Crater Lake, Oregon

 Wednesday 711/12

We continued up the road for Crater Lake.

And when we stepped out of the car, we were WOWED with this awesome view.

Crater Lake was once a volcanic mountain called Mt. Mazama over 7,700 years ago..

It was a perfect day to be at Crater Lake. We felted "Blessed" to be able to see yet another of Gods amazing creations!

After Mt. Mazama erupted, the top half of the mountain collapsed, leaving a crater to be filled in with rain and snow melt.

The large island is called Wizard Island because it looks like a wizards hat.

Looking west from Crater Lake.

As we drove around the lake, we got different views.

Joe checking out a sightseeing boat out on Crater Lake.

Me checking out a chipmunk on the edge of Crater Lake rim.

This is the true color of Crater Lake. It is the bluest lake I have ever seen. This is the color you see with your eyes. The color has not been enhanced!

Crater Lake is like the Grand Canyon, in that when you look at it, it looks like a painting. It just doesn't look real.

A close up of the inside rim of Crater Lake.

Design in the road side snow as it melted.

White flowers at the edges of the snow.

Looking south from the west edge of Crater Lake.

Looking north from the southwest corner of Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, and the second deepest in the North America. Comparing average depths among the worlds lakes whose basins are entirely above sea level, Crater Lake is the deepest.

Close up of the small islands next to Wizard Island.

Shallow turquoise water between Wizard Island and the smaller islands next to it.

We continued south around the lake. This is where the road gets hairy, and Joe and I were very glad we were not driving the Nest. This is the view I had out my car window. Yikes!

You know how I love the layered mountains!

Sheer drop off and no guard rails on the SW rim road.

Looking west.

Crater Lake rim sits at  about 7,000  to 8,000 feet above sea level. Cascade Mountains to the west.



Crater Lake has a maximum depth of 1,949 ft with an average depth of 1,148 ft.

It is 6 miles long, 5 miles wide and has a 21.8 miles shore length.

Crater Lake is famous for it's deep blue color. Other colors of the spectrum are absorbed. Blue wavelengths are scattered and seen by the human eye.

The tallest point on the rim is 1,9,78 feet above the lake. The lowest point on the rim is 507 feet above the lake.

Due to the fact that Crater Lake has no inlets or tributaries it has the purest water quality in North America.

We arrived at Long Beach Washington on Wednesday. We will be here for a week. Unfortunately I have no Internet service at our camp base. We found service at a library in a town 8 miles north of us, so I will try to get some blogs out when I have time. One of thee frustrations of RVing!