It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks around here. With the starting of the new school year, I haven’t had an extra minute to think about my blog…but we did manage a two day escape on one of the weekends in between!
We had a four day weekend for the Labor Day Holiday so we decided to head up to Crater Lake National Park in Central Oregon. It’s a six hour drive so a four day weekend is a must to visit this park for us!
This is a small National Park, pretty much located in the middle of nowhere…but it’s always been one of my favorites.We noticed this time that the majority of license plates were from California, so we guessed that it must be a popular place to visit by folks in the bay area. That being said, the park wasn’t particularly busy. The parking lot at the lodge was never full and the campground was only sold out one night during our stay.
We arrived at the park on Friday afternoon and set up camp. On the drive up we noticed that there was incredibly poor visibility in the crater due to wildfires in California. That was disappointing! It was the last day of August and the second full moon (a blue moon) and we wanted to be up for sunset to snap some photos. We were hoping that the visibility cleared before nightfall. It did….just a bit. Smokey skies can make for some dramatic sunsets!
Enjoying sunset
Beautiful!
Fires in the north made for some spectacular sunsets!
The Blue Moon
A view of the lodge from the overlook
The next morning we were up early…not early enough to see sunrise, but early enough to enjoy the morning sweet light. We also enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the lodge!
Old Ranger Station near the crater
Best view in the house
Inside Crater Lake Lodge
Inside the historic lodge
View of Wizard Island
Walking through the wildflowers
A close up view of Phantom Ship
Framed
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset every night…thus, LOTS of sunset photos!
Mt. Thielsen
Hike along Annie’s Creek in late afternoon….left our tripod behind so a bit blurry…
After glow
Moon Rise
Pumice Castle before sunset
Beautiful colors
Looking across the pumice fields
The blue waters of Crater Lake….like nothing else I’ve ever seen!
Not a bit afraid!
Hike through the Pinnacles
There were four other Airstreams in our loop including another 16 ft Bambi! That made us smile!
At our campsite!
My birthday breakfast on the last morning. A special Apple Fritter shipped from South Dakota (thanks Mom and Dad :))
The (not so) Small Small Trailer 
It has been so many years since I’ve been to Crater Lake, I have forgotten just how awesome it truly is.
LikeLike
Fantastic pictures – thank you! We visited Crater Lake for the first time in 2011 and I was instantly in love with it. Can’t wait to get back there.
LikeLike
Thank you! We go every few years and I never get tired of the scenery!
LikeLike
Have not traveled to Crater Lake before — your photos make it clear it needs to stay on the bucket list! ~ Kat B.
LikeLike
It is a special place and I hope you get to see it someday!
LikeLike
Great pictures! Looks like an amazing place.
LikeLike
Kim, Debbie and I pent 3 days at Crater lake. We left there this morning. I will be posting my blog soon. What a great place. We took the trolley around the lake and got to see it from every angle. We also hiked down to the boat and saw the lake from the water level. We had a great 3 weeks in Oregon. My only regret is that we didn’t get to meet you and you husband.
Frank
LikeLike
Frank, I’m so happy that you guys enjoyed the park as much as we did. I was excited for you to visit…I kept thinking about you two while we were there, imagining experiencing it for the first time. I’m thankful you got good visibility, too. The view on our first night was poor, and I felt sorry for the people that were just visiting for one day. They’ll leave the park not really understanding the draw… The park’s beauty is hard to explain. Safe travels to you and Debbie & I hope we’ll cross paths sometime in the future 🙂
Kim
LikeLike
Breathtaking scenery! Love it.
LikeLike