Rain and Samantha's Excellent Adventure: KA-BOOM: Crater Lake, nature's detonated beauty.

Samantha: Before leaving Grant's Pass for Portland, we took a day trip to Crater Lake. The drive down gave us a great view of Mount Thielsen, over 9,000 ft tall! That's quite big for Vermonters...
Crater Lake was stand-alone gorgeous, and those of you who have been can confirm that there is no other blue like it. It's tropical, if tropical water looked deeply cold. This lake is deep too, nearly 2,000 ft, and the deepest lake in the US. Here's the USGS page for more information: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/CraterLake/Locale/framework.html

The road up to the lake was winding, narrow, and usually had nothing but cliff on one side. As we drove, we caught glimpses of the lake and, in the distance, snow! We had to stop at one of the snow drifts for a taste of home.

We got to the trail head for Watchman's Tower around midday, and were advised by a pair of friendly fellows to hike up to the fire tower and get that 360 degree perspective of the ragged mountains surrounding Crater lake. Loaded with peaches and plums, we ascended the winding, semi-steep, well-used trail to the fire tower. It took about 30 minutes, a quick jaunt. At the top, wow, the view! A clear, clean day. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Simultaneously, Rain and Samantha agreed that these look like Truffula trees!

a juicy, sweet, perfect peach from the "sweet cron" farm stand

How is it this blue?!

After coming down from Watchman's, I brought Rain to the visitor's center for some relaxation and reading in the shade, and then went on to hike down to the shore of Crater lake. First, though, I went on a ridiculous wild goose chase for fuel. I'm talkin' no acceleration, completely dry tank. I threw her in neutral and coasted 7 winding miles to the Mazama campground, "please, please, come on!" all the way (for those of you who enjoy BBC's Top Gear, it was a Jeremy moment). After a belly full of gasoline, Eva was set to rev the 7 miles back up to the lake, and I was eager to work out my remaining anxiety on the hike down to the magnetically blue water. The Cleetwood Cove trail is the only access point to the shore of the lake, it's a mile or so long one way, and is listed as strenuous. It was pretty steep, but easy footing - a wide, sandy path. I got down in about 25 minutes, with picture-op stops included. The water was mesmerizing. It was impossible not to be drawn into it. I sat on the shore (a collection of boulders) for at least 45 minutes, though it felt like 10. There was a fisherman beside me, and on the ledge to my left, some trainees practicing water rescue. At one point I glanced round at my pack to see the ugly end of a chipmunk hanging out of my top pocket. He was gone as soon as I laughed. Satisfied with sitting beside the lake, the allure of the water overtook me, and I, inevitably, waded in. So. Cold. The lake does stay a brisk 30 degrees F, regardless of the tilt of the Earth's axis. The hike up was quite warming, and really is only as strenuous as you make it. It is steep, so go your pace. I wanted the work out, so I hurried up it in about 40 minutes.

It was hard to say good evening to the lake. Here's the visual, indulge: