Crater Lake
July 2018 | Park 9
Part + Park 3 (of 3) on the birthdaymoon road trip.
I decided to leave most of these photos untouched/barely touched up, mostly because I still find the deep blue color of the water to look totally unreal and I want to leave it as is. That shade of blue looks fake. The lake is so deep (1900+ ft at its deepest point) that the water actually absorbs the red and orange wavelengths of sunlight while reflecting the blue wavelengths back to the surface, giving it this distinctive hue. Crater Lake really does defy the imagination.
Several of my family members who lived in the Eugene area drove down to spend the afternoon with us here. We caught up over chicken curry salad and walked around Rim Village Historic District before eventually getting into our cars and driving along the western edge of the rim. We eventually made it to our destination: Cleetwood Cove Trailhead, the only access point to get down the water’s edge. After descending the switchbacks, we were ready to join the small crowd of people at the bottom who alternated between jumping in to the icy lake and warming back up on the rocks that made up the shoreline.
I joined J and a few siblings at the edge of the ledge and we leapt in one after the other, each person shrieking as they jumped and gasping after bobbing back to the surface. When it was my turn and I plunged into the water’s cold embrace, I felt like a vise had suddenly gripped my chest, squeezing all the air out of my lungs. I came up gasping with shock and laughing with delight, treading water for a moment to reorient myself before forcing my frozen limbs into motion to swim back to the shore.
After saying goodbye to the family, we completed our drive around Rim Road with a stop at Cloudcap Overlook for sunset and a classy shared dinner of freeze-dried chili. We slept in Mazama Village Campground and squeezed in a breakfast at Crater Lake Lodge before leaving. One of my favorite memories is from this morning: Peacefully sitting in one of the giant Adirondack chairs on the expansive deck overlooking the lake, cradling a hot cup of coffee and watching the rising sun slowly alter the color of the water from pink to grey to that deep, impossible shade of blue.
Pictured below:
Watchman Overlook.
Cleetwood Cove Trail, the only access point to get down to the water’s edge.
Cloudcap Overlook.
