Beautiful Crater Lake

Crater Lake, which is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere in south central Oregon, is probably the most stunningly beautiful lake I've ever seen. It filled in the crater of an ancient volcano, and the water is a deep, midnight blue. It was actually considered a sacred place by the native peoples, and they weren't allowed to look on it. It was believed that you would die if you saw it. Though we had a few gray clouds, I think they made the color of the water even more beautiful than when I'd seen it in pictures on a sunny day. I think the depth is what makes it so blue. It's actually the deepest lake in the US (1,949 ft). At the beginning of our trip halfway around the lake (the gates were locked at that point), the clouds barely blocked the mountain tops. We could still see the mountaintops with our eyes, but the camera couldn't capture them. But the lake and its surrounding landscape were still very beautiful. I love this shot of me at the Lake! Fortunately the clouds started clearing as we went along. You can tell how super cold it was by how we're dressed. It was barely above freezing, and there was still snow on the road. That's the reason why we weren't allowed to go around the whole thing. But it was totally worth it to brave the cold for these fantastic pictures. The nice thing was that, by the time we got to where the gates were closed, the clouds had moved away from our area for the most part, and gone back to the area where we'd started from. We timed it perfectly. It was just so gorgeous. Just look at that lake!

Just look at that mountain/volcano! I really liked this little island in the middle of the lake. It was deserted for the most part, but at our final stop we found another couple to take our picture. And we had to take one last picture just because it was so beautiful and so difficult to tear ourselves away. Oscar really liked the "Pumice Desert" we drove through on our way out of Crater Lake and on to Medford, OR.

Paulina peak, lake, and falls

Oscar and I had heard that the view from Paulina Peak (the picture above) was stunning, so we headed on up to it. Unfortunately, the gates were closed when we got there. However, it was starting to turn gray again so we wouldn't have been able to get a great view. We'll have to go back another time. But we did see this nice view along the way. This is the peak itself. It's pretty cool. We both agreed that it's very ominous, like it's a dragon's lair. This is Oscar by Paulina lake. At least the Paulina waterfall was still beautiful. It was much more impressive than I was expecting. It made the extra 10 miles up and down the canyon worth it.

Bend, OR and the underground lava tube cave

Fortunately it started getting sunnier once we got over to Bend, OR, but there were still a lot of clouds. I'd like to go back one day to see the full view. But the view we got is still beautiful. We first took a little hike to the beautiful views at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. I like this picture of Oscar with the volcano behind him.



I kept an eye out for these mini lava tubes.



This is the view from the top of the volcano







And this is the crater view from the top. There was actually a little hike looping around the crater, but we didn't take it due to time constraints.



My friend, Cambria, had recommended we go to the underground lava tube cave. We'd been in a similar one in Hawaii, but fortunately, this one had been smoothed out. They even had stairs and rails. It was a lot easier to tunnel through.



This is how dark it was.



The camera flash showed a little bit of what the cave rock looks like.





We had to rent a lantern.





However, the cave got smaller and smaller towards the end. At one point you had to army crawl. Oscar had to do it while holding the lantern, and his hand touched the ceiling while the lantern slid across the sand as he dragged himself along. I wish I had a picture of it, but he was the one carrying the camera, and the people behind us wouldn't have appreciated our stopping in that cramped space to take a picture. We had a little more space on the way back. Oscar snapped these shots of me at the point where you have to crawl on your knees, but not on your stomach.





We were thrilled to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it hurt our eyes a lot when we came back into the full sunlight. We'd forgotten that it was actually going to be the sunniest point of the day when we came out. I'd been convinced it was going to be twilight.



My pants got "slightly" dirty from the crawl. I wouldn't have worn white pants if I'd realized we'd be on our knees. Luckily they washed out for the most part and I'd gotten them on sale for $8 at Old Navy.

A Scenic Drive to the Three Sisters

On our way to Bend, OR, we took the "scenic drive" our GPS recommended. However, it was gray the entire way through, and didn't break until we got to the town of "Three Sisters," named after the spectacular view of the 3 sister mountains you can see as you drive through. First we stopped at a lake along the drive. Here we stood on the ancient volcanic rock. It reminded me of being on the big island of Hawaii. There was a lookout fortress for viewing the different mountains. This guide directed you toward each mountain. I love that one peak is called "The Husband." These were views from the lookout. They would have been better on a clearer day. We'll have to go back. This was the first sister we saw as we came into town. These are some shots of the cute town itself. The view of the sisters was, fortunately, becoming clearer as we drove. This lookout would be spectacular on a clear day. We could still see the mountains, but the clouds blocked their tops.