Crater Lake National Park Oregon

Journey to a Land of Water Wind and Fire

Part C: Crater Lake

And the Company it Keeps

Enough of cute cuddly Manatees and garish Christmas lights! Let us return to Oregon, and more particularly Crater Lake (which is no doubt covered with snow by now).

When last I posted anything about our big trip this year, you will remember we had decided that what is called Crater Lake was a Big Hole filled with water and it had some Big Rocks in it.

Well, today’s posting wants you to know there are not only big rocks in it, they are all around it as well. And these rocks, mostly the mountain peaks, reminded me, that for all the beauty of this place, it had a very violent beginning. But I get ahead of myself. Let us go back to my beginning at this place, coming in through the Cascade Mountain Range.

Our first sight in the park was not of water, or rocks or anything like that. It was of a desert area covered with the leavings of volcanism. It was called the Pumice Desert. And it lay along both sides of the road for several miles. A barren wasteland that reminded me, to an extent, of the devastation I had seen at Mount St. Helen’s in Washington in 2004.

And everywhere one looked, one saw volcanic peaks jutting skyward. Thus we knew we were in the heart of the Cascade Mountain Range. Or as I like to call it, the "Land of the Pointed Peaks."

Now, once we had gotten our first look at the lake, and ventured on around to the visitor’s center we began to learn a bit more about how all this got started. We heard about a Mount Mazama. It was a large, many peaked affair, and one day it got mad and blew up (well, that is not the scientific version, but I have warned you in the past about the lack of science on this site, and the version I have just presented is more closely allied with the Native American descriptions about what happened). And it left this Big Hole that filled with water.

Of course, not all the mountain disappeared, there were a few remnants left. One of these remnants, Garfield Peak, is pictured here.

And once the fire and smoke and all were through, things began to get back to normal. Meadows once more grew and gave forth with not only greenery, but also with pretty wildflowers.

And snow fell (and in this case stuck around to the end of August). And yes, things became a bit more normal. So normal, that in the course of time, a National Park was created out of the human curiosity surrounding the place. And everywhere you looked you saw grass, trees, humans, cars, campers, etc. etc.

But still, you are left with the question, for how long will this quiet, peaceful beauty last?