Crater Lake Birthday Adventures

There is no place we can't go! This was considered my Birthday trip. The previous birthday trip was not supposed to be so elaborate. Everywhere was sold out, and I really wanted to go see something new, and stay somewhere overnight. Crater lake is quite close, and I havn't been there since I was little. My mom doesn't remember it being the way it was either. So it was a well needed trip for all of us. It WAS BEAUTIFUL! My mom and brother came along on this trip with Wayne and I. Everything around Crater lake was sold out, and has been probably for a year now. The lake was so calm, and reflective. It looked like a mirror. It is the most photogenic place I have ever been to by far(I took over 1,000 pictures on this trip).. It is also the deepest lake in the United States(7th deepest in the world), and the park takes up an impressive 183,224 acres. It is apparently rare when all of the snow melts off in the summer. The roads were all completely open this year- Giving us the WHOLE experience. We saw a side of crater lake that many people don't get a chance to see. I highly recommend making the trip if you havn't recently. Especially this year!

We stopped at 2 waterfalls. 1 on the way there, and 1 on the way home. Salt Creek Falls was a huge highlight of the trip as well. It is the second largest waterfall in Oregon at 286 feet tall. The height of the waterfall is just a little less impressive as the process that created it. According to the Northwest waterfall Survery, "Glaciers scoured the valley out during the last Ice Age, then following their retreat, lava flows filled in a portion of the valley, creating the narrow canyon walls composed of columnar basalt that can be seen at the falls." There is a high salt content in a lot of the springs in the area. This waterfall would be beautiful to go see any time of year.

We also did some adventuring around Waldo Lake. It is one of the largest natural lakes in Oregon, and one of the purest lakes in the world(along with Crater Lake). Both lakes do not have any inlets, and there is a prohibition on gas motor use to preserve the water clarity. You can see depths of 120 feet in Waldo Lake on a calm day. It was impressive to see a lake so large, and so little activity on it. This is a good place to "get away from it all". A Very very quiet and beautiful lake. Every lake after seeing Crater Lake was.. Not even on the same level of beauty though. I recommend seeing everything on the way to go see Crater Lake. End the trip with a bang.

♥