Lin enjoying the view as she knits.
After three nights in Vancouver we headed across the border and on the 30th of October we stopped between Grants Pass and Medford Oregon at a place called Gold Hill at the KOA. It is an older park but it had all the services we require and it is right beside the highway leading to Crater Lake's western entrance.
The next morning the weather report was favourable and the web cam at the lake showed sunshine on the crater rim so we were off on our long awaited adventure. I have wanted to visit Crater Lake since we started snow birding in 2003.
The trip to the park took almost one and a half hours through farm land, forest and beside creeks and rivers. The fall colours are out and in one spot in the forest the deciduous trees were on display below the pines that towered above them. As we neared the park entrance the pine trees were glistening with water drops as the sun had just melted the frost on the needles. I only wished that the sun had done as good a job on the road. It was very slippery in some sections and the visitor center parking lot was a sheet of ice.
After buying the obligatory T-shirt we were off up Mt. Mazama to the crater's edge. The elevation is around 2165 m (7100 ft) as you get to the top of the West Rim Drive and I was amazed to see such a huge lake. The lake width is 4.5 to 6 miles wide and is 1,943 feet deep. It is the deepest and cleanest water in USA as it is has no streams or rivers feeding it. The water is supplied by rain and snow. The colour was a dark steely blue that reflected the sun like a mirror.
We visited a number of turn-outs along the 33 mile rim road and took pictures and breathed in the crisp fresh mountain air. We also noted that there was an absence of sound and then to ensure we hadn't gone deaf you could hear a plane overhead.
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| Wizard Island |
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| Crater Lake Panorama |
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| Phantom Ship in distance |
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| Mill Falls on drive back to Gold Hill |
Fantastic as usual Geo, wish I could be there.
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