24 Sunday Jul 2016
Posted in Photography
Like many in the country, we are under the influence of this year’s heat dome, with temperatures in the high 90’s °F (upper 30’s °C). The photo below taken at Crater Lake in Oregon last year may be a psychological antidote to that.
Crate Lake with Wizard Island in foreground.
16 Friday Oct 2015
Posted in Photography, Road Trip
Crater Lake near Klamath Falls in Oregon, is a lake confined within the caldera formed by the collapse of an old volcano, Mount Mazama, in the Cascades mountains. The lake has no river flowing into or out of it, and all the water it contains comes from rain and snow melt. Its current depth is 1,949 ft (594 m) making it one of the deepest lakes in the world. Its water is famous for its blue color, purity and clarity. By the way, they say the volcano under the lake still could erupt again.
The lake itself is at an elevation of 6,178 ft (1,833 m) while the caldera rims range from 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,100 to 2,400 m). Driving to Crater Lake, I couldn’t help but notice that for the last 100 miles (160 km) or so, it was all uphill.
Because of a bicycle event on the day we visited Crater Lake, we were confined to about one quarter of the eastern rim drive, and thus lots of photo opportunities were lost to us. So I don’t have too many interesting additional photos other than these below.
Crater Lake with Wizard Island in the middle of the picture.
Looking away from Crater Lake, I saw Mt Thielsen to the north. At 9,184 ft (2,799 m) its peak has been hit by lighting so frequently that it has earned the nickname “the lightning rod of the Cascades”.
Mt Thielsen. Early non-native explorers in the late 19th century discovered Crater Lake when they saw it after they climbed Mt Thielsen.
Leaving Crater Lake after our shortened visit, we stopped at nearby Annie Creek Canyon to take a look. Almost immediately, a flock of Gray Jays, cousins of the Blue Jays we see in the East, mobbed us, perhaps looking for some food handout.
Gray Jay at Annie Creek Canyon.
Gray Jay at Annie Creek Canyon.
19 Saturday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography, Road Trip
Today we went to Crater Lake, a lake formed inside the collapsed top of Mt Mazama. The lake is the deepest (1,946 ft) in the United States, and its blue color is legendary.
Unfortunately, there was a bicycle event in the park which resulted in 3/4 of it being off limits to us. Very disappointing to say the least. The following photos were taken from a small part of the West Rim Drive.
Crater Lake with Wizard Island in the middle of the picture.
Wizard Island
A section of Crater Lake rim.
Looking down at the shoreline of Crater Lake.
Mt Thielson an extinct volcano near Crater Lake.
18 Friday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography, Road Trip
Today I drove from Packwood, WA to Klamath Falls, OR which will be our base for visiting Crater Lake National Park. The drive was 422 miles and we didn’t make too many stops. At a rest area along Interstate 5, there was a pumpkin field that begged for its picture to be taken.
Pumpkin field along I-5 in Oregon.
Pumpkins in field.
We took the Willamette Highway (Oregon Route 58) to go to Klamath Falls. At an elevation of 5,000 ft on that highway we passed by Diamond Peak, an ancient volcano covered with snow. With a height of 8,743 ft, it is quite an impressive sight.
Diamond Peak, an old volcano covered with snow as seen from Route 58.
Distance traveled to date: 4,303 miles.
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