A month ago when my Grandpa Marion, Uncle Matthew, and Cousin Anna came out to visit from the Flat Lands we went to Crater Lake as you have likely noted from the previous posts. There was over 12 feet of snow on the ground which made easy work of activities such as making snow angels, snow cones, yellow snow, and sledding. We weren't interested in the former but did take part in the latter. My daddy thought that sledding off the snow drifts on the lodge would be the most fun as it offered the opportunity to not have to hike through the snow to the actual designated sledding area and to sled with a view of the lake, as seen by these pictures.
Who would have thought, however, that these innocent, benign, innocuous activities should be verboten? Yes, my daddy is a veritable criminal and a ringleader of sorts. To lead his brother-in-law, Uncle Matthew, down the wayward path - unconscionable. Not to mention besmirching my mommy in her association with daddy. It is said that nefarious pursuits such as this are gateways to activities leading to a life of crime and of running from the Law.
Apparently it is illegal to sled off lodge roofs in United States' (including territories) National Parks. It doesn't matter that the lodge is mostly buried in snow. At any rate, the Crater Lake Lodge Sledding Law Enforcement Special Task Force (CLLSLESTF) was dispatched to intervene and remove us by force, if necessary. The photo below shows the captain of the CLLSLESTF intercepting my daddy to bring the full force of the Law upon his wayward activities.
My daddy protested that it's a free country and that many people have died in defense and protection of his right to sled off lodge roofs in national parks. This unleashed the wrath of the the CLLSLESTF captain as shown in the picture below.
Were it not for my daddy's silver tongue and the fact that he is my daddy he would surely have been sent down the river, or slope as it may be in this case, for a very long time.
The moral of the story is: Freedom does not extend to lodge roof sledding, no matter how much snow. If you have any other morals to this story you might want to share, please do. I'm looking for ones to live my life by.
JEO
