The deepest lake in the U.S. has been calling my name since I’ve moved to Washington. I’ve seen countless pictures of this National Park and it was on my top priority of parks to see. Memorial weekend was the perfect time to go. The season gates had just opened that weekend and it was still free entry. Snow lined certain sections of the park but it was still very accessible and quiet.
Exploring Crater Lake
The Rim Village is open year round with a maintained entrance. The rustic style buildings were built as the main concentration for visitors at Crater Lake. Here you can attend talks the Park Rangers put on, buy a souvenir at the gift shop, or even lodge right on Crater Lake at the Crater Lake Lodge. The village has multiple winding sidewalks that provide up close and personal views of Wizard’s Island. Wizard’s Island is the tip of the volcano that sits above water while everything around collapsed in.
The park itself is rather small compared to others. It’s a perfect one or two day trip. Crater Lake has one main road that stretches 33-miles around the entire sunken volcano. Along this road has many spots to pull over and take pictures at different angles of its crystal blue beauty and the mysterious Wizard Island. While we were there, one section of this road was closed from snow. This also meant much of the peak hikes were closed but we came to touch the water.
Cleetwood Cove Hike
The only trail Crater Lake has to reach the water is Cleetwood Cover. This is a strenuous 2.2-mile roundtrip hike that takes you down to the water where you can swim in the cosmic waters of the collapsed volcano. It is an absolute mus tin my opinion to hike. I didn’t come to Crater Lake not to touch it. Since the season hasn’t technically started, the path was pretty desolate. The switchbacks from the road to the lake provide multiple gorgeous views of the lake at different levels.
Once we reached the bottom of the trial, we were in awe of being surrounded by crystal clear water. The deepest lake in the U.S. is the bluest sparkling lake I’ve laid eyes on. Since we had the whole place to ourselves, we found a perfect area to sit down and have a small picnic we brought with us. Our scenery during our picnic couldn’t have been better. After we finished eating, we packed up and started taking pictures. The place we had our picnic was a tiny jetty like pile of rocks that provided panoramic views of the lake. Below is the sample of calendar poses I did at Crater Lake National Park.
