Where to start…
Crater Lake may have been my favorite park of the entire road trip so far. Regardless, it is certainly the National Park I seemed to have taken the most pictures of, so far.
Some history of Crater Lake:
Crater Lake is the fifth oldest National Park in the United States. It is also the deepest lake in the United States, reaching a depth of 1,943 feet, at it’s deepest point. The water is also the bluest water I have ever seen in my life. Crater Lake formed when Mount Mazama erupted in the year 5667. In that explosion, the mountain collapsed into the caldera, and over time, the caldera filled with water and that water formed Crater Lake. Crater Lake was formed about 7,700 years ago.
Moving onwards now…
So anyways, Justin and I woke up, in our tent that we successfully set up, and then I showered. The KOA showers were much nicer than the Housekeeping Camp ones… Then Justin made breakfast… freeze dried scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and red pepper, just add boiling water, yum, so good, and then we headed to the Human Bean,an amazing independent coffee we discovered in the town of Klamath Falls that pwns Starbucks, and drove to Crater Lake, which was about an hour from our campsite.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, stamped our passports, bought stickers for our passports, bought some postcards [and I’m happy to say that Justin and I mailed about 50 postcards from the trip, thus far, at Crater Lake], and headed into our car to drive Rim Drive.
Rim Drive is a 33 mile scenic drive that goes around the entire circular object that is Crater Lake National Park, and deposits you at most of the scenic spots. Crater Lake is a massive collection of mountains, water, wildflowers, rock, and evergreen trees.
The drive really wasn’t too bad. It took us about four hours, but that’s because I make Justin stop at every single viewpoint, as well as some “unofficial” viewpoints so I can take pictures. I’m sure it doesn’t take the average person as long as it did for us. It also wasn’t very crowded. I mean some of the more popular viewpoints did have a decent amount of people there, but it wasn’t crowded in the last compared to Grand Canyon or Yosemite. The road also wasn’t that crowded, at all, there were no stalls, traffic jams, or anything.
When we went, it was cold and cloudy and very windy out, so we didn’t get to see the lake in all its splendor, but it was still beautiful, even though it wasn’t as colorful as it is on a sunny day.
We got to see some animal-life at Crater Lake. I’m not talking like a bear [Justin is still sad that he didn’t see one in Yosemite, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy all the bison sightings.] , but we did see a squirrel and random birds.
We got to see Wizard Island, which is an “island” in Crater Lake, that is also an active Volcano. We didn’t want to wait to catch a boat tour to explore Crater Lake, so we didn’t actually visit it or anything.
We also got to see Phantom Ship, which is a small island that people say looks like a ship. Personally, I thought it looked more like a Castle.
It was really was beautiful there. But as with all National Parks, words nor pictures can do it justice. So while it may not have been as massive as some of the other National Parks were,it makes up with its beauty.
And it is truly an amazing place.
Then it was back on the road, a stop at the gift shop, for some souvenirs for friends. Then we ate at sizzler, where we feasted on the all you can eat salad bar and then back to the campground, and a rainy night in the tent, where I read kindle, and Justin just chilled.
Off to Portland tomorrow.
