I'll let the pictures speak mostly for themselves, only sharing a few facts and impressions of this incredible place. If you ever find yourself in Oregon and have the opportunity to visit, go, go, a million times go.
This is the first view we saw of the lake as we entered the park from the north. We had been driving through frozen snow banks and white-powdered trees, and were completely bowled over to see this emerge as we reached the summit of Watchman's Peak:
I think our tires may have squealed as we whipped the car back around to get another look. Allow me to say that I had very few expectations for Crater Lake. I didn't know exactly what it was beyond the name. Hadn't seen pictures before this trip. We just saw it on the map, checked to make sure the drive was doable en route, and were looking forward to a good night of camping. Even compared to the images I had seen in the brochures we'd picked up at the Oregon state line, this lake in person was overwhelmingly beautiful. One of the few times where I actually felt like the ordinary world had been knocked out from underneath me, and I had landed someplace infinitely better.
(Those darker patches on the water are the shadows of the clouds above; the clear turquoise-blue is the natural color of the water).
(You can swim at Cleetwood Cove, and after the hike down, it may have been almost warm enough, but I didn't quite feel like stripping down all my layers of winter clothing and jumping in. This guy went for it. I'd like to return in July or August someday and go for a swim.)
What we were completely unprepared for - it was the Summer Solstice, I'd packed lightly for a six-day summer road trip - was the unpredictable weather and the snow. Most of the park roads and hiking trails were still blocked by snow even in late June, and even though our campground was a different climate entirely than the caldera, there were still patches of unmelted snow. Despite this, we couldn't have had better weather for viewing the lake. Imagine visiting on a day when these views are completely obscured by clouds or fog.
Those facts I promised:
Crater Lake was formed by the volcanic eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama. It's the deepest lake in the U.S. (about 2000 feet) and is fed only by rain and snow, no rivers or streams. The park brochure says it's considered the cleanest large body of water in the world. Another eruption formed Wizard Island (shaped like a wizard's hat), which you can reach by boat tour. There's only one trail to legally access the water, and no motored boats are allowed except rangers'. The hike back up is the equivalent of climbing 65 flights of stairs. The yellow swirls you see on the water are made from pine pollen.
We hiked the Garfield Peak trail first thing in the morning and, on a whim, hiked the Cleetwood Cove trail down to the water before we left, only intending to park the car for the view. Therefore, we did the whole thing without water, snacks, or sunscreen! We stayed one night at the Mazama Village campground inside the park.
And oh, did I mention that we happened to visit on a Fee-Free Weekend? I didn't know such a thing as Get Into Your National Park Free Days existed, but they are wonderful. The next one is August 15-16...everyone get out and enjoy your national parks!
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