Crater Lake National Park

The main reason we stayed at Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area north of Medford, OR, was to visit Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is located a little over an hour to the northeast.

Crater Lake is in the caldera of an ancient volcano called Mount Mazama. Mount Mazama was one in a chain of volcanoes that existed (and many still do exist) in the Cascade Mountain Range. The Cascades start in Canada and extend down to Mount Lassen in northern California.

Mount Mazama built up over a long period of time to a height of 11,000 or 12,000 feet. The base was broader than Mount Shasta, but it was not as tall and the sides were not as steep. Following the emptying of the magma chamber during a massive eruption long ago, the center of Mount Mazama collapsed creating a caldera six miles across.

After the caldera cooled, it filled with snow melt and rain water creating Crater Lake, which is shown in the photo below.

 

Crater Lake is known for its deep blue color. We knew that, and we were reminded again when we saw the informational movie at the visitor center. But when we drove up the hill from the visitor center to the first overlook, we were astounded at the intensity of the blue. It was breathtaking.

Crater Lake is 1,943 feet deep at the deepest point. There are no streams or rivers in or out of the lake. All the water is from snow melt, rain, or from springs. Consequently, the water is very pure with little pollution or sediment. It is the depth and purity of the water that give it its intense blue color.

Following the collapse of Mount Mazama, there were still eruptions going on inside the caldera from secondary vents. Wizard Island, which is shown in the first photo, is a cinder cone that is evidence of the activity after the collapse. Other cones exist below the surface of the water. The next photo shows Margery with Wizard Island in the background.

Wizard Island is named for the fact its conical shape is like a wizard's hat. The top of the cone is about 755 feet above the surface of the water and is topped by a 500 foot diameter, 100 foot deep crater. You can barely see the dark crater in the photo above. There are boat tours that depart from the northern side of the lake in summer and stop at Wizard Island.

The photo below is another view of the lake to the right of Wizard Island.

There is a 33-mile loop road around the entire perimeter of the crater. Unfortunately, the road wasn't fully open yet because of snow. In fact, we passed the snow plow on our way into the park. The road was only open from the visitor center about half way around the lake on the western side. The entire road usually doesn't open until sometime in July. One of the things we were astounded to find out about Lassen Volcano while we were there is it gets 40 feet of snow, but the average annual snowfall at Crater Lake is even higher at 44 feet.

Driving clockwise around the lake, we came to another pull-off called Watchman Overlook. It takes its name from nearby Watchman Peak, which is a high spot left around the rim of the caldera when Mazama collapsed. The photo below shows Watchman Peak. As you can see, there is quite a bit of snow at this altitude of about 8,000 feet.

 

From this vantage point, you can also see some other features that existed before the collapse of the volcano. One is Hillman Peak, which sits on the rim of the caldera. Hillman Peak was a secondary volcano that erupted from the flank of Mount Mazama. The jagged spires are the solidified lava conduits.

 

Another feature that you can get a good view of from Watchman Overlook is Llao Rock. Llao Rock is a large outpouring of lava that filled an explosion crater on the side of Mount Mazama. When Mazama collapsed, it left a portion of the lava flow perched on the rim. The next photo shows Llao Rock on the left.

 

Continuing around the lake, we came to Pumice Point. We had seen quite a few Clark's nutcrackers flitting about at some of the other stops. At Pumice Point, one finally landed on the wall where Paul could get a good photo. These birds have flashy patches on their wings and tails, so they look similar to mockingbirds when they fly.

 

The next photo is looking east from Pumice Point.

 

And the photo below is a view to the south showing the north side of Wizard Island.

 

From Pumice Point, it was only a short distance to where the road was closed, so we turned around and headed back toward the park entrance. On the way, we looked a little closer at the scenery surrounding the lake rather than the lake itself. The next photo shows Mount Thielsen, which is an extinct volcano that lies just outside the park to the north. The bare areas in the middle ground are pumice beds.

 

The photo below shows Red Cone, a basalt cinder cone.

 

The next photo is looking south. The dark peak to the right is the extinct volcano Union Peak. To the left of Union Peak right about in the center of the photo along the horizon is snow-covered Mount McLoughlin, which is a cinder cone that was later covered by lava. To the left of Mount McLoughlin is Mount Shasta. It was barely visible to the naked eye (it was 100 miles away), and it is very difficult to see in the photo. It's just a light-colored, fuzzy blur on the horizon on the far left.

At the same pull-off we saw a blacktail deer. It climbed the bank and watched us for a while before wandering off into the brush.

 

Then it was back to the motor home. From Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area, we continued on our northward journey. Look for our next post to see where we ended up.