Staying with a winning theme, it was going to be another day of volcanoes. Or more like one volcano, but a spectacular one at that - Crater Lake Volcanic National Park. This place is a big mountain, but it used to be much taller until the peaks that formed the top blew off of old Mount Mazama in a massive explosion about 7,700 years ago. Now it is a big mountain with a bowl on top, the eponymous Crater Lake, filled with pristine rain water and snow melt to a depth of about 2,150 feet, the deepest in North America. And to think this deep lake is on top of a mountain.
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Me and Grant in June, 2013
Our view of Crater Lake is shown over our sholders |
Sue, a native of the Northwest and volcanologist with an advanced degree, had yet to have a chance to see this brilliant blue liquid jewel. I was determined to make it happen for her today. I glanced at the sky as we ascended the road up the side of the volcano, and noted it was a clear day, unlike 4 years ago when I veered off the scheduled route to take my son to see this memorable sight. Only in June of 2013 we ascended the slopes of old Mt. Mazama only to drive up into clouds that began to snow on us. The clouds that day sat low and cold and pregnant with snow. Those clouds turned the road that wound around the rim of the crater into an icy death-defying skate and of course completely obscured any view of the lake far below. It was a wonderful cloud viewing day for Grant and me for our $20 entrance fee back in 2013. But this day for Sue and me, it did not disappoint.
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| This was our summer view of Crater Lake in 2013 |
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| Panorama of Crater Lake and Wizard Island (cinder cone) behind us |
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| Snow drifts still on the shoreline of Crater lake in July, 2017 |
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The steep sides of the interior crater,
rangers hate to have to go retrieve people who fall over the edge
of these unstable slope - and they have signs saying as much. |
With our eyeballs filled with blue, high altitude sky and even richer blue 2,000 foot deep waters, we coasted back down the side of the mountain and angled northwest over the spine of the Cascade Range and on into Portland to spend a few days with Inga and Sean.
It was good to catch up with the "kids" and tour some of the charming eccentricities of their neighborhood, just off of Alberta Street. We dined on Persian food in a converted auto repair garage and then stopped into a tea shop. The ladies love to explore exotic teas in this market.
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| Inga & Sue shop for exotic teas on Alberta Street |
I'd also made plans to visit a couple of cousins while in Portland, and cousin Warren and his wife Cherie, settled on meeting us at a tasty seafood establishment in their neighborhood. Cousin Carolyn and Michael joined us a bit later after they finished up at a tea market convention, where Carolyn was showing her wares in her newly founded Tissiack Tea Company. It was a brief catch up time with some good, fun and always interesting relations, an experience I treasured.
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Sunesons join cousins Carolyn and Warren for a dinner and a chat
while in Portland |
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