Camping at Crater Lake, July 18th

I can’t start this post without mentioning first that this is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. Ever since I moved to Oregon, I’ve been wanting to go to Crater Lake as it is one of the “things to see” here. Crater Lake, as its name indicates, is a lake in the crater of a volcano. Just with that description you would imagine it must be interesting. Well, that’s just for starters. The lake is located at the top of Mount Mazama, a Volcano that erupted about 7700 years ago. According to studies done, with all the material that was blown away, the mountain was not able to hold itself so it just collapsed forming a deep basin or caldera. Smaller eruptions followed later that formed what today is Wizard Island (which looks like a little volcano) and some other structures that today are under water. This basin was then filled with water from melted snow and ice. As you’ll see in the pictures, the deep blue/turquoise color of this lake is just incredible. The reason for this color is the purity of the water. Being at 6000 feet above sea level, this lake doesn’t have rivers or creeks that feed it or come out of it. All the water comes from melted snow. Some other key facts are that this lake is not shallow; in fact, this lake is 1943 feet deep, making it the deepest lake in the US. It isn’t small either at roughly 6 miles in diameter. Nothing but impressive.
Our trip started early Friday. Driving there from Portland takes about 5 hours. After a long drive thru central Oregon and entering the park, you’re presented some magnificent views of Diamond peak just before driving thru Pumice Dessert. After that, the road starts ascending without any hint of when you’ll get to the lake. At some point the road ends in a view point across from the Rim drive, a highway that circles the crater. You actually have to get out of the car and walk up a bit to get the first view of this incredible place. Besides being almost stunned by the beauty and color of the lake, the crater itself is also interesting as it is steep all the way around the lake. There is only one access point to get down to water level. From there we continued around stopping at various view points that offered different perspectives of the lake on our way to the campground. Setting camp and lunch followed before heading out again to explore a bit. We drove around to Cleetwood trail, the only access to the lake. Not only we wanted to get to the lake but also get information on the boat rides to Wizard Island. This walk and proximity to the lake was great. To top all that, that first night we had a full moon, so we went up to one of the view points to enjoy the spectacle and take pictures. The following day was hazy so views of the lake where not as good as on Friday. Still, we decided to go for a hike to Mount Scott, the highest peak in the Crater Lake National Park. This trail starts at about 7200 feet and goes up to about 9000 giving some incredible views of the park, the lake and surrounding areas. The hike itself was strenuous as expected but beautiful. On the way back to camp, we continued around the rim stopping at more view points. One of them gave us a clear view of Phantom ship, a rock formation that resembles a ship in the lake. Truly an amazing view. After dinner and having enjoyed the moon the previous night, we went to the same spot to enjoy the sunset. Finally on Sunday, after breakfast and packing we drove around and took our last peeks at the lake before heading home. You’ll see in the pictures that we took a small detour to Crescent Lake; a smaller lake outside the park with boat access. A nice place to rest before the last portion of the trip back home.