August 10, 2014

August 10, 2014

From Prineville, OR we traveled west a short way till we finally found some flat land. We took this wide valley south past the popular town of Bend. About an hour south of Bend we left the valley and ascended into the volcanic snow-capped Cascades once again. Our destination today is Crater Lake National Park. We have been here before but I was hoping to improve my photos. That isn’t going to happen. Wildfires in the area are making the scenery hazy. I remember our first look at Crater Lake; we were amazed at the intensity of the blue water. The haze makes it much less impressive.

Crater Lake is an old volcano that blew its top 7700 years ago. It expelled so much magma the center collapsed into a perfect ring. The caldera eventually filled up with snowmelt producing North America’s deepest lake. We travel one side of the ring road stopping at a few overlooks. The wind seems to be blowing some of the haze away. Aimee and I try to get our picture taken with Crater Lake but prove unlucky. The first person we asked was deaf and couldn’t understand us. The second turned out to be an Amish boy who probably never used a camera.

After several hours we left the park looking for a forest campground. Unfortunately it was filled with firefighters. Farther along we happened upon an amateur rodeo contest. It seemed everyone with a horse was competing in this calf-roping event. Aimee was not impressed; not a single young cowboy in tight jeans was to be seen. The contestants were either female or middle-aged and beer-bellied.

In Chiloquin, OR we spent the night at another Indian casino.