The trailhead for Mount Scott is located along East Rim Drive, 18 kilometres east of the junction with Crater Lake Highway North or 20 kilometres east of the junction with Munson Valley Road.  There are no facilities at this trailhead, but a vault toilet is available at the picnic area about 250 metres to the north along the road.

The sun was just rising as Zosia and I began walking the wide and well-maintained trail to Mount Scott.  The trail winds around the west and south side of the mountain before rising up a series of switchbacks to the summit ridge.  A short and easy traverse from there leads to an active fire lookout atop the summit.  We had absolutely no issues hiking this trail, and it took us 90 minutes to reach the top.  The fire lookout was unmanned and closed on this day, and we hung around there for about 50 minutes.  During this time, several other hikers arrived at the summit, and we chatted at length with a family from Spain who astonishingly were on their way to Calgary because the mother had landed a temporary job with the Calgary Board of Education.  When we left the summit, our descent took about an hour and was uneventful.

	Zosia starts up the trail to Mount Scott which is in the background.
	The sun rises over Crater Lake National Park.
	The trail to the top of Mount Scott is very pleasant.
	Shafts of sunlight poke through the clouds at this viewpoint near the summit ridge.

Zosia approaches the top of Mount Scott along the summit ridge.

 

	The most notable landmarks that are clearly visible to the north on this day are Diamond Lake and Mount Thielsen.
	Zosia and Sonny crouch on one of the rocks at the top of Mount Scott (2719 metres), the highest point of Crater Lake National Park.
	Here is the survey benchmark on the summit of Mount Scott.
	The fire lookout atop Mount Scott is boarded up on this day.

Here is the most comprehensive view of Crater Lake from the summit ridge of Mount Scott.  Directly above Wizard Island is The Watchman.

 

	Upper Klamath Lake (distant left) and Mount McLoughlin (on horizon behind Zosia) are visible far to the south.
	Total Distance:  7.4 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  3 hours 25 minutes Net Elevation Gain:  373 metres GPX Data

Upon the completion of our hike to Mount Scott, Zosia and I drove clockwise around Crater Lake and stopped at a couple of scenic viewpoints including Cloudcap Overlook and Phantom Ship Overlook.  We also walked the easy Sun Notch loop trail before heading to the Rim Village Visitor Center in hopes of finding something hot to eat.  Unfortunately, the Visitor Center was closed on this day, and instead, we drove to the next pullout along the Rim Drive and stopped there to snack on some veggies with chips and salsa from our cooler.

	Sonny observes Phantom Ship from a viewpoint along Sun Notch loop trail.  On the horizon at far left is Mount Thielsen. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Here is a closer look at Phantom Ship. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

After lunch, Zosia and I hiked up The Watchman, a high point along the western rim of Crater Lake.

The trailhead for The Watchman is located along West Rim Drive, 6.0 kilometres west of the junction with the turnoff to Rim Village or 3.4 kilometres south of the junction with Crater Lake Highway North.

Like Mount Scott, an active fire lookout sits atop The Watchman and is easily accessed by a short, well-maintained trail which is perhaps one of the busiest in the park.  It took Zosia and me 34 minutes to climb to the top, and the crux of the trip was waiting for an oblivious Chinese tourist fiddling with his camera to move out of the way so that we could take a self-timed photograph of ourselves on the summit.  Our subsequent descent took a mere 20 minutes.  By the time we returned to our car, rain clouds were brewing over the area, and we decided to end our visit and drive out of the park.

Zosia begins hiking the easy trail that goes up The Watchman.

The view of Wizard Island from the trailhead for The Watchman is already pretty good.  Left of centre across the lake is Mount Scott.

 

	Zosia reaches the base of the fire lookout atop The Watchman.
	The view of Wizard Island from the top of The Watchman is hardly different than that from the trailhead.
	Sonny and Zosia stand atop The Watchman (2440 metres).
	Hillman Peak (left) and Llao Rock (distant right) are the next two high points along the rim of Crater Lake.
	Total Distance:  2.9 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  1 hour 15 minutes Net Elevation Gain:  120 metres GPX Data