Visit to Crater Lake

We had not been up to Crater Lake in many years so it was a treat to go up and see it again. The Rim Village gift shop was not as large as it use to be and they have moved the parking areas to the backside of the building, but the lake itself is always a spectacular view.
One can take a boat ride out to the island you see on the left, where you will be dropped off for three hours to explore it. It was not going this day due to the weather. This is something I would like to do but even the hike down the hill to the boat is suppose to be pretty strenous and you have to be in good shape to do it.

We walked through the gift shop and then onto the Lodge for lunch. We had a great luncheon while outside the thunder storm hit. We tried to wait it out but were anxious to see more of the lake so up the path to the lookout tower was our first stop. It has a room that tells the story of how Crater Lake got started and has pictures of how things have changed over the centuries. The views from here were awesome as you can see.

This is leaning over the wall and looking straight down from the tower. The blue is so pretty and this did'nt do it justice with the cloud cover above us at times.

You just cannot capture the whole lake at one time it is so large. I read there is actually an area where you could hike down to the lake and swim in it. I did'nt even know that existed the first time I came here.

As we left the lookout tower we came upon this Clark's nutcracker (bird). He was quite a little show off and posed for everyone to take pics of him. He kept calling out for someone to feed him but the peanuts were left in the car. There were not any of our regular chipmunks out and about to be fed due to the rain. They would usually climb right up on your leg for a handout.

We left the Rim Village to take a chance on going around the east rim and we made it as far as the Vidae Falls when it started lightning and pouring down so hard we called it a day. I was able to get one shot of the falls before the car was totally soaked inside. They are pretty aren't they? We took our dogs with us the first time we came here and they would climb up the waterfall enjoying getting wet. No one was getting out of their cars today. It was just too risky to keep going up this narrow winding road with this downpour.

As we left the park and were headed home my husband spotted an Eagles nest so we turned the car around so I could capture the birds up in it. I was only able to get three of them but there were four birds in all.

Our next stop was to pick up a pizza and then home. We have had our share of thunderstorms lately but it was still nice to get out and see what we could.

I think next time I go up to the lake I will pack a picnic lunch, bring an umbrella, lots of mosquito wipes and a good book and just sit and take it all in. It is definetly one place that is hard to leave.