Crater Lake National Park
Greetings, my friends. It's Meili here to share with you something about the beautiful Cascade Mountains.
Did you know a volcano can erupt and then collapse in on itself, creating a huge bowl? That bowl can then fill with water over thousands of years. This is how Crater Lake in the Cascades was formed.
Mt. Mazama erupted 7,700 years ago. The elevation before the eruption was 12,000 feet above sea level. The rim of the lake is now between 7,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level, depending on where you are on the rim. Some of that volcanic ash has even been found in Greenland.! Wow!
Now we all know water runs downhill. Never an exception. It's the law (the law of gravity😁😁). Well, the lake is at the top of the mountain. Therefore, no rivers or creeks flow into it. How did it fill you ask?? Well, thousands of years of snow melt and rain fall. That's how. It averages 42 feet of snow every year. That doesn't include rainfall. Multiply that by 7,700 years...carry the one...Oh, I can't do math, but you get the picture. A caldera full of water, that's what you get. (The lake stays at stable depths because there are also no rivers or streams flowing from the lake. It looses water only through evaporation and seepage.)
This is most amazing when you realize it is the deepest Lake in The United States! (Seventh deepest in the world.) The deepest point is 1,943 feet deep (592 meters). That's deeper than Lake Superior. It is 4.5 miles wide and 6 miles long. The lake holds 4.9 trillion gallons of water. Now that's a lot of water. You already know I am not the biggest fan of water, so I did my best to stay far, far away from the shore of this lake!!!
Because rivers do not feed into the lake, no silt gets fed into it either. That means it stays extremely clear. It is the cleanest and clearest lake in the world. You can't see the bottom, but you can see up to 131 feet down. That's further than any other lake in the world! Lack of silt and pollutants is also why it is so blue. Amazingly blue!
As you have probably deduced, my human and I visited Crater Lake. Now on the day we went, it was cold. 41 degrees farenheit cold (that's 5 degrees celsius for you non Americans and scientists out there.) Now my human has a coat, scarf and gloves, but I don't. She felt it would get too cold for me if we hiked in that weather. I told you at Thanksgiving she is a good human. Therefore, we only got out of the car for a short time on the rim of the lake.
We ended up driving around the lake on the rim road, stopping occasionally for pictures.
A view east of the lake, from the rim road.
At one point she got me out for a selfie. I don't do selfies. I am more than just a pretty face!!! As you can see, I didn't cooperate.
There is lots more to Crater Lake National Park than just the lake. Lots of geology here, plus many hiking trails and cross country sking trails. No boating, however. They want to keep the lake clean. (I just think someone is showing good judgment.)
Did you know this mountain is STILL an active volcano??😳 No need to worry though. The magma chamber has not completely refilled since it's last eruption, so it will be hundreds, if not thousands, of years before that will happen.
So I do recommend visiting Crater Lake National Park, but unless you like cross country sking, visit in June, July , or August. They close the rim road in the late fall once the snow starts falling. It is a narrow road with no guard rails. Very dangerous with ice on the road. The southern part of the park is open as long as the roads into the park are safe. There are times in the winter when the park roads are all closed. Check with the park before you go if you are going anytime between Oct and April. Yes, April. It takes awhile before these high mountain roads are safe.
Well I do hope all your travels, where ere they be, are safe and full of wonder! Keep wandering my friends, keep wandering.
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