Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014 – Visit to Crater Lake

As I mentioned the other day, my purpose for coming to Collier Memorial was to visit Crater Lake National Park, which is only about 25 miles from here, so after a late breakfast and a few chores, Hubby and I packed into the van, invited little Billy to come with us, and headed out for our side trip. Passing through a long stretch of a flat, farm-filled valley, it didn't take long to reach the edge of the forest, and then the national park. We stopped at the visitor center, which was really just a gift shop, and since it didn't have any kind of extensive exhibits other than one diorama of the lake, we jumped back in the van and proceed to make our way around the Rim Road. We made a brief stop at the main village area and got a cup of coffee, and took a walk to our first great view of Crater Lake. For some reason, I had always believed Crater Lake had been formed by an asteroid, but in fact it had been a volcano that blew it's top off about 7700 years ago, then settled into a caldera and filled with snow melt and rainwater, making it the deepest lake in North America, and one of the purest in the world. We took some great pictures, especially when we first arrived, because it was so calm on the lake it reflected the surrounding walls like a perfect mirror, so gorgeous! From there we drove the entire perimeter road around the lake, taking a few side spurs for even more fascinating terrain. At one spot there was a trail, so I took Billy and we walked the half mile loop to see a little island outcropping, oddly similar to the one we saw in Alaska, that also looked like a ship under full sail. It was a lovely day, and the views were so stunning! We have really seen some stuff over the years, and it's amazing there's always something more around every turn! Very glad we came, weather was perfect, crowds were down considerably from what it must be like during the summer, and really had a great day! Got back to camp, did a little preparation for tomorrow's departure, and relaxed for the evening.

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