jason Hardrath in 2018 as a classic method for circumnavigating one of the most beautiful lakes in the world (originally named “Crater Lake Circumnavigation w/ 7 High Points):

"Choose any starting point so long as you finish where you start and tag all 7 high points. Route involves some route finding and many epic views. The high points provide perspectives of the lake few ever see making this a classic endeavor. 

27-29 miles depending on the line you take

~ 7500’ of vert 

Llao Rock, Hillman Peak, The Watchman, Garfield Peak, Applegate Peak, Dutton Cliffs, and Cloudcap Peak are your checkpoints of the day. Use as much or little of the Crater Lake Rim Drive as suits you in your effort. Good luck! Enjoy the views! 

You will spend the day bouncing between 6000’ and 8000’, if you live low, it tends to become a factor towards the end of the day.

There is sometimes water (or snow) available along the route (some report at the bottom of Applegate peak), but it is a safe bet (if you are going unsupported) to carry start to finish. There are many great places to cache supplies if going self-supported.

*Winston adds: "our [original gpx] beta for downclimbing the back of the Dutton Cliff is dis-recommended"

Due to the unique “choose our own adventure” style of this FKT route, a group of the first FKT holders chose to jump on a zoom call during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 to chat about their experiences and advice for future attempts over beers, there are nuggets of beta and entertaining stories throughout, enjoy that here…

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNQ-ILPbDEs

Just Audio: https://bit.ly/3dkT7DM