Crater Lake the Deepest (and Bluest, too?)

A lot has been said about the first sight of the deepest lake in the United States of America. Cheryl Strayed in her memoir ‘Wild’ said that her first look at the lake had been one of disbelief, just as her guidebook had told her it would be.  Even the Nat. Geo. guide to the National Parks of the United States says, “Few forget their first glimpse of Crater Lake on a clear summer’s day…”

It was on a summer day that I was there but what was supposed to have been MY first look at Crater Lake was nothing but a thick cloud of fog. I saw little else.

It was disbelief of another kind, I couldn’t believe the fog could hog up a whole lake just like that. Or maybe I didn’t want to believe it. It was not I didn’t know that this lake was a high altitude one.

It was one of those odd days in the summer when it wasn’t what you called a ‘clear day.’ Hubby had looked up the weather forecast and we had known that it was going to be a foggy day but we decided to go ahead with our plans because it was too late to make changes. We had our hands full for the days that followed, and a few bookings  (even re- bookings) had already been made.  We hoped against hope that the fog would give way to a quick glimpse at the blue lake that we’d seen in pictures. But luck didn’t favour us that day. The fog was literally hugging the lake and blocking the view of all those who were near the rim of that crater.

Crater Lake is technically a crater lake. I remember the first time I had heard about this lake in Oregon. That was a few years ago and it got me wondering if it was a just a name for a lake or a real crater lake like the one Ms. Nalini had taught us about in Geography class back in school. She had told us of volcanic craters that get filled with water and turn into ‘crater lakes,’ in due course. And this lake, dear tripper, is just that — a proper crater lake.

Volcanic History of Crater Lake

Almost 8000 years ago, there was a huge mountain called Mazama. It was volcanic. One time it had a monstrous eruption. As a result, large amounts of pumice and ash were flung several hundreds of miles away and a big depression came about in place of its summit. The magma chamber below is also thought to have been emptied, adding to the depth of the depression. The caldera of that volcano eventually got filled with rain water and snow-melt and came to be called just what it is — Crater Lake.

Crater Lake sits on the Cascade Range in Oregon. If you are not familiar with this mountain range, let me tell you that this chain-of-mountains begins in northern California and runs into the states of Oregon and Washington and even into the western part of Canada. It is one of the most well known lakes on the range not only because it is a crater lake but because it is the deepest lake in the Unites States and one of the bluest lakes too.

Given all that, we couldn’t give it a miss. We decided to go on with our planned trip to central Oregon and try very hard to take a detour to the lake on our way back to California, a couple of days later.

And we did. And look what we saw:

That first glimpse of the waters of Crater Lake. (A cellphone-panorama)

A DSLR shot of Crater Lake from the first stop we made on the rim of the lake.

Tell me who wouldn’t be tipsy from a trip to Crater Lake, on a clear day, of course. 🙂

Pictures from different points around the Lake:

WHY THIS BLUE? This brilliant blue colour that is unique to Crater Lake can be attributed to the fact that the water is clean and pure. Rain water and snowmelt are the sources of this lake. And no rivers flowing into the Lake means no silt being emptied into it.

To think that in place of this peaceful looking blue lake was once lava, volcanic ash and hot gases!

HOW DEEP IS CRATER LAKE? Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and 9th deepest in the world. At its deepest, Crater Lake goes over 2000 ft (over 600 m) down.

And the cliffs on the rim of Crater Lake go up to a height of 2000ft above the surface of the lake.

A VOLCANO WITHIN A VOLCANO: Wizard island, the island in Crater Lake was named so because it is shaped like a Wizard’s hat. Wizard Island is a smaller volcano by itself.

The native story

The legend of the land says ‘the spirit of the mountains,’ Llao,  would often c0me up from the below-world and sit on the top of Mount Mazama. One day he happened to see a chief’s daughter and took a fancy to her. But she refused to go with him to his world. As such, an angry Llao from his seat at the top of Mt. Mazama is said to have begun throwing fire down, in order to destroy her people.

The story goes on to say that ‘the spirit of the sky,’ Skell decided to side with the people of the land and from his place on the top of Mount Shasta, battled with Llao. The two kept throwing hot rocks at each other till Skell succeeded in driving Llao back into the below-world.

It is believed that then, the top of the mountain fell upon Llao and what remained at the top was a large hole.

What you need to consider for your trip to Crater Lake

• Make sure you look up the weather forecast before you plan your trip.
• Look up the fog forecast specifically. There could be fog/snow on a summer day too.
• Make sure you carry some warm clothes
• Crater Lake Lodge on the rim of the lake may not have last-minute rooms for you. You could consider camping or look for accommodation in nearby towns.
• While you are at Crater Lake National Park, you might not want to miss a quick stop at the Pumice Desert a few miles north of the rim of this lake. The Pumice Desert was also born out of the eruption of Mt. Mazama.

You might also want to visit —

>Other Volcanic Sites on Tipsy from the TRIP

Linking to  Our World Tuesday