Southern Oregon Adventure Day 5

Crater Lake

Rim Village

Wizard Island

Our first stop was at Rim Village.  We walked around and the village has a great view of Wizard Island.  I read all the signs with information about the lake and the area because I'm just that much of a nerd.  I know this about myself.  On a trip to Denver I forced everyone to go see the Mint...which was a 50/50 split on excitement.  You are not allowed to bring anything in and must schedule a time to visit the Mint....of course I had to be present as an examiner and missed out!  My 2 friends who were not keen on going said it was the coolest thing ever as they were minting pennies and the whole building was shaking.  Someday I will go to one of the U.S. Mints and visit.....on another adventure, another year.

Some facts about Crater Lake:  

• The average daily temperature in September is 63 degrees with an average snow fall of 3 inches 
• The park was established in 1902
• The depth of Crater Lake is 1, 943 feet
• Crater lake is inside the caldera of Mt Mazama which had an eruption around 7,700 years ago and collapsed
• The lake is filled by rain and snow and is so clean only a couple of species of fish can survive
• Whitebark pine is dying due to a fungus....some of these trees are 500 years old
• Clark's Nutcracker is a bird that lives in the area (and may be possibly related to Kelli)

Looking down from Rim Village

Pinnacles

The hike is very short, maybe a mile and pretty flat.  The Pinnacles are volcanic spires, not soda straws which we learned about in Oregon Caves.  The woman at the inn called them soda straws.  Anyhow, after an eruption, the hot ash cooled created these spires not soda straws.

First sight of the Pinnacles

Pretty impressive

Another shot

This is my favorite shot

On our way to north we stopped at an overlook to get a view of the Phantom Ship.  It is considered Crater Lake's "other island" and looks like ship.

Phantom Ship

Beautiful Crater Lake

Crater Lake with Wizard Island in the distance

Hike into the Caldera

The hike into the caldera is called Cleetwood Cove.  It is 2.2 miles and there is an elevation gain of 700 feet.   Karen noticed that no one was talking as they passed us on the way back up due to the steep grade. The boat launches from the here to Wizard Island.  People were swimming and jumping off the rocks into the water.  We opted for relaxing and letting our feet soak instead of submerging especially since we didn't have our swimsuits.  The water was brisk but still felt good.  

Look how close this chipmunk got to me

Soaking our feet in the cool water

On the shore 

On our way back up from the lake

Looking back on my Southern Oregon adventure....my top favorite experiences overall were visiting the Oregon Caves and Crater Lake.  It sparked the outdoor enthusiast in me.  My hope in the future is that I will be spending more time exploring our national parks.