Day 5 - Crater Lake

A three hour drive further east from Sutherlin, OR brought us to Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is basically an old Volcano that erupted about 7700 years ago, then collapsed in on itself and then filled up with rain and snow. It’s the deepest lake in the country and it probably the bluest lake we will ever see.

We spent most of the day driving around the rim of the crater stopping at every single scenic overlook there was. At one point we hiked down to the water’s edge and actually jumped in the water. The water wasn’t as cold as we were expecting. We have definitely been in colder water but we didn’t stay in very long regardless.

After the hike, we were sick of driving and taking pictures so we went to set up our tents at the camp site. On the way in to the campground we were greeted with a sign warning us about the presence of BEARS in the campground. We couldn’t bring any burgers or hot dogs or anything that would attract bears so we spent the rest of the night snacking on Bologna sandwiches and drinking coors light, which we bought from the only general store within 75 miles. We called it an early night around 9:30 so that we could get an early start on the 5 hour drive to the redwood forest in Northern California.

P.s We did not encounter any bears. In fact, the only animal life we came across was a chipmunk and some kind of bird with blue wings. It would have been fun to get into a bear fight.

---

---