Crater Lake

After spending five days in the Portland area packing Mel’s things, we headed south from Vancouver, Washington. Interstate 5 weaves through the Cascade Mountains that run from northern California to British Columbia. Formed by the subduction of the Pacific plate under North America, this little corner of the Pacific Rim is responsible for the majesty of Crater Lake.

Crater Lake, lake many western places, is so spectacular that it resembles a movie backdrop. It is the 9th deepest lake in the world (1,949 feet), formed after Mt. Mazama and several surrounding volcanoes blew themselves apart.

Water filled the resulting caldera and, with no inlets or outlets, the water remains remarkably clean and clear. Its source: the annual 500-plus inches of snow that falls here.

Looking from the northwest side of the rim, the Devil’s Backbone, a ridge of harder, volcanic rock that erodes more slowly than the surrounding rock. In the distance is Llao Rock, a massive lava flow that filled in a glacial valley.

Wizard Island is the picturesque mountain in Crater Lake. It’s a miniature volcano—the source of the next Mt. Mazama—and one of three cinder cones that formed shortly after Mt. Mazama blew itself apart 7,700 years ago. Because Crater Lake is so deep, the other two cones are well below the lake’s surface.

As we drive around the lake, there is evidence of Mt. Mazama’s once-enormous stature. The terrain gently slopes up toward the rim, then abruptly drops 1,000 feet to the lake. It’s easy to imagine those gentle slopes continuing their rise into a towering volcano.

When I visited 12 years ago, I approached the lake from the south and arrived at the Rim Village, where I was awestruck by the deep blue water. Having just seen the lake from the north, I realize that the blue color is most profound from the south, where the reflected sunlight does not dilute its color. The below picture shows the view straight down from the Rim Village—1,000 feet below. Lost in the contrast is the white snow that flanks the shore. The deepest blue sky pales in comparison to the deep blue color of the lake.

The lake is so blue because it is incredibly clean. And, it is clean because there are no inlets or outlets, and there is little animal and plant life in the lake—it is an isolated ecosystem. Researchers who monitor the lake routinely see objects as far as 120 feet down from the surface. But, that’s just a drop in the bucket, so to speak. The lake is the seventh-deepest in the world with its deepest point 1,949 feet below the surface.

After touring the rim, we decided to hike up Mount Scott, the highest point in the park. Due to the heavy snowfall last winter, many patches of snow remain scattered on the volcanic plains and hiking through these patches is not easy. Not only are they slippery, but the glare from reflected sunlight gave me a mean case of snow blindness.

The trail starts off in snow, then wraps around the south side of the mountain, after which it emerges on the top of the ridge. Then it’s just a hike along the ridge to the summit.

After hiking for about two hours, we reached the 8,929-foot summit. From up here, Crater Lake better resembles the giant hole that it is.

After our hike, we explored the park for a little longer, but we needed to get some food. We drove to a little town surrounded by dense forest to grab an early bite and a beer after our long hike. After, the sun was low in the sky as we headed for camp. We drove along the road north of the park that looks toward Mount Thielsen, a glacially sculpted, sharp-peaked mountain north of Crater Lake. The volcanic remnant is about 300,000 years old. Had Crater Lake not formed, it’s safe to bet this area’s postcard racks would be filled with pictures of this mountain instead.

Watching over us as we slept inside our tent was the 8,300-foot Mount Bailey, our neighbor across Diamond Lake. The mosquitoes are intolerable at this campground.