It has been 39 years since Kathy and I visited Crater Lake. I was just out of the Navy and we were moving from California, back East via a cross country road trip. I remember the lake being unbelievable. Today... it is still unbelievable.
7,700 years ago, the top of Mt. Mazama collapsed down into a huge underground cavern of lava. It swallowed up the entire top of the mountain. The eruption that spurred this collapse was 100 times that of the Mt. St. Helen eruption of 1980. This left a massive cauldron that over the years filled with rain and snow melt. The result is the present day Crater Lake. It is the deepest lake in the US, and it has the purest water of any lake in the world. In case you are wondering, the depth drops to 1,940 ft. The water is so pure because there are no rivers feeding the lake. It is all rain and snow melt.
We drove the 33 mile rim road, stopping at many of the dozens of overlooks, always being stunned.
It was difficult to choose, from the 80 or so photos I took today, the photos to drop into the blog. Anyway, here are a few.
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