Crater Lake National Park (9th, 10th and 11th of August 2013)

View of Crater Lake

On Friday 9th of August we left wonderful Yellowstone and headed towards Boise, ID. Again it was a 7h drive, so we had another whole driving day. We arrived in Boise for dinner and our CS host Hannah had already prepared dinner with veggies from her garden: delicious!! Hannah has a very funny cat, one who only eats human food (pasta, rice, beans, etc...) but no cat food! :/

Another view of the Lake

The following morning, we left in the morning and visited the Capitol. The building is open for the public and there even is a museum-like exhibit and a gift shop. At around noon we were on the road again direction Bend, OR. On the road we took there was absolutely nothing, except for a few very small villages. We regularly questioned ourselves how people can live in this remote areas!! Once arrived in Bend, we could stay with another lovely CSer, Heather, a very nice and dynamic girl. We had some nice conversation with her and her roommate! 

Pinnacles

On August 11th, in the morning, we left for Crater Lake National Park. The main attraction of the park is the deep blue caldera lake, which was formed after the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. Because there are no streams flowing in or out the lake, the water is very clear and all the wavelength are absorbed, except for the color blue, which is reflected.

We drove around the lake and stopped in different vista points for our usual large amount of pictures :) We also saw water falls and some sort of fossilized fumaroles (pinnacles). The pinnacles were formed when heat released from the volcano created steam which "carved" itself into the soft rock present at that time, leaving some sort of holes underground. Later the area got eroded and pinnacles formed. Most of the pinnacles are hole inside.

Vidae Falls

After a great and sunny day at Crater Lake, we drove to Grants Pass. OR for the night. Our CSer Laurel and a friend of hers had prepared dinner for us. So we had another great evening in very good company!!!