Deep (1943ft). Cold.  Pure (only rain and snowmelt from within the crater).  Huge (5 miles across).   Spectacular.  Unfathomable (5 trillion gallons of water and 34 million of that is exchanged each year with seepage and evaporation balanced by rain and snowfall)  Awesome (some really weird geological formations).  There are many ways to describe the better known volcanic park, Crater Lake, and they are all memorable but the thing most impressive is the Blue of the water.

Crater Lake NP

Trails to fire towers on the peaks of neighboring volcanoes gave us panoramic views of the lake and its place in these fantastic surroundings. This was a 12,000 ft mountain.  Now it’s a lake.  Some pretty cataclysmic stuff happened here.  Stops along the drive give great views of the two islands, phantom ship (a cool ship-like rock formation) and wizard island (a cinder cone with a still visible crater).

It is dry and high forest fire risk. There are actually two fires burning within the National Park; a very small fire inside the caldera and another a few miles north.   California is having fires too.  We are amid thousands of acres of national forest with lots of beetle kill stands and very low rainfall.  Fire fighters have their hands full.

These are serious snow poles!