Crater Lake National Park was absolutely awe inspiring. No matter how many times you see the lake, it touches you all over again. And it really is that blue. I luckily got one of the last available campsites...keep forgetting about concepts like 'weekends'. I successfully programmed my cell phone to wake me at 8 (two reasons to gasp!) so I could hike up Mount Scott (tallest in park) in the morning. Apparently the light is best before noon. I wasn't disappointed. Sadly they didn't allow the public into the watchtower. I would have moved in if they let me.
In early afternoon I hiked down into the crater. Unfortunately the tour boat was sold out (and later cancelled for high winds) so I couldn't get to the island in the middle of the lake. I did go for a swim though. Sure it was freezing, but I hadn't had a shower for over two days (with lots of hiking) and when the hell am I going to get a chance to swim in a volcanic crater again? My goal was to make it around the first buoy and I ended up turning around about 15 yards short since my lungs wanted to explode from the cold. I would have pressed on but I couldn't see the bottom despite the water being crystal clear...I doubt it could have been shallower than 50 feet deep and possibly much more.
On my way out of the park I hiked to Lightning Springs. Odd to see water just flowing out of the ground. Speaking of flowing, nothing flows into or out of Crater Lake. All the water consists of rain and snow melt within the boundaries of the crater itself. It helps that it is the second snowiest place in America.
3 comments:
Its actually the seventh deepest lake in the world at a depth of 1,943 ft. Just a little bit more than 50. Today is also day one of flax seed oil. I let you know how smart I get.
Wow! This area looks really awesome. I definitely need to visit some day. Can you scuba dive in there?
I'd guess you can scuba dive there but it would be a bit of work to haul the gear down. The brochure said you could swim there but once I got there it was pretty unstructured...just the tour boat launch and a bunch of people enjoying the view. No ranger or lifeguard.
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