I had only seen photos of Crater Lake and was skeptical that any body of water could be that blue but my first siting of the lake dispelled any such notion. Needless to say, it was a stunning, breathtaking, bluer than blue color that was unforgettable. Our good weather goddess continued to follow us, with warm temperatures, clear, sunny skies, and no wind. The lake was a nearly perfect mirror of the sky and the surrounding caldera. Crater Lake was formed when the volcano, Mt. Mazama erupted about 7,700 years and collapsed in on itself forming a caldera. This eruption was estimated at about 100 time the magnitude of the Mt. St. Helens eruption. The lake is not fed by any streams or rivers but just by rain and snow. The Crater Lake area averages over 44 feet of snow per year. It is the deepest lake in the US at nearly 2000 feet and it is considered the cleanest and purest large body of water in the world. You can see down to a depth of 100 feet and sunlight is able to penetrate to nearly 400 feet.
We so enjoyed the Rim Drive that circles the lake, with its many pullouts and overlooks. It offered us the chance to not only see the lake from so many different viewpoints, but also take in the surrounding scenery. Having lunch at one of the overlooks was a magical moment. We even encountered a coyote on our drive. The hikes that we took allowed us to see the some of the other features of the park like the volcanic pinnacles as well as the streams and waterfalls that are on the other side of the caldera.
Crater Lake was the fifth national park established in 1902. It’s hard to imagine what this lake, caldera and forest would look like had there been no protection of this wonderful, scenic, natural resource. It was an amazing, awesome visit to this park and certainly surpassed our expectations.
As a bonus, we stayed in a campground on the Rogue River. The river was pretty full and the water was moving at a good pace. Although it was shallow, there were special unpowered boats and rafts drifting down the river. The passengers ranged from fishermen to party people. Our site overlooked it and we watched as craft after craft went by. It was a great place for happy hour.
