Continuing our summer tour of National Parks, we came to the west side of Oregon to visit Crater Lake National Park. We have been dodging wildfires and smoke all summer and had originally planned this visit three days ago but discovered that it was full of smoke. This morning seemed our best bet. On the 102 mile drive east on WA138 from Sutherlin to the park we encountered some areas of smoke from the Jack wildfire east of Sutherlin and north of the park.
As we drove south through the park to the lake, we were pleased to see that although there was some smoke visible on the far northern horizon
the rest of the park seemed to be smoke free.
Along the way we learned how the park was formed by volcanic eruption,
(notice the different hues and shades of colors)
what lies under the water,
and why the depth of the lake remains the same.
We had our first view of Crater Lake at Discovery Point.
After admiring the beautiful, clear lake we visited the gift shop where Brock and Leola found new t-shirts and we all stamped our National Parks Passports. As we left the lakeside we noticed that smoke was gradually creeping in closer and starting to obscure the mountains on the north rim of the lake.
A short drive took us to Picnic Hill. A road encircles the hill with pull-offs to various areas with tables. We found this table in an alcove of trees. Leola was smart to wear her winter jacket. The air temp here (above 1000') was about 60-65 but the north wind was cold. By the time we finished lunch in the shade we were ready for some heat!
After lunch we started our 32-mile drive around the lake, planning to stop at all the viewpoints as we went.
We'll start that adventure next time.
Louise and Duane
No comments:
Post a Comment