What a site!
I finally made it to Crater Lake... after living in Oregon almost all my life and never seeing it before. It is absolutely breathtaking. This is Diamond Lake, on the way there. Another beautiful spot. The day was sunny and warm... and very dry.
This was the first look at the lake and Wizard Island.
The rim road is 33 miles long with more than 30 places to stop and stare...
And take deep breaths and just soak it all in. It smelled like pine needles and sweet fresh forest up there.
The slopes are steep and slippery all the way around. There is one trail down to the water, where they do the boat tours. I wanted to do that, but it was really crowded that day... and time just didn't allow. So that's on the to-do list for next time.
The water really is that color. Like a jewel. There are no rivers or streams feeding the lake, only rain and snowmelt. They do get a lot of snow up there.
This is the Phantom Ship. There were forest fires in the area that day, so this far-distant pic (LOVE the zoom on the camera...) is a little smokey... the white patch in the upper right, above, is a remnant of the the snowfall.
This is the front of the lodge. It's as beautiful inside - even more, I think - than outside.
This is the view from inside, on the lobby level. I'd love to stay there on one of the upper floors to take pics of the lake first thing in the morning. I imagine the stargazing from there is pretty darned good, too! Would be neat to get pics of the stars reflecting on the water.
Making my way back around the where I started... obviously the light has changed to that wonderful dramatic level that makes things just go POP.
You can see some of the smoke in this one. Isn't that just an amazingly beautiful place?
Coming back around to the end of the loop. It was getting really windy by the late afternoon, especially in this spot. 
The trees up there show the effects of really tough weather. I do hope to get back there before the snow starts, and do some of the things I didn't have time for on this trip. There are so many more things to take pictures of than what I got to see... and I spent 5 hours on the rim taking pictures and enjoying the sights that day.
This was the first look at the lake and Wizard Island. 
The rim road is 33 miles long with more than 30 places to stop and stare...
And take deep breaths and just soak it all in. It smelled like pine needles and sweet fresh forest up there.
The slopes are steep and slippery all the way around. There is one trail down to the water, where they do the boat tours. I wanted to do that, but it was really crowded that day... and time just didn't allow. So that's on the to-do list for next time.
The water really is that color. Like a jewel. There are no rivers or streams feeding the lake, only rain and snowmelt. They do get a lot of snow up there.
This is the Phantom Ship. There were forest fires in the area that day, so this far-distant pic (LOVE the zoom on the camera...) is a little smokey... the white patch in the upper right, above, is a remnant of the the snowfall.
This is the front of the lodge. It's as beautiful inside - even more, I think - than outside.
This is the view from inside, on the lobby level. I'd love to stay there on one of the upper floors to take pics of the lake first thing in the morning. I imagine the stargazing from there is pretty darned good, too! Would be neat to get pics of the stars reflecting on the water.
Making my way back around the where I started... obviously the light has changed to that wonderful dramatic level that makes things just go POP.
You can see some of the smoke in this one. Isn't that just an amazingly beautiful place? 
Coming back around to the end of the loop. It was getting really windy by the late afternoon, especially in this spot. 
The trees up there show the effects of really tough weather. I do hope to get back there before the snow starts, and do some of the things I didn't have time for on this trip. There are so many more things to take pictures of than what I got to see... and I spent 5 hours on the rim taking pictures and enjoying the sights that day. I see lots of faeries in this tree... isn't it awesome?
I was googling stuff to make the links on here and I found this. Holy cow. I hope they get a big fat ticket for that. Hugely relieved that the dog got out in time. Geez, people. Seriously.
I give photographer 10 marks out of 10.Nice photos.
ReplyDelete