Saturday, September 22, 2012

Crater Lake NP


I woke up in the morning, and it was a good thing I got the propane working last night because it was 31 degrees.  The heater was working great!  Got some breakfast and headed towards Crater Lake National Park.  I came in the north entrance, and the first stop was the Pumice Desert. Probably not everyone’s first stop, but was interesting and the first turnout I came to in the park. 


Then on towards North Junction,  This was my first view of the lake! I had never been here before and my first reaction was to just sit and stare in amazement; the sky was clear and the lake was a color blue I had never seen in water before. The last time I remember doing this was in the Canyonlands NP in Utah a long time ago.   The lake is over 1900 feet deep and about 6 miles long (at the deepest and widest points).  The drive around the rim is about 33 miles.  The blue color is because the lake is deep and probably the purest water on earth.  No rivers or anything else feeds it,  only rain and snow.  It stays at about 38 degrees year round.




Next was Watchman Overlook.  I hiked up to the tower for a 360 degree view of the entire area.  A friend of mine’s niece is doing a project on Crater Lake,  and it was great to be there and get some pictures for her.  She had pretty amazing timing to be able to get live pictures for her project from someone actually there. My phone actually worked, but only here,  and just long enough to be able to send some pictures for her project.




I went on along the rim a little further and later met an older couple.  The man said his wife’s birthday was today and that her birthstone was blue sapphire,  so for her birthday they drove to see the lake. That is the best way to describe the color of the water!  


 
 
 
 
I found a campsite at Lost Creek,  and waited for a while till sunset.  I drove up to a point and got some incredible pictures of the sunset.   Another nice thing about the camper,  was that I was able to find a great place to park with a view over the lake and just wait, in comfort until the light was right for pictures (It was very cold and windy at sunset, and I was nice and warm with the heater on and an amazing view).  What a great day.  Hopefully I can get as good pictures of sunrise from the same point tomorrow.
 
 
As of today,  I have travelled 3200 miles since I started this leg of the trip with my dad to Mt. Rainier in August.  With the 2800 miles I travelled with Trey back  in May,  I have now covered over 6000 miles in the Tundra and Camper.

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