A series of "A Walk in His Gardens" of the Pacific NW would not be complete without the inclusion of our 'walk' this week---Crater Lake, located in southern Oregon not too far from the California/Oregon border.
Imagine a big bowl, filled with the bluest water you've ever seen, set in the gorgeous snow capped Cascade mountains of the NW and you have an idea of what Crater Lake looks like....NOT!
Truly there is no way you can imagine this lake--the clear blue lake (deepest in the USA), the steep caldera sides, the beautiful lodge, Wizard Island and the other places that make this lake unique! Believe me--even the best photos cannot fully depict the view, the feeling, the atmosphere that one finds there in the National Park.
When I was down in the Rogue River Valley a few years back, I had the opportunity to make a day trip to the Upper Rogue, Crater Lake and other places in the area near the park. So to the sounds of Marvin Gaye my traveling companion and I took off....
On the way we passed amazing scenes--one of the Table Top Rocks, the Upper Rogue River and beautiful trees and mountains. Then we entered the Park and soon arrived there on the rim near the old beautiful lodge (I have a deep, abiding love for the old historic lodges of the National Parks)
I was a bit surprised to find snow there, in places,near the lodge and elsewhere; I shouldn't have been as this area gets a large amount of snow each year and as I have discovered it is not unusual for the NW mountains to have snow on the ground in late spring/early summer.
OK, I admit it.
This photo, in addition to it's poorer then I would have liked quality, it is not centered perfectly. There is a good reason why--can you guess it?
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The sides of the crater are very steep here and elsewhere around the caldera -steep and slippery because of ice and snow. I will not show you the photo of my traveling companion standing near the 'Danger Keep Back' sign. No--too scary:) Believe me--I didn't stand there. Fortunately they are very much alive and still enjoy hiking on cliffs and other high places. Good thing they are part mountain goat like my hubby ...
View of the lake from near the lodge. I believe the Rim Drive, which goes around the lake, was closed then.
I think it's closed right now too.
Another view of the lake. Wizard Island is to the left.
Another view of the lake. Wizard Island is to the left.
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Blessings from my home to yours on this beautiful spring evening,
Aimee
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Links:
Crater Lake--some beautiful photos on this site and information re: the lake (wikipedia)
Story of a man who found out just how steep and dangerous those caldera sides can be in his search for a cell phone (Oregon online news site)
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Photos (note):
Sorry about the quality of the photos for this 'walk'. These are photos I took several years ago with my old camera and recently scanned onto my external hard drive; I was very excited to find them but they are a bit wanting for quality:)
Photos as described above.
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