CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK
Activity: Scenic Drive
Date: August 30, 2019
An Adventure in Blue
The blue of Crater Lake is mesmerizing, it catches you off guard, it’s something not found in nature, except here. It even has it’s own name ‘Crater Lake Blue’. The view stuns you, you can’t take your eyes off of it. It forces you to take hundreds of pictures of it, and then you look back and many look pretty much the same. But when you are there, in nature, you take a few steps and you just have to capture it, but you can’t really… except perhaps in your soul. Well, isn’t that what we are seeking, pursuing, hungry for? Some balance to offset our hectic, busy, stressed out, overworked lives? Crater Lake does that from pure magic.
Welcome to another journey in which to free your soul. Welcome to ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’. When I drove into Crater Lake National Park I arrived early on the eve of Labor Day, the last grand hooray to Summer, a very busy time for our National Parks. I was glad to have arrived early as there was much to do and much to see. I wanted to secure my Back Country Pass and then circumnavigate the lake, and see it from every angle.
The Drive into Crater Lake National Park and then to do the Scenic Rim Drive is 50 miles, the actual drive around just the lake is 33 miles. The entire drive along the rim of the lake is only open in the Summer and into the Fall otherwise it is partially closed due to snow. There are many stops along the way. The lake is so enchanting that you will want to stop at each and every one because each provides a different vantage point that is simply marvelous.
As you are driving around what is the caldera of Crater Lake, a stratovolcano, one can’t helped but imagine the explosive force that took off the top of what was Mount Mazama around 5700 BC. All of that violent volcanic activity has left us with a very special, serene place, Crater Lake Oregon. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,949’ and one of the deepest in the world. It is so blue because of it’s great depth and the water is some of the purist on earth. There are no rivers streams, or springs that feed this lake. It took about 740 years once the magma chamber was empty for rain and snow to fill it.
Visiting this National Park and enjoying the Crater Lake Scenic Rim Drive is a must plain and simple. Maybe you don’t have the time or can’t camp or hike, but do you self this pleasure, see this spectacle, enjoy this drive, take in this wonder.
Wizard Island, a cinder cone in the crater.
Canadian Jay 
‘Phantom Ship‘ appears as a ghostly sailing vessel
Mount Thielsen in the distance.
Thanks for joining me on the lovely drive as together we find ourselves ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’. There is more to come regarding this treasure called Crater Lake, so be sure to LIKE, COMMENT, FOLLOW, and SHARE.
Happy Trails
Roger Jenkins, Pursing Balance Through Adventure
National Parks Hiking 
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