Crater Lake

Last Saturday and Sunday Barb and I hiked various trails around Crater Lake. I’d been there a couple times before but hadn’t really done any hiking.

Our first hike was to The Watchman Lookout:

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At over 7000 feet above sea level there was some snow but nothing blocking the trails:

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The weather was wonderful with visibility probably exceeding 100 miles.

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With such clear skies the water was intensely blue (this is straight from my phone camera, no color adjustments):

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The incredible blue color is not new. 1853 prospectors named it “Deep Blue Lake” and in 1862 another set of prospectors named it Blue Lake. The color is because the water is extremely clear and deep. In the deepest part it is 1,943 feet deep. It is so clear that person in a submersible vehicle at the greatest depth was able to see the flag on the vehicle with only the sunlight which made it to those depths.

The island is called Wizard Island. The crater on the top of the island is called Witch’s Caldron. If you take a boat to the Island you can explore the entire island. We decided not to invest the time (the better part of a day) to go on that excursion.

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From the other side of the lake we saw the island named Phantom Ship, a bald eagle, and some very tiny flowers:

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There were several other geological features to be seen in the park which we visited on Sunday but the highlights as seen above can easily be viewed in a single day without strenuous hiking.

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3 thoughts on “Crater Lake

  1. Being a Native Oregonian, I’ve been to Crater Lake several times and I’ve always appreciated the beauty of the crystal clear waters, and the wonder of Wizard Island.

    Also, there are an amazing variety of chipmunks who make their homes in the near vicinity . … if you haven’t taken the opportunity to feed them (appropriate foods) and enjoy their company, you’ve missed some of the attraction. The rodents are very friendly to Man, and they expect that you bring them treats. Over the generations, they have become so accustomed to processed foods they don’t seem to suffer from preservatives. (or else they are so profligate, you can’t tell if you’re killing them off. )

    I highly recommend a trip to this natural wonder … if meteors are Bad For People, they seem to be, in at least this one example, very good for providing a scenic Oregon wonderland.

    • You do know that no meteors were involved in the creation of Crater Lake, right?

      • Although when the Mazama caldera blew to form Crater Lake, it sent meteor-sized volcanic bombs as far as British Columbia! It was a heck of a blast.

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