Trailhead: Crater Lake

Do you know what a bucket list is?  I feel very strongly about them, and I feel that everyone should have one.  A bucket list is a list of things you want to do during your life.  They can be big things or small things.  My bucket list is ever growing and ever changing as I cross things out and add new items to the list.  One of the things on my bucket list is to visit all 50 states.  I'm about 1/2 way there... and when I was making my summer plans, I wanted to be sure to visit some states I've never been to before.   That is why I started my summer travels in Oregon.

Take a look at the map to see my path!

I usually am a very light packer, but since I was going camping... I had to bring along a lot of random items (hot pads, tin foil, sleeping bag, pillow, etc.).  

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      Our first stop was Crater Lake, Oregon.  Crater Lake has a pretty cool history.  About 8,000 years ago, a huge volcano erupted and caused a mountain to collapse.  When the land collapsed, it made a big sunken land area called a caldera.  Thousands of years of rain and snow eventually filled up the the empty spots and made Crater Lake.  Actually, it is the deepest lake in the USA.  And, because it is fed only by rain and snow melt, it is also considered to be the world's cleanest body of water.  One of the spectacular things about Crater Lake is its color.  At almost any time of day, the lake is a beautiful, sapphire blue...which makes it photograph so well!  

       Interestingly enough, even though it is June, there is still a LOT of snow at Crater Lake.  The circumference of the lake is about 33 miles, though more than half is still snow covered, and thus you can't drive or hike (safely) around it.   C.L. is also one of the USA's snowiest places too with an average of 673 inches per year.  I can't even imagine that!   It was odd because the air temperature was 65 or 70, but there was still snow... and lots of it!  Notice my t shirt and flip flops... not your typical snow gear!

  

This is Erin- my BFF from San Diego.  She flew north from San Diego to Portland and I flew west from Milwaukee to Portland.  We met up at the airport to begin our adventure.  

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So, the lake was at the summit, but we camped down at the base of the mountains.  There was still snow there, but much less.  You can see snow to the left of our tent.  Also, even while camping... I still found time to READ!  That's me snuggling up with my book before bed.  What book are you reading?? :)  

 Food is very important to campers because it gives them the energy they need to hike, explore and set up camp.  I took a lot of food pictures, mostly because I was impressed with our creative meals.  Also, Erin is a vegetarian, which made our menu a bit more unique.  Night one in Crater Lake, we had grilled cheeses (see photo on left). Night two we had scrambled eggs and potatoes (right).  And of course... S'mores.  

 Now, while we didn't anticipate bears, we had to be cautious because we knew they were in the area.  Basically, we had to keep a very clean camp site, free from crumbs, food scraps or garbage.  Also, any time we weren't cooking, we had to keep our food safe in the trunk of the car where a bear couldn't smell it.  Thankfully we didn't have any run-ins... except for Yogi and Boo Boo.  

Though we were safe from bears, we were thick into deer and elk country.  This little guy was right next to our tent while we were making dinner.  He stopped to look back at me just long enough to snap his photo.   In addition to deer, we saw squirrels, lots of birds and wayyy too many mosquitos.