Crater Lake Blue

Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon was another amazing park. Crater Lake is in the Cascade Mountains and is the deepest lake in the United States. It was formed when the volcano Mount Mazama erupted and collapsed in on itself. The caldera then filled with rain and snow to make the lake. Because of this unique geology, no water enters or leaves in the form of streams or tributaries, which means no pollutants enter the lake. The water in Crater Lake is some of the purest water in the world. The water is so clear, a "Secchi disk" can be read as deep as 134 feet below the surface. The average clarity reading is 100 feet.

Driving into the park was crazy. The depth of the snow kept rising and rising around me. It started to feel like is was in a snow tunnel. When I got to the visitors center, I didn't see the building at first because it was covered in snow, it was so deep! I watched the park movie and then drove up to where I could see the lake. They had to build a "snow ramp" from the parking lot up to the top of the snow. So I walked up above the snow and I could see the lake, it was so beautiful! It was huge and the water was just so blue, the deepest, prettiest shade of blue I've ever seen. I stood and stared for a while, then I went to rent some snowshoes so I could go explore. In the winter, since the park loop road is covered in snow, skiers and snowshoers can follow the road. So I snowshoed to Discovery Point and got another great overlook of the lake. From here I could see Wizard Island better. Wizard Island is an island in the lake that is a cinder cone created by smaller volcanic eruptions. I was the first person out on the trail that day so it was really nice walking through the quiet snowy pine forest on the fresh snow.

Crater Lake was beautiful and unlike any lake I've ever seen. I was really happy to have been able to see the lake, in the winter it is very often invisible due to clouds and fog. It was my third time snowshoeing and I was much more comfortable with it and I can really see myself doing much more snowshoeing in the future. It was a short trip, not many open areas in winter, but that really let me focus on the lake.

See my pictures of the purty blue lake in the Gallery!