Life in Portland Area

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On July 5, 2006 we set off for Crater Lake, OR. About half the trip was on I5 and not so interesting, but after that it was a pretty drive. Here is hydroelectric dam that we passsed. Below is a picture of one of the pumice deserts. Pumice looks like regular rock, but is very light with lots of bubbles in the rock. Mount Mazama exploded 7,700 years ago, a bit like Mount Saint Helens a few years ago, but whereas Mount Saint Helens threw up about a tenth of a cubic mile of rock and ash, Mount Mazama threw up 18 cubic miles (180 times as much) and literally buried the surrounding area and leaving behind Crater Lake in it place. Also below is one of our first views of the lake which is about six miles across and almost 2,000 feet deep (7th deepest in the world). You can also see Wizard Island below.	=0=
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Above are two more pictures of Crater Lake. When we arrived it was cloudy and Barbara (who had visited Crater Lake before and considers it the most beautiful natural wonder) was disappointed by the blue of the lake. This last winter they had gotten more snow than usual and there was more snow than usual for this time of the year (which was also the early part of the normal season at Crater Lake). Here is a snow covered peak. We drove through Crater Lake on our way to Union Creek Lodge, just a little outside the park (below and on the right). It was a really pretty drive with Rogue Creek nearby (below on the left). The Lodge was an older facility with two shared bathrooms for about ten rooms, but well maintained. It was also next to a lovely creek which filled the air with bubbling brook sounds.	=0=
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We wanted to try the Scott's Peak hike, but the road to the trail head was still closed due to snow. Instead we did the hike to Garfield Peak. Before Mount Mazama had blown, there was a lava flow along one side which left the basalt rock shown above on the right. There were many tree covered hills outside the rim as we made the climb. Below on the left is a picture of the Lodge built around 1910 which is on the rim of the crater. It is only open about five months of the year due to the large amount of snow during the other seven months. There was not much choice in places to stay close to Crater Lake, probably because of the short season.	=0=
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This page was last updated on July 9, 2006.