Crater Lake -The blue lake in Oregon
Remember how we left a night earlier than planned from our camping trip at Deception State Park? We left early from camping because the next day morning we were on our way to Eugene, a city in Oregon. Our destination-Crater Lake National Park, the only national park in all of Oregon!
Interesting Fact: That weekend of June that we choose to visit the Crater National park turned out to one of be the hottest days in the recent history of Pacific Northwest summer with temperatures rising up to 110°F (43 °C) in some places.
We left from home around 1ish in the afternoon in S’s Range Rover for Portland Oregon,our first stop.
Bollywood Theater-Portland
Four hours later we were in Portland, just in time for dinner. To satiate our taste buds, we choose to eat in Bollywood Theater, a popular Indian-fusion restaurant.
As you would have guessed from the name, it has all the feels of an old Bollywood movie! And if you are anything like me, then you are going to love the interiors of this place, it is bursting with bright colors!!
My favorite here is the old Indian post box, I never seem to get enough of it.
When we went in, this place was beaming with people as popular yesteryear hindi songs played in the background! Servers were busy serving the tables as mouth watering aroma wafted in the air !!Our tummies growled and that was our sign to place our order.
Now, I have always enjoyed the food here, specially their Kati Rolls, sadly though, the food was just meh this time. We left rather disappointed from here!
But hang on, I wouldn’t strike it off my list yet! I have enjoyed the food here before, so I am going to totally come back again!
Dinner later, we were back on the road heading in the direction of Eugene our last stop for the day.
An hour and a half later, our SUV turned in to the parking lot of Marriott Eugene, the heat and exhaustion from camping had finally gotten to all of us! Finally at midnight we called it a day, tomorrow was going to be a long and a very hot day!
We left for The Original Pancake House to have breakfast the next morning.
Fun fact: Eugene was the host of U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field for this year, they have hosted this event twice already in the past in 2008 and 2012!
Soon we were back in the car and on our way to Crater National Park.
I don’t remember the drive much, I was in deep slumber till S jolted me back into reality when he stopped the car at the park’s entrance, two and a half hour later.
Crater Lake National Park-Blue Beauty!
Crater National Park is home to Crater Lake, the deepest lake in USA and 7th deepest lake in the world.
History: This spectacular natural wonder owes its creation to a violent volcanic eruption that occured 7700 years ago! The volcanic event left a deep caldera where once stood a part of Mount Manaza!
Over the years rain and snow accumulated in the caldera giving us this mesmerizing stunning deep blue lake. Read more about it here.
Fact: The color of Crater Lake is the product of its great depth, the purity and clarity of its water, and the way solar radiation interacts with water! (Source: NPS)
Look at the picture and tell me you aren’t awe struck by that brilliant dazzling blue color! I am falling short of superlatives to describe this lake!
The water sat there still as a stone. Not one ripple!! With no water inlet except rainwater and snow, the water here is as pure as it can get!
I highly recommend reading the newsletter that comes with the map,very educative! It also helped Ms. V complete her first Jr. Ranger Program! 😃
Most of the trails and boat rides in the park were closed for repairs when we went to the park. When open, one can hike all the way down to the lake and as a perk you can swim in this lake!!
Given the heat, we didn’t plan for any hikes this trip. We were just stopping at as many viewpoints as we drove towards the Rim VIllage located at southwest rim of the caldera!
Rim Drive is a spectacular 33 mile around the Crater Lake with viewpoints all along!
At Rim village you can walk right up to the edge of the lake for the picture perfect view ! Tourist stop here to take pictures and grab a bite before heading further down.
Rim village also houses the Ranger station and visitor center.
Few minutes into our walk at Rim Village, S gave up, he couldn’t take the heat any more!
Ms. N and he headed back to the car while V and I continued on. We took our time with the lake.
Later we met S and N at the visitor center to grab a quick lunch! The visitor center gets pretty busy with long queue extending all the way to the parking lot ! So plan for lunch accordingly.
After lunch, we continued our drive to see the Phantom ship. By now, the heat had started to get to all of us.
Crater Lake features two small islands. Wizard Island, and Phantom Ship, a natural rock pillar. A short hike led to the Phantom ship viewpoint but I just couldn’t do it. I was done for the day.
The girls and S went ahead and got me back some stunning pictures of this rock pillar .
Phantom Ship in Crater Lake
We had spent a little less than 3 hours just viewing the lake.There is so much more to do here, specially hiking down to the lake on a good day!
With our hearts filled with gratitude and humbled by this flawless breathtaking natural wonder we left Crater National Park for our hotel.
I highly recommend you to add this to your list of must see places in USA! You won’t be disappointed!!
Here is a quote I would like to leave with you today, something that resonates with our experience at Crater Lake.