Well, it was COLD last night! The kids climbed in bed with us sometime in the middle of the night to help keep warm.
After breakfast, we headed out for a trip around the lake and a hike. You are able to drive all the way around the caldera's rim, a trip of 33 miles. Our first stop was the Visitor's Center to pick up a Junior Ranger Workbook for Caden. From various turnouts, we took in the lake's amazing deep blue color.
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| Their new Junior Ranger T-Shirts. Too Cute!! |
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| Crater Lake Lodge |
Crater Lake was formed when a 12,000 foot volcano erupted about 7,500 years ago.
The Maqlaq people tell an account of the eruption where the god of the underworld, enraged due to the rejection by the Chief's beautiful daughter, created the eruption. The shaman of the tribe sacrificed themselves in prayer to the god of the sky to save their people from the lava. Hearing their prayer, he fought the underworld god, eventually winning the battle and collapsing the mountain in on him. Since the event, the site was sacred grounds for the Maqlaq's.
Whatever the cause, the massive eruption (believed to be the largest in North America in the last 640,000 years) flung giant boulders and pumice stones all over the park, which are scattered like marbles as you drive through. They say that if you gathered up all of the ash and debris from the eruption and spread it evenly across Oregon, it would form an 8 inch thick layer.
The eruption also hollowed out the inside of the mountain, which then collapsed in on itself and created a caldera. The caldera eventually filled with rain and snow runoff, creating the deepest lake in the U.S., with a depth of 1943 feet deep. (The lake is also 4.5-6 miles wide!)
The water's clarity and deep blue color are truly incredible. It is said to be the cleanest large body of water in the world.
No Photoshop...
The massive amounts of remaining snow in the park are not the norm. Like everywhere else this winter, Crater Lake was socked with snow --
673 INCHES OF SNOW!! So, quite a bit still remains. I doubt that it will all melt before the fall's snow.
We hiked the newly created Plaikni Falls Trail. Easton cried and whined almost the entire way up -- making our ascent most pleasant. We ate our picnic lunch at the top. That seemed to change his mojo, and he was a much happier camper on the way down. We actually had a snowball fight close to the bottom. A snowball fight. In July!
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| HUGE Pine Trees! |
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| Not a Happy Camper |
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| Tall Pines |
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| Plaikni Falls |
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| Picnic Spot |
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| Walking Sticks |
The trail, still under construction but opened in July, winds its way to a lovely waterfall. The local Klamath Tribes named the falls "Plaikni" or "from the high country". The falls flow over a glacier-carved cliff and originates from a stream that is 7000 feet above sea level.
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| Caden earned his Junior Ranger Badge |
We left the park and were California bound -- about 4 hours from the state line.
We filled up with gas for the third time in Oregon. It, like the two previous, was a full service station. I knew it had to be more than a coincidence. So, I googled it. Apparently, in the states of Oregon and New Jersey it is illegal to pump your own fuel -- so the stations are all full service. I happen to be a big fan -- especially in the heat and cold!
Also, we learned that Oregon has no sales tax --a point which I wish I would have known before I splurged on my new camera lens an hour from the state line (
grumble, grumble).
As an aside -- but something that I wanted to share: Easton has been stopping and picking flowers for me every day as he walks along his paths. Most are wild, some aren't -- so I hope their former owners don't mind! -- and giving them to me to put in my hair. It is so sweet. Each night, I end up spending a few minutes pulling pieces and parts of dead flowers out of my hair -- but it's worth it!
Here is a (tiny) one of a several that he picked for me at Crater Lake:
We have made it to California and arrived in the Redwoods National Park this evening. We have driven through a small section in order to reach our campgrounds for tonight. The sneak preview was INCREDIBLE! I CAN'T WAIT to see the Redwoods tomorrow!
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| The boys posing in front of a giant Paul Bunyan and Babe in a tourist trap parking lot near the Redwoods. |
