Tonelli's Travels

On our 31st day in the road, we arrived at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. When we arrived at the entrance, we were greeted with a long line of cars. In my mind I wasn’t expecting the park to be very popular. While I was interested to see Crater Lake, it wasn’t top of my list, so I was surprised by the crowds. Maybe it was just an easily accessible place I thought. When we finally got in, we headed straight to the campground to rest. 

My dad suggested that he head to the rim and get our first view of the lake for dinner when perhaps the crowds had thinned. So we headed out in the late afternoon, stopping at the visitor center first to get acquainted.  Crater Lake sits on Mount Mazama on the lands of the Klamath Tribes. 

The lake is actually a caldera, but a white man named James Sutton called it Crater Lake after bringing an expedition here and the name stuck.  The volcano that created Mount Mazama grew over thousands of years, lava slowly piling up.  And then one day 7,7000 years ago it exploded, its peak went straight up like a piston and then fell straight down, plugging the volcano. After the land cooled, it began to fill with water from rain and snow. There are no rivers, streams, tributaries flowing in or out of Crater Lake. The water stays at a fairly consistent level due to evaporation and natural drainage through the walls of the caldera.  Because of this, Crater Lake is not only the deepest lake in the U.S., it also has the cleanest, purest water in the world. 

Ok, that’s pretty neat, I thought. But still, not sure why the crowds. 

Here is eruption story from the Klamath people:

Informed, we drove the winding road up to the lake. Then I got it. The lake is the bluest blue I have ever seen. It’s so rich in color it takes your breath away. You can’t help but stop and stare. It’s just magnificent. 

Admiring the lake down in the caldera was prime seating for dinner.  Afterwards, we took a walk along part of the rim. Every step, every view, was just as breath taking as the first. It just really didn’t seem real and yet there it was. Mother Nature is so cool. 

So why is the lake so blue? It is because of its depth and its purity. In the spectrum of light, the color blue is the last to be absorbed. It can penetrate great depths. Since Crater Lake is 1,943 feet deep in the deepest location and so clean, the light can travel far, far below the surface. Visibility has been recorded at over 130 feet deep before. 

Crater Lake definitely rose on my list of parts. I became fascinated by it. I couldn’t wait to see it again tomorrow.