Sunday, Oct 2

For the second time on this trip the weather significantly hampered my plans. It happened when I drove the Great River Road along the Mississippi as heavy thunder storms and hail caused me to skip stops and made scenic photography impossible. Today was about the same.

The day was about Crater Lake (National Park) which is a pristine lake that formed in the caldera of a collapsed volcano. The lake water is supplied only through rain and snow and Crater Lake holds the record for the clearest water of any natural lake in the world. It is also the deepest lake in the US and, because of its sheer walls, one of the most dramatic. The only problem comes if you are unable to see it because of snow and fog.

There is a rim drive around the outside of the caldera which has multiple stops with trails to lake overlooks and I intended to visit several of these to take photographs. Driving to the lake was an adventure on a snow covered road with steep, unprotected  fall-offs on the right waiting to swallow any vehicle that skidded off the road. I have highlighted this section in today’s video which you can find here.

I arrived at the lake around 11:15 but could not see it because of the low cloud so I watched a movie and checked out exhibits at the visitor center, hoping that the weather may improve. The rangers were predicting another storm in about two hours but said the ceiling may lift briefly in the meantime. As I left the visitor center there was sleet falling and so I reluctantly headed for the park exit but, on the way out, I noticed I was able to see down into a roadside ravine and turned around to give the rim drive a try. I was so lucky (relatively speaking) in that I stopped at a trail-head, walked about half a mile to the viewpoint and, yes, I could see the lake. By the time I got back to the car the clouds were descending again so I headed to Klamath Falls, Oregon for the night..

Crater lake – from the one viewpoint I saw it.