Around the World at Crater Lake

Jill's Journal: Is this Santorini, Greece?

Hawaii? Or how about Jamaica?

Lake Tahoe?

Alaska?

Utah’s Zion?

Maybe a zoo?

No, no, no, no, no, and no! All these images are from Crater Lake today. WHAT a place. And yes, that is Rob leaping off a 20-foot precipice and into the water!

Crater Lake was like glass today. We could not have gone to the water line on a better day. Just look at that reflection.

Another reflection. Look how perfectly the clouds in the sky are mirrored on the lake. By the way, on the ridge is the Crater Lake Lodge. What a view guests have.

We finally made it on the boat tour. Third time was a charm. Our Wednesday tour was cancelled due to threat of weather and our morning tour today was cancelled due to a captain quitting. We were so happy to be accommodated on an afternoon boat today.

But this sign at the top of the trail made me worry. One hundred-fifty flights of stairs! We’d heard earlier it was only 65 flights. I guess at that point, what’s another 85 flights of stairs, right?

And honestly, the trail wasn’t bad. The joke is it’s 1.1 miles down but feels like 11 miles up because of the 724 feet of elevation change. But we all did fine and were surprised when we reached the top so quickly. We asked the girls at the end which was worse: the Crater Lake climb or the Oregon Trail hike we did a few weeks ago. We got an emphatic, unanimous Oregon Trail vote! At least that historic place will be forever burned into their memories. :)

The boat tour itself was nice, but our ranger guide was very technical and the girls quickly lost interest, especially as they couldn't see over the sides without standing on the seats (which was only permitted for brief periods). Our guide actually cracked me up as she was a clone of Sarah Palin’s in both voice and mannerisms.

Our two youngest got sick of being stuck on a boat for nearly two hours without really being able to see out and got pretty restless and crabby. This is a very mad Madelyn who had just told me she was “sick of looking at beautiful scenery!”

The water was just amazing. There is no color like Crater Lake Blue. The clarity is second to none; in fact, the world record for how deep one can see in the water was set at Crater Lake at an astounding 143 feet. Rob’s childhood home of Lake Tahoe is known for its clarity as well, but that registers at “only” between 40 and 80 feet. I was once in the Cayman Islands where visibility was at around 100 feet (I could see scuba divers swimming beneath me!), but clearly even places like the Caribbean don’t quite measure up to Crater Lake.

The boat tour took us on the perimeter of the entire lake, plus around both Wizard Island and Phantom Ship. One of the most wild spots was at Phantom Ship. Immediately around the rock structure, the water was only about 12 feet deep. However, one could clearly see something the rangers call “the Blue Line.” It was like there was a line drawn in the water, where the color abruptly changed from the shallow teals to the deep blue. And sure enough, in a matter of only three feet, the water depth drops more than 1,000 feet.

I had to show this shot of Rob leaping into the water again (after the boat ride) because the girls so wanted to follow him into the water. And to be honest, I wanted to also! It looked so fun and refreshing. But alas, the girls aren’t ready to be leaping off cliffs and I didn’t bring my bathing suit (not that that stopped other people!).

The ranger told us the water is 55 degrees until you are five feet below the surface; at that point, it drops to a constant 38 degrees.

Here are the girls at the top of the trail, happy to be done with the climb. Victoria had our favorite line of the hike, “I’m so tired I just need to go to bed.” Those words have never before crossed her lips! Clearly there should be much more hiking in our future. :)