This is a stop worth your time. Crater Lake. On a calm, clear day, the reflections are spectacular. The lake is too wide to take one photograph as it's 33 miles around.


 
 

We also got some photos when the wind was a bit more breezy but still magnificent. You just sit there and look at the lake it's so beautiful.
 

Then, there were other things to notice....


 ....and some interesting data about how the lake was formed and named....

Crater Lake is a caldera lake in the western United States, located in south-central Oregon. It
is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m)-deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years. At 1,943 feet (592m), the lake is the deepest in the United States, and the seventh or ninth deepest in the world, depending on whether average or maximum depth is measured.
 
In June 1853, John Wesley Hillman became the first non-native American explorer to report sighting the lake he named the "Deep Blue Lake." The lake was renamed at least three times, as Blue Lake, Lake Majesty, and finally Crater Lake.

Mount Mazama, part of the Cascade Range volcanic arc, was built up mostly of andesite, dacite, and rhyodacite over a period of at least 400,000 years. The caldera was created in
a massive volcanic eruption between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago that led to the subsidence of Mount Mazama. About 50 cubic kilometres (12 cu mi) of rhyodacite was erupted in this event. Since that time, all eruptions on Mazama have been confined to the caldera.

 

Lava eruptions later created a central platform, Wizard Island, Merriam Cone, and other, smaller volcanic features, including a rhyodacite dome that was eventually created atop the central platform. Sediments and landslide debris also covered the caldera floor.

Eventually, the caldera cooled, allowing rain and snow to accumulate and eventually form a
lake. Landslides from the caldera rim thereafter formed debris fans and turbidite sediments on the lake bed. Fumaroles and hot springs remained common and active during this period. Also after some time, the slopes of the lake's caldera rim more or less stabilized, streams restored a radial drainage pattern on the mountain, and dense forests began to revegetate the barren landscape. It is estimated that about 720 years was required to fill the lake to its present depth of 594 m (1,949 ft). Much of this occurred during a period when the prevailing climate was less moist than at present.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_Lake


Not only is the lake gorgeous to view, but the history of how it was formed is fascinating. Plus, there are numerous spots around the lake for viewing. During the summer, there is a boat that takes you around the lake. We did that years ago and it's worth taking. It was not offered when we were there this time.

Go see this place.

Steve and Kim