Crater Lake

About 7000 years ago a volcano totally destroyed a huge mountain,  Mt. Mazama, and probably killed a whole lot of living things.   From this disaster we now have one of the most beautiful sights in the country!  If you have not seen Crater Lake then put it on the bucket list...it's incredible! 

As you drive into the park you can see how volcanic ash created some interesting pillar formations on these mountains thousands of years ago.  

The lake itself is quite an amazing site.  The views change as you drive the 33 mile circumference around the rim.   Wizard Island sits in the middle of the lake and is full of trees and much larger than it appears.  

This much smaller island is called Phanotm Ship.  Well named don't you think?  The smoke from nearby forest fires combined with the sun was causing a haziness over the lake by late afternoon. 

This rust colored sand formation is known as the Pumice Castle.  It was created by lava from the volcano.  Also, notice the cave that sits in the colored rock...I wonder what's living in there?  They do have bear, mountain lion, and other "interesting to see from a distance" animals.  

Here are another couple of my favorite formations along the lake's rim.

The only wildlife we encountered here were some beautiful birds and cute chipmunks.  This bird is a 

Clark's Nutcracker ( thanks Barb and Craig! ) and they were everywhere in the park! 

You can actually take a boat tour through the beautiful colored waters of Crater Lake.  The challenge with that is not so much the steep 1.5 mile hike down to the lake, but the same hike back up!  At an elevation somewhere around 8,000 feet there just isn't much oxygen!  It is the deepest (1,943 feet deep) lake in the USA and they claim that it is some of the freshest and purest water in the country.  We did not do the climb down but we are fairly certain it is also some of the coldest water.  Rumor has it that cousin Steve actually SWAM in this lake.  You are a brave man sir and we admire you even more now!  

Thanks to some new friends we met at the Running Y barbaque we found the Wildflower Flower Garden.  This hike was a lovely one covered with indigenous wildflowers and streams.  We recommed not missing this easy hike if you visit the park.  

Below are more of Bob's great photos of the Crater Lake area.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!