Crater Lake and the Upper Rogue River

I did mention yesterday that the lake was blue, did I not? I found this combination of colors irresistible as the light and shadows played over the early morning stillness. Yes, the fatigue of last night dissipated enough by this morning that we opted to make the hour's drive back up to the lake for just this view, just this wonderful morning light. I'm so glad we did!

This is the Phantom Ship rock once more, cast in the reflection of the still lake. I cannot describe just how beautiful the scene really was, with that incredible reflection all around the entire scene.

More plays of blue and reflections, with Mt. Theissen in the distance. At this point, we turned around and headed back down the mountain, but just these few views from the east side were well worth the drive. Besides, we had other places along the highway we wanted to explore.

This photo is actually from day one -- somehow it looks better to me today than it did late Friday night when I was so tired and bleary-eyed. This big rock with the green lichen or moss is spectacular, in a rather subtle kind of way.

Our next stop -- the same beautiful rapids I stopped to see last night, but in much better light. Today, we walked the length of the path and discovered the Rogue River Gorge. I saw a bit of it last night, but there was so much to learn here! These rapids are just above the falls that feed into the Gorge.

This is the video I shot Friday afternoon, and 'lost'. Sadly, even this cannot show the full scope of this beautiful spot. There was a tree to my left that I could not pan past, thus only the major part of the falls is shown. It's a little dark because of the time of day but better than a still photo, anyway.

Is this not gorgeous? This is beyond the waterfall, where the river flows through this deep, narrow gorge at the rate of 410,000 gallons per minute.

You can click on this photo enlarge, read what it has to say about this section of the river. None of this comes close to describing how it feels to be there, to hear it and see it.

Next, we stopped at the Natural Bridges, where the Rogue disappears into the rock and reappears a bit further, bursting right out of the rock after its underground journey. This photo is from a bridge just below where all this happens.

This is where the river charges out of the rock. Unfortunately, the light didn't allow the camera to pick up on the dark 'hole', but you get the idea. You can see it boiling out of nothing. It helps to click on the photo, enlarge it, so that the dark shadows open up a bit to show the rock.

I think this is just below the 'hole'. Spectacular whitewater!

Another sign to click on, get the real details of this site.

This photo is from way above, showing the lava flow and rocks that cover the 200 feet of hidden river channel. The river reappears just beyond this stretch of rock.

Another interpretive sign that explains it much better than I can!

Our last stop was Mill Creek Falls, although there was supposed to be another waterfall in the area as well, so I'm not sure if this is Mill Creek or the other. Whatever its name, it was spectacular and well worth the walk to find it. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't give much in the way of scale, but this was a huge waterfall barreling off the side of the cliff into the tiny Rogue below. Breathtaking to watch.

Quite a blow to our senses today, temperature wise. From the coolness of high elevations at Crater Lake, to 95 sweltering degrees in the lowlands between Shady Cove and the Smith River (and a passenger who didn't understand my disdain for AC), to a quick 30 degree temperature drop once we hit the western side of the Coastal mountains. In truth, I was a bit astonished at how quickly the temps dropped once we passed through the California inspection station and headed almost imperceptibly downhill. Ten degrees quickly, another 10 fairly quickly, until within 30 minutes we were at 60 really cool degrees. And fog, of course! For once, I was not unhappy to see it. And, while I love the mountains and rivers, it's always good to get back to that lovely ocean with the waves crashing into shore.

Crater Lake

The first thing that hits your senses is the color. There's nothing subtle about it in the least. It reaches right up, smacks you in the face and knocks your socks off. And no matter how long you look at it, that sense of incredulity never seems to waver. This is the quintessential view as you reach the visitor's center from the south entrance. Indescribably, impossibly, blue. It's the deepest lake in the US and the 7th deepest lake in the world, and all that depth does some fancy light refracting to produce this color.

We found it difficult to tear ourselves away from almost every place we stopped. The road around the lake is supposed to be 33 miles, and since it took us about 5 hours to make the circuit you can see we spent more time stopping and gawking and taking photos and playing tourist than we spent driving. By far.

This is also from the visitor's center area, looking to the opposite side of the lake with one of the tour boats that slowly circle the lake. I'm astonished at how many people take this boat, because the only way to get on one is to hike over a mile down a steep trail, and of course, back up. That trail is also the only place where one can actually get to the lakeshore. We did not make the attempt. Old folks. Lazy.

I thought there was some slight chance that I would remember where all these photos were taken, but apparently not. It's been a looooooong day and I'm pooped, brain on serious malfunction.

I'm not in love with most of my photos from this day -- you wouldn't think it would be all that difficult to take fabulous photos of such a fabulous place, would you. Still, the color and reflections are there, always. We really lucked out with the weather -- clear, sunny, wonderfully warm. Didn't quite crack 80, according to the temperature sensor in my car, but it was warm and perfect, a great escape for coastal people who don't get warm very often.

I seemed to spend a great deal of the day trying to photograph that pointy mountain in the distance. I've flown over that peak many times, flying from Phoenix to Eugene, never knew its name. I now know that its name is Mt. Theissen, but that's all I know about it. I love the pointiness of it. There are, by the way, expansive views in all directions other than the lake, from the Rim Road. Not overly photogenic, but incredibly beautiful to see. At one viewpoint, we could even see Mt. Shasta in the distance, way down in California. Mountains everywhere - in layers, pointy mountains, rolling mountains, other lakes, and big valleys. Beautiful.

I also spent a lot of time trying to capture this light on the lake. As you can see, at this point we were on the east side looking into the sun, so while that light was lovely to look at, the camera had serious problems dealing with all the light. In the center of the photo is a rock outcropping called Phantom Ship, because from a distance it does look like a ship. It also looks something like a castle, to me.

Another view of the Phantom Ship, using the telephoto.

When we passed this en route to the park this morning I only got a quick glimpse that sent my heart right into my throat. On the way out of the park, I had to stop. This is literally right off the highway, and it's unbelievably beautiful. This, my friends, is the Upper Rogue River. Heartstopping. From here it tumbles into a big lake with a huge dam, travels around 185 miles and meets the ocean in Gold Beach, 25 miles from home.

There's a long walkway along the river here and this raucous waterfall is a bit mind-boggling. I shot a video -- or at least, thought I did. Can't seem to find it now that everything is downloaded. As you can see, it's a wild riot of tumbling water coming from all directions. So beautiful. Breathtaking. I would have walked the rest of the way down the viewing area, but we'd planned to return to the park in the morning so I thought I'd catch it then. Not so sure we are going to do that, now. Alas. We're both really tired -- but we'll see how we feel in the morning. Since I'm driving, I may stage a mutiny and drive back this far, if not all the way to the lake.

We are in the sweet little town of Shady Cove, about an hour from the Park entrance. My room is lovely, the owners wonderful. If you're ever up this way and need an affordable place to stay, I highly recommend the Maple Leaf Motel.