My First National Park Visit

In August, Brandt's mom and her partner came to Oregon. As our first family to visit, we were excited to see them and further explore our new home. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take time off work but after their excursion to the Japanese Garden, we had lunch and I showed them around the office.

Our first trip that I could join was a day trip to Crater Lake. We woke up before the sun was up and began the four hour drive to southern Oregon. The night before, my phone unexpectedly stopped working. Brandt did his wizardry on the internet and discovered it's a known issue where circuits within the phone stop connecting. We were able to get it back on but even after a hard reset (AKA I lost everything that was on it) it wouldn't reboot. With nothing to play with, I spent a lot of the drive sleeping, which was nice since I'm not a morning person.

An example of one type of fire danger signs.

Summer is fire season and especially with the drought that's been going on the last few years. There was a fire near Crater Lake and I'd kept my eye on the news, hoping it wouldn't smother our plans. When we were about an hour away, forest fire warning signs began popping up. All of them had the arrow pointing to red. It's slightly terrifying to be driving with trees towering over you on both sides and the fire warning is as high as it goes.

We made it to Crater Lake without issue but we were greeted by a sign showing where the fire had reached. We were parked where the red meets green on the top left of the map. There is a road that runs around the lake and the part in red was closed due to danger of the fire spreading.

We were at the bottom of a sandy incline and everyone was parking and walking up. We followed and got our first peek at the lake. It was worth the drive!

The National Park's site describes it best, "Crater Lake inspires awe. Native Americans witnessed it form 7,700 years ago, when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a towering volcano. Scientists marvel at its purity: fed by rain and snow, it’s the deepest lake in the USA and perhaps the most pristine on earth." The water is the most vibrant blue I've witnessed. The photos below have absolutely no editing.

We were a little nervous at first because the smoke from the fire was blowing across the lake. While it was beautiful, the haze across the basin distorted the view. I was a little worried that Brandt's family had come from Kansas plus we had a four hour drive and the view wouldn't be good. Fortunately, as we rounded the lake in search of lunch the smoke dissipated and we could see the lake in its true beauty.

We couldn't drive all the way around the lake, so after lunch we headed back the direction we came with a leisurely pace, making frequent stops. Our first stop happened to be at a waterfall. I saw people climbing to get a better view and I followed. I climbed up as far I as I dared because the "path" up included loose sand between the loose rocks. I was a little worried about how I'd get down. I ended up sliding down on my butt most of the way back.

Our first stop with a pure view of the lake was breathtaking. Without a phone, I couldn't take pictures but Brandt brought his camera. All four of us took dozens of pictures and marveled at the natural beauty. These pictures show a deep blue but even they don't do the brilliance of the lake justice.

I like to get an artsy pic when I can.

Our next stop had no trees obstructing the view. I liked the contrast of looking through the trees to see the lake but this view provided beautiful pictures as well.

The phantom ship is the little island here. It apparently
looks like a sailing ship? Maybe more so in the fog.

I like to take pictures of Brandt contemplating
the meaning of life.

Another stop was off the main road and took us to a higher elevation. It had space to walk out past the barrier for more picture options. Brandt and I took this opportunity to take a few selfies with the lake.

The hills surrounding the lake.

Not much grass but I blame that on the drought.

Me and my love enjoying nature.

There is only one place you can reach the lake itself. It's a steep 1.1 mile hike. It drops about 700 feet during that mile and takes 30-45 minutes to descend. With my asthma, I have no idea how long the hike back up would take. We didn't get tickets to the boat ride on our trip to get lunch (I was getting hangry) and by the time we made it back around the crater, they were sold out. I'd hoped to at least hike down to spend a few peaceful moments at the water's edge but wasn't able to do that.

While we spent most of the day in the car, it was definitely worth it! On our way out and back to Portland, I took one final selfie with the new hat Brandt's mom got me.