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Article by Bren Hirschberg
22 Colorful Porsches took advantage of a gorgeous Fall Weekend to tour south to Train Mountain and Crater Lake led by the Hirschbergs and the Shaws. The first part of the drive took a circuitous and open-road approach to Chiloquin rather than sticking to the routine Hwy 97.
We arrived at the Train Mountain Rail Road facility in time for lunch, an amusing introduction to the area by “Engineer Dennis”, and then set off on three separate trains for an hours-ride through the fall colors. Taking time at the end to tour their train repair, construction, and storage facilities and chat with the train enthusiasts and owners. Talk about dedication, they can put up a good run against any Porsche Concours team for attention to detail!
Back in the cars, our Porsche Parade headed up the back way to Crater Lake National Park. We arrived at the Lodge and lined up our cars in dedicated parking spots. Luckily, the early day fog and rain cleared just as we arrived and we had a spectacular view of the Lake and surroundings! Despite some challenges with an electrical problem in the kitchen, the Lodge staff rallied to give us all an enjoyable cocktail hour and an excellent dinner.
Waking to a gorgeous sunrise over Crater Lake and time to wander restored our perspective and appreciation of one of the most beautiful places in the entire USA! Back to the cars for a pleasant un-hurried drive to Crane Prairie Reservoir for lunch then on back to Bend. Terrific Fall weekend, wonderful roads for driving, and excellent company with our HDR friends, made for a great tour!