Cruisin' the Crater

Here's our campground set-up at Crater Lake RV Park in Prospect, OR--just south of the Lake.  What a beautiful setting we found ourselves enjoying.  Lousy WiFi, by the way, which is one of the reasons all these blogs are so late in coming.  But don't worry, I can make up even more excuses as time goes by!

Our first full day in this area brought us to beautiful Crater Lake and the West Rim Drive.

We headed north on West Rim Drive and our first stop was Discovery Point ... I think!

From there we drove to our next overlook, Watchman Overlook.  Actually, to be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure which pictures are from what overlook (how's that for truth or consequences?).  There were so many places we stopped and some weren't named and even though I wrote the photo numbers on the map at each stop I eventually realized I didn't quite have the stops right.  So I think these are from Watchman because that's where you are closest to Wizard Island.

Wizard Island is a cinder cone that erupted out of Crater Lake approximately 7,300 years ago in a shower of fiery cinders that piled into a symmetrical cone. Lava flows then pushed through the loose cinders, creating "tongues" of blocky lave that comprise the rest of the island. Today hikers can cross a lava tongue on the Fumarole Bay Trail, or explore the volcano's vent via the Summit Trail.

 

 

Next stop, North Junction and more!

 Gary and Sadie.

 

  Here I am in my new pink camo sweatshirt.

 From this point we headed away from the Lake out the North Entrance Road to Diamond Lake Overlook.

And a great view of Mt. Thielsen, also known as Big Cowhorn.  It is an extinct shield volcano in the Oregon High Cascades.  Because eruptive activity ceased many thousands of years ago, glaciers have heavily eroded the volcano's structure, creating precipitous slopes and horn-like peak.  The spire-like shape of Thielsen attracts lightning strikes and creates fulgurite, an unusual mineral. 

 

 

 

There's so much more to this area than just Crater Lake we found out and you will too!

Luke 8:22-25

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.

And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”