Days 32 & 33, June 18-19, 2025
Miles traveled: 5,261
We’ve written a bunch of posts lately including more than one destination or activity. A supremely magnificent National Park like Crater Lake deserves its own post!
We devoted two days to this amazing place but did little more than gawk and take photos. Six thousand feet is a bit much altitude for me to do our usual strenuous activity. We hiked for about an hour on the Discovery trail around the rim.
This cool graphic shows what the volcano , Mt Mazama, looked like before the big eruption.
Everyone who sees the beautiful water of the lake asks themselves the same question- why is the lake so blue?
The answer is what you might expect. The lake is extremely deep, over 2,000 feet. More depth to bring out the blue (or, technically, the other colors are absorbed by the pure water). The lake is extremely placid. The wind sometimes sends ripples across the surface but there are no inlets or outlets to roil the surface. No inlets means that no particulate matter, other than what’s produced by the volcanic walls, enters the water. No silt, no pollution.
We saw a bit of tree pollen floating around but the water is pure and clear. The lake is filled by rainwater and snow. Crater Lake gets an average of 41 feet of snow each winter.
We saw the lake at 2 different times of day, evening after 6pm and the next morning at approximately 10:00. None of these lake photos are edited nor are the colors enhanced in any way. Truly amazing place!
Highly recommend!
Jane
(Written in the Flying M Coffee Shop, Boise, ID)
Post script: I was here in 1982, hope I can find my slides and 35mm pics from then just to compare. It was at my insistence that we came here this time. I’d like to insist that you all make the trek also. (Maybe a bit later as the whole road will be open and more trails available)
David
The Voyage of the Tramper 