Crater Lake Trip

Jeff's birthday at Crater Lake

On August 4th and 5th we went to Crater Lake in southern Oregon. It was formed when a HUGE volcano caved in 7700 years ago. It is the deepest lake in America and one of the deepest in the world, almost a half- mile (1900ft.) Because of this, the water is sooo blue. It's so blue it looks fake. Above, Amy and I are pictured with Wizard Island. It was formed by later volcanic activity. The lake is completely surounded by a huge lip that is really steep. In only one place can people walk down to the water; this is where boat tours are offered (for $25 a head- you gotta be kiddin' me, man). We walked down there, but we just jumped into the lake off of a 25 foot cliff. I thought Amy was gonna chicken out, but after working up her nerve she hopped right off into the chilly water like a champ. Unfourtunately our camera battery was dead.
Check out more images here.


We stayed in a little campsite called Dutton Creek that was a 2.4 mile hike down to. Being from MS I thought I had seen bad mosquitos before... This was insane. From about 100 yards down the trail untill we got back up the trail the mosquitos ate our ass. For the entire hike the only thing we could think about was the bugs. I stopped to tighten my shoes and 5 landed on my leg immediately. We could see swarms following us waiting their turn to suck our lifeforce. At the campsite, we threw up the tent and jumped in and stayed in except to use the bathroom (which was a different kind of mosquito adventure in itself), so we sat in the tent and talked about whatever until night. In the morning we put on our pants and jackets (in lieu of no bug spray) and hiked fast. Amy got hot and took off her jacket... big mistake. I guess because she was the only flesh around they jumped on her hard... not a happy camper.
Finally we made it out and had lunch at the lodge, then spent the remainder of the day checking out the lake. The weather was beautiful, and we got some sun. Amy had to hide from some snowballs. I can't imagine where they came from.