Crater Lake National Park — What We Saw, What We Read

Somehow we managed to find ourselves driving on an incredibly hot day through California's valleys once again. We left Berkeley around noon on a Thursday and started our trek north toward Crater Lake National Park. Every few hours we parked our car at a gas station or rest stop to stretch our legs, have a snack, and reset. Our drive offered us beautiful views of Trinity National Forest and Mount Shasta, and we made more mental notes for our future adventures. We carried on, crossing the state border into Oregon by weaving through a number of incredibly strange roadside ghost towns.

The sun began to set over the hills as we approached the entrance to Crater Lake National Park. We stopped briefly on the side of the road to switch drivers and take a lovely picture of cows grazing in the sunset before continuing on our journey. As night approached, we found a campsite just past the western border of the park. We heard the sound of water nearby and breathed in the cool air of the surrounding forest. We were looking forward to what the morning light might bring.

Our nice big tent. Sleeping in luxury now that we're off the trail!

When we woke up and left our tent we were amazed by what we found around us. We had set up our tent right at the edge of the Rogue River. We made our breakfast under the cover of conifers, our morning soundtrack: the rushing river. The sky was cloudy and a light rain passed overhead every so often as we ate but not enough to impact our plans for the day. After breakfast, we hopped in the car and drove about 20 miles until we entered Crater Lake National Park.

But first --technically it's not a crater. From the numerous informative plaques at the park, we learned that Crater Lake is actually a caldera. In case you're curious, a caldera (as defined by the National Geographic Encyclopedia) is a depression created when a volcano partially collapses after releasing the majority of its magma chamber in an explosive eruption. 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama erupted, covering eight surrounding states and parts of Canada in ash. The Mountain, once standing at an elevation of around 12,000 feet collapsed on itself creating the caldera. Over several centuries, the caldera filled with water from falling rain and melting snow, becoming what is now known as Crater Lake. The fifth oldest National Park is also the deepest lake in the United States, and with no stream sources flowing in, it maintains a beautiful clarity.

Despite the clouds and the cold breeze rolling in, we were in awe of the incredible landscape in front of us. To get a better view, we took a short hike up to Garfield Peak. From the top, we could see over the edges of the caldera for miles in every direction.

When we came down, we stopped at the Crater Lake Lodge and sat before their enormous fire to warm up. After a few more miles exploring the trails around the rim of the crater, we made our way back down to our campsite. We picked up some firewood from the campground host and warmed ourselves up while reading nearby.

We prepared a hot meal over the fire and late into the evening our good friend Alec drove in from Portland and joined us at our site. We spent our evening warming up and catching up next to the fire under a clear sky full of stars.

A view back onto Crater Lake Lodge on our hike to Garfield Peak.

The next morning the sun came out and we were looking forward to a hike and a sunny view of Crater Lake. We drove into the park and hiked up to Crater Peak which offered views south to Klamath Falls. After our hike we drove back to the lake, this time to get a great view of the caldera under sunny skies. The light brought out the bright blue of the lake and we were grateful for a new perspective on this incredible place.

We spent another evening by the fire, enjoying another hot meal under the stars and appreciating the beauty of the Rogue River nearby.

Preparing a fancy meal! Sweet potatoes with garlic, pepper, and turmeric roasted over a fire.