Oregon Vacation - Crater Lake!




We took a day trip to visit nearby Crater Lake (nearby in these parts = about 4 hours on the road). The weather was terrific, and we had a nice drive and visit at the park. We didn't have enough time or energy to hike from the crater rim to the lake surface, but we giked around the rim a bit and enjoyed the view.

The mountain was originally a volcano, and the crater was formed after the last big erruption, when the whole top of the mountain caved in. The water formed from snowfall and rainfall only -- no streams lead to it, and there's no underground source.





This was taken from the visitor's center, just at the top of the entry road. There is a long walk there with lots of great viewing areas. There's a 33 mile road which circles the rim, with several rim trails meeting it. There is one trail which goes to the lake surface, but it's a 700 foot drop in elevation, and requires a hearty climber for the return hike!





This is taken from the same spot. It shows how reflective the water is.





More of the same. This shows part of Wizard Island, which is in the middle of the lake.





These small squirrels were running around the rim area. This one dislodged a small rock as he ran by, and we heard it falling for at least 50 feet. Maybe that's why they don't have any large squirrels!





The lake is known for being very blue, and this shot shows that pretty well. There were some places you could look into the water, and the color was so strong it was hard to convince yourself you were looking at the water's surface.





This was taken from a trail a ways counterclockwise around the rim -- Sun Notch. You can see the "Phantom Ship" island in the background. This is just a little bit of rock sticking from the water.





This was looking across the crater from the same spot. It was a little later in the afternoon, so we were getting more shadows.





Here's Rick standing on the outside of the rim. The crater edge is about 50 feet behind him.