Crater Lake..

On our third day of vacation we were finally able to go see Crater Lake. I couldn't tell you how excited I was to go here. I always thought that this was a place that my mom wanted to go and see. I mean she might want to go here but I later found out that it was actually Crates of the Moon that she had been wanting to go see..oops. I would still recommend this place to anyone that has a chance to go. It is just magical..only way to describe it.

This was the first view that we were able to see of it. I had studied about this place a little bit and knew that they had a boat tour that would drop you off at Wizard Island for a couple of hours. That was the only way that you can go out in the water and get to the island. We headed up to the lodge to go purchase tickets. There are only two boats that go to the island each day and they only hold 30 people. Lucky for Brad and me we were able to purchase the last two tickets of the day. I don't know what we would have done if we were not able to get tickets. It would have been horrible!

Brad and I taking in the views..

Libby standing in front of Wizard Island..that was where we were heading!

Clear shot of the island..

Not the best panoramic shot we got of the place but the only one from this day.

We stopped at a couple of view spots on the way before the hike to the boat. I think that I was more excited about it but I just wanted to get to the place with the boat. I didn't want to risk the chance of it leaving with out us even though we had a couple hours before it took off.

Crater Lake is a valcano that had collapsed on itself thousands of years ago. Wizard Island is a cone in the middle of the lake. There was lots of interesting rock formations around the lake. On the tour we learned a lot about them.

Brad and I on the boat tour..

 

The water was so blue and clear. It was the prettiest water I think I have ever seen. We watched a video at the visitor center and they described it as "Crater Lake Blue." I would have to agree, I don't think that we will ever see that color again. You were able to see so far down in it because there was not pollution in the water at all. All of the water comes from snow melt and doesn't have any rivers that go into it.

Once we were dropped off at Wizard Island we were told that we had a couple of hours to go exploring ang that they would come and pick us up around 4 PM. It was a weird feeling when we thought about being just left there but onto hiking we went. There really was 2 different hikes that you could go on. The summit trail was the first one that we decided to go on because that is the one that took you to the top of the cone. Though the hike was kind of a hard one I wouldn't want to have missed out on those views.

View from about half way up the trail..

Brad and I up at the summit..going to go look for some shade to hang out for a while.

Taking in the view..

Brad with the trees and bright green moss..

He made it!

Libby and the water..

Brad and Libby..

Bradley concurred it!

Hanging out in the shade..we are just past a guy who is taking a nap :)

Brad and Libby..

Love the views..

Brad with red and black lava rocks..

Libby in front of the inside of the cone..

Once we had spent a good amount of time up on the summit we decided that we needed to go down to the water and hike along the that trail. Though the views near the water was awesome I had a really hard time walking on those rocks. I barely made it. I think that it mostly had to do with the shoes that I was in. They were letting my feet roll too much.

View by the water. I wanted to touch it so this is as far as we went.

Good picture of Bradley and the hill that we had just walked down..

Libby not enjoying her hike :(

Libby hanging out by the water..

This was a last minute picture that I took right before we left. We were starting to get a little worried about missing the boat that would take us off the island. If you were to miss the boat they would charge you $100 to get off. The colors were so unreal!

Brad getting ready to hike back up the rock hill..

Both of us tired and ready to leave the island..

The boat is coming!!!

Faces of two happy people ready to leave the island..

Once we got back on the boat we continued on the tour. This part was more interesting then the drive out there. We learned a lot about the lake and the people that make it all possible for it to be a national park. One of the original guys that was developing it wanted to make a road all the way down by the water. It was a crazy thought and would totally ruin the whole park, not to mention the water wouldn't be so blue. Sounds like he got fired off the job though thank goodness!

View of the island as we pulled away. As you can tell everyone was tired!

For those that don't know me I like to get my photo taken..

There was waterfalls all around the lake that feed it water from melting snow..

This rock formation is called the Phantom Ship..one of Brad's favorite things about the lake.

Bradley in front of the Phantom Ship..

Libby with the Phantom Ship..

Far shot of the Phantom Ship and a great photo bomb by some random girl..

 Blue water..

Last photo from the boat tour..

This place was amazing! I got to see things that I doubt I will ever see again. I can't believe the colors and how this big chunk of land hasn't be disturbed by man. It is absolutely breathtaking. I would recommend who ever can to get out and go see Craters Lake National Park. If you are not able to hike I wouldn't recommend the boat tour at all. The hike down to the water wasn't bad at all, it was about one mile but like the tour guide said the hike back up was about 11 miles! Very steep..

By the time that we were done hiking and the boat ride we were starving. All of the treats and snacks that we had were just not cutting it anymore. Time was kind of a factor and all of the two places we knew to eat at closed at 9. It was just my luck that I made a wrong turn and didn't realize it until we hit cow country. I am not sure which one of us said it but we didn't remember see any cows that morning. Our hotel offered a dinner service but after eating breakfast there we decided that they were trying to hard to be fancy and were over priced. We were at at B & B so breakfast was included. When we had checked in they mentioned a placed called Beckie's Restaurant. That is where we decided that we were going to have dinner. Now with me taking us the wrong way for 20 something miles one way we were starting to stress that we were not going to get dinner at all. Luck for us we made it in time right before they closed. I don't think that we could have asked for a better dinner!

This place really pushes their home made pies. I asked my waitress what pie she would recommend and before I could even finish she answered mix berry. Normally this wouldn't have been something that I would have tried but I think that it was the best pie that I have ever had! I even made Brad stop by there again in the morning so that I could get another piece for the road. I would make a special trip to Crater Lake just for that pie :) YUMMY!!!