Crater Lake
Crater Lake is a fairly remote national park located in Oregon’s Cascade range. Any decent sized town will be at least two hours away, so be prepared for a bit of a road trip regardless of where you are coming from. I woke up at 5:30 from a place called Grants Pass in order to get here at a reasonable hour. My early start began in reasonably warm weather and some thick fog as I climbed higher into the mountains.
The roads initially were barren and foggy but that quickly changed in about an hour. It didn’t take long for me to drive above the fog and begin to see patches of snow. A short time later I was in a completely different environment with everything covered in snow. I went from seeing dead trees and fog to blue skies and deep snow in just two short hours!
To be honest, when I left in the morning I wasn’t even sure if there was going to be snow at Crater Lake. Clearly I wasn’t disappointed. I didn’t prepare well for this trip and as it was a bit spontaneous, so I didn’t even have hiking shoes with me. The photo above shows some of the deep snow I encountered once I got up to the rim that I’d have to hike through.
The road to the crater pretty much goes right up to the rim. Above and below are photos of Crater Lake. The lake sits at an altitude of over 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) on top of an extinct volcano. The rim that goes along the crater varies in altitude from roughly 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,000 to 2,400 meters) above sea level. This lake is nearly 2,000 feet (600 meters) in depth, making it the deepest lake in the United States and the ninth deepest lake in the world!
The thick blanket of snow that covered the entire forest and trails caught me by surprise. I debated what to do since I was only wearing running shoes. I had come too far to do nothing but simply sight see from a single look out point. I decided I had no choice but to accept getting cold and wet. I was no stranger to suffering in the mountains so this didn’t bother me too much. The snow seemed to scare away most other people, and at this point I seriously seemed to be the only person in the entire park. As you’ll notice from the rest of the photos on this page, the colors are pretty much limited to white and blue. This cabin by the crater rim was probably the only exception.
The trail was mostly steep where I first began. There were sections that were relatively easy and I was able to walk on rock and then the next thing I knew I’d be walking in nearly knee deep snow. The trail continued going up in altitude with the snow varying in depth.
Since I was here so early I didn’t expect anyone else to have hiked before me. I was surprised to see some footprints already in the snow, but these didn’t last long. After an hour of hiking the footprints had turned around and I was the one breaking trail. I didn’t see any wildlife, but saw some footprints such as these above left by a deer.
A few times I went off the trail to get some better views of the lake, which was nearly always in view. Some of these side treks probably weren’t the best idea, because one wrong step or slip could have meant the end of all my travels. The photo above and shows some of the steep slopes that lead down to the water. In the photo below you can see some of the rocky areas that extend above the trail.
The trail continued to climb and I was rewarded with some of the most amazing beauty I’ve ever seen in my life. Above and below are two more shots I took while hiking directly into the sun.
Directly on the trail were plenty of amazing sights. I’ve always loved rime ice formations and nearly everything I saw here was covered in it. I had been hiking the day before at a lower altitude in rainy weather.That same storm must have been dumping rime ice on Crater Lake and left behind some beautiful scenery. Rime ice is formed when water droplets are caught up in fast wind and flash freeze on objects. One tree I passed by was covered in rime ice that looked like it could all be shaken off. I gave it a try and hit one of the branches expecting all the ice to shatter off, but instead it felt like I had swung at some concrete. The photo above shows some rime ice built up along the trunk of a tree. The small plant below also suffered the same fate.
Aside from the amazing views directly on the trail there is much to be seen in the distance. The photo above shows Union Peak. Below is perhaps the most beautiful view I had while on my hike. In the distance is what I believe to be Mt. Scott, another extinct stratovolcano in the Cascades.
