Crater Lake

Beautiful view! At the summit of Garfield Peak

From Lava Beds, I backtracked to Crater Lake. I stopped on my way there at a sign explaining a little about the mountain. It used to be a composite volcano and much, much taller than it is currently. It grew by having regular lava flows. Then, a super explosion blasted off the top of the volcano, covering a good chunk of Oregon in pumice (which makes up a large piece of the soil to this day). Pyro-clastic flows on the inside of the volcano filled in the remaining space and formed the bottom of the lake. The sign, and the surrounding plains, were at roughly the same elevation as the bottom of the lake.

This field is at roughly the same elevation of the bottom of Crater Lake.

On my way up, I stopped for lunch at one of the scenic lookouts. There was a river at the bottom of the chasm, but it is pretty hard to see. It was pretty peaceful and still decently warm at this elevation. That would change pretty quickly as I went further up the mountain.

I was a little disappointed when I got into the actual park and discovered that the Rim Trail, the road surrounding the rim of the crater, was closed for the season. There was snow and ice already up there, and they don't regularly plow it. I was still able to get a lot of really cool pictures and the hike to Garfield Peak was still open.

Wizard Island

Sledding hill! I will let you go first...

I decided that I would make the trip up Garfield Peak. The sign said it was only 1.7 miles. I had hiked up the fire observation point (in Lava Beds) already that day, so I thought it was no biggie. Well, I forgot to account for the elevation change (about 2000m over the hike) and the snow (knee deep in some areas). I went up with my sweatshirt, jeans, and hiking boots. I wasn't really cold at 45 degrees. It was fun, and I met a mountain climbing group (they payed for a trip to climb mountains). We talked for a bit on the climb and I stuck with them on the way down. Very cool group of people.

Made it to the top! Longest 1.7 mile hike of my life.

After the climb, my boots were a little wet. This was a problem, as everything was a little bit wet from the warm temperatures and the snow. I went to eat inside at the lodge and waited for my stuff to dry off. I got dry, but my campsite for the night didn't. Instead of setting up my tent in the slush puddle, I slept in my car. Slept isn't really the correct word, more like went unconscious periodically, but I made it through the night.

I woke up early, or at least didn't fall back asleep, and tried to take a shower. They were operational, but I question if the water heater was. The rooms themselves were not heated either, which made it feel like you were trying to warm up an ice cube in the refrigerator. Not entirely effective, but still technically warmer. After being "revitalized" in the shower, I hit the road again, headed north.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but you can see full size versions of these if you click on them.

Crater Lake Pictures