Crater Lake National Park- the bluest lake you will ever see.

We left our campsite at Memaloose State Park to head to Crater Lake. I was especially looking forward to seeing the lake as my cousin Corey and wife Erin had just visited. I saw their pictures and was pretty excited to see the lake myself! The drive to Crater Lake was still pretty long from Hood River, as they are on opposite sides of the state. We drove past tons of mountains, the first we saw was Mount Hood (super beautiful!). We also passed mountains such as Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and the Three Sisters. We passed through Bend, OR, and eventually arrived in Crater Lake. The campground we wanted to stay at was walk up only, so we headed there first. Unfortunately, Mazama Campground was completely full by the time we arrived. We have planned for this, and knew there were some campgrounds in the surrounding National Forests that we could stay at or would just head toward the Redwoods.

We decided to unhitch the camper to give us more ease of travel through the park. Now, we knew that the full Rim Drive was closed still due to snow, and we would only be able to get to a certain part of the park. What we didn’t know was that ALL of the hiking trails were also closed! We had planned to hike to the summit of Mt. Scott, because hello! We were already a little bummed about the campground, so this didn’t bode well for us. We drove up to Rim Village, and walked around for a little while to look at the lake.

Crater Lake was created 7.700 years ago when there was a massive volcanic eruption that left a deep basin where the mountain peak once stood. Over the following centuries, rain and snow filled the basin, creating Crater Lake. No water flows in or out of the lake, which is how the lake maintains it’s color and clarity. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, the deepest point being 1,943 feet deep. Ancient Indians were said to be unable to look at the lake for religious purposes.

 

We drove a little further on Rim Drive to Watchman Overlook. I made Scott take this picture of me, which terrified him! There were actually still quite a few rocks below me, so it’s not as scary as it looks (promise! Sorry Dad!)

 

We left the park fairly quickly, after spending around an hour around the rim. Without any hiking trails, there wasn’t much to do other than look at the lake (which is really cool, but not something we wanted to spend our whole day doing!). We got back to the camper, hooked back up, and headed out of the park. We drove a little ways into the Rogue River National Forest, and ended up driving in to stay at Farewell Bend campground. We picked a campsite, and began the process of setting up camp. We actually got a site directly next to the river, which was pretty awesome! The one downside was that there were TONS of mosquitoes. If you know me, you know that I am a mosquito magnet! I was pretty miserable as I put on several layers of clothing and bug spray to try to keep them at bay! Overall though, this campground was awesome! Good find Scott!