Crater Lake, Oregon

One of the big destinations on my list was Crater Lake. After being in the desert, I longed to see forests and feel cooler weather again. Being in the desert made me realize how much I truly love Western Washington and its climate. After a quick stop in Bend, OR and drive through town, I hightailed it down to Crater Lake. I went to a few viewpoints in the park before settling in my campsite w/in the National Park. The sites were equipped with bear boxes and the campground was populated probably 1/2 way, so of course, in only my nature, I started getting scared of being eaten by a bear. Despite these fears, I pitched my tent, threw all food and toiletries in the box and settled down for the night. The temps here are in the mid to high 80s during the day and go down to the 40s at night. I didn't notice that it was overly chilly though but instead was focused on the crying baby in the next campsite and these random windgusts that would come in. You could hear the wind coming and then it'd hit, shaking my tent for a few seconds and then be gone like it never happened.

The next morning, 9/10/11, I headed out to explore. I hit up the visitor centers to learn about how the lake was formed and then did a few hikes to get better views and some exercise. I ended up driving the whole way around the lake and did a hike to a waterfall and to these things called pinnacles. The lake used to be volcanic and all these mini volcanoes exploded around it and the mountain, Mt. Mazama, collapsed and formed the crater, then snow, rainwater filled the crater to what it is now today, there's a lot more than that, but in a nutshell...and it's the deepest lake in the U.S. So deep, we can't really even conceptulize it. And it's so blue, there's still some snow here and there. I've included a photo of Phanton Ship - which was a volcano in the lake that is actually 6 stories high, but looks tiny - this provides an idea of how large this lake truly is - gigantic. The photos just don't do justice and I was never able to get to a point where I could get the whole lake in my viewfinder. I visited a waterfall that they recently discovered as well as the pinnacles. The pinnacles are these column-like structures that were formed when there was ashe, lava and basalt deposited and then air fissures broke through releasing hot gases. Some chemical in the gases hardened making these shells which were then uncovered as rain, wind and streambeds eroded the stuff around the fissures - hard to explain. Oh yeah, they were also having wildfires in the park and I took some photos since I've never been that close to one.

Crater Lake

Again, the lake, artsy shot

The closest I got to getting the whole thing in my viewfinder

Phantom Ship - 6 stories tall (including what's underwater)

the Pinnacles

Natural wildfires