Crater Lake

Crater Lake, originally uploaded by drtaxsacto.

When I was a kid, my family took a lot of vacations in the regions of the Sierra. For example, in 1954 when Bannister broke the 4 minute mile we were on vacation and talked a lot about the feat. In 1957 we all went to a movie somewhere and saw Witness for the Prosecution.

One of the highlights of those vacations was to Crater Lake. I am not sure which year we went to the lake but I remember it clearly. I was struck by the lake that was unlike a lake - this is a place you cannot swim in. But I had a very clear memory of the blue color of the lake.

Today we spent most of the day (after a breakfast of Oregon Blueberry pancakes at the Lottery Lounge) driving around the lake. I took more than 140 photos with both cameras.

When we first arrived at the visitors center we saw the video that the National Park Service presented on the lake. Crater Lake is the blown out crater of a magnificent mountain called Mount Mazama. When the magma under the mountain poured out, the underlying superstructure of the mountain fell back into itself and over a period of time the hole filled with water. The video was a bit too PC for my taste. This is an area of Oregon with a lot of Indian history but the video does not spend enough time to deal with the geologic history and spends an inordinate amount of time on the indian legends.

The trip to Crater is worth the effort. It is as good as I remember it. The blues in the lake are impressive. It was a wonderful day. We drove the whole lake. The perspectives around the lake are beautiful. It gives you a real sense of the wonder of God and nature.