Friday, July 3, 2015 Travel day to Mazama Campground at Crater Lake, OR
We left at 8am and the drive was short and lovely to look
at. I tried to get some of the blog
posted going down the road and it was a good thing because just as we got into
the trees we lost all contact. We arrived around noon and got setup. We had lunch before we ventured out to see
what we could see. The crater is about 7
miles from us.
Here is some history about Crater Lake. It is the deepest
lake in the United States at 1943 feet and it 4.5 to 6 miles in width. It is also the cleanest large body of water
in the world. It is only fed by snow and
rain. The water has great clarity and
intense blue color. The lake rests inside
a caldera that was formed 7700 years ago when the 12000 foot volcano collapsed
during a major eruption. Wizard Island
was formed from another eruption which is called a cinder cone. Last years’ snowfall was only 16 feet which
was a record low. In 1931 the snowfall
was at 43 feet!!! Can you imagine that!
It is a 33 mile trip around the rim of Crater Lake with 30
places to stop. The views of the lake were
remarkable. The water is so very blue
and each stop we caught a new view of this lake. We stop at Discovery Point this was the place
in 1853 that this lake was discovered.
Watchman Point gives you a view of Wizard Island. On Monday we are taking a hike down to the
boat ramp and then a boat ride over to this island. We saw a pumice castle, this happened through
the erosion of the softer materials in the crater wall, a phantom ship, these
spires are the oldest rock in Crater Lake at over 400,000 years old, and Vidae
Falls. Sunday we are going to take a
hike to the Pinnacles. We even saw
snow!! Jeff and I had to get out of the
car and touch it to make sure that it was real and the temperature was 92
degrees. The ride around the rim was
very enjoyable. Besides the views my
highlight was seeing the Clark’s Nutcracker and the Golden Mantled Ground
Squirrel. I got very close to both
because they thought that I had some food.
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| A ride through the tall Oregon trees |
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| thought that this sign was out of place |
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| First sight of Crater Lake |
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| Wizard Island |
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| Pumice Castle |
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| Pumice Castle |
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| Phantom Ship-Look at the water behind ship |
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| Snow at 92 degrees |
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| Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel |
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| Clark's Nutcracker |
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| Mountain ranges |
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| Meadow |
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| Just another view |
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| Another side of the lake |
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| Another view |
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| Vidae Falls |
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