July 22
1821-1840

Last night we camped at the public campground below the rim at Crater lake. We pick up a food package we mailed to ourselves from Ashland and shared some of the food with Papa Bear, who arrived this morning. We were happy to finally return the favor after he has given us so much of his extra food over the past few sections

Because of the fires, there are long shipping delays in the area. Papa Bear’s package is running 3 days behind. Our lovely nieces Emily and Eva sent us some baked goods, but unfortunately they also seem to be delayed. It breaks our heart, but we can’t afford the Michelin star prices at the cafe or the time to stick around for another few days.

Today is a day we have been looking forward to for weeks. We will be walking around the rim of Crater lake. After wallowing through the muck of Northern Californian burn areas and the boring trail in Southern Oregon, this is the first big scenic highlight for us for hundreds of miles.

We climb 1200 feet up to the rim of the lake and get a gorgeous panoramic view of the crystal clear blue water. Crater lake formed when Mt. Mazama erupted 8,000 years ago. Mt. Mazama previously stood at 12,000 feet, so 4,000 feet of its height was ejected into the atmosphere. It was the largest eruption in the Cascade range for over 400,000 years, and makes the 1980 eruption of Mt. St Helens look like a little burp in comparison.

The lake is nearly 2,000 feet deep, and is the deepest lake in America.

The water is unfathomably blue, and pictures do not do the vibrant color of the water any justice. I read an anecdote that made me laugh- In the 1850s 3 gold prospectors unexpectedly came upon Crater lake and named it “deep blue lake.” Word of the lake faded, and the name didn’t stick. In the 1860s a separate group of gold prospectors also chanced upon the lake and coined it “blue lake.” That name also did not stick. The point of all this is that this lake is very blue.

As we walk along the rim, the smoke from nearby fires builds up greatly. Visibility becomes poor and our eyes and throat start to burn as we walk along. This can’t be good for us. You can see in the distance of this picture the smoke we are headed into. The little peak poking out in the distance is where we are heading

I found a handy conversion table that you can put the air quality index and # hours exposed into a table and it tells you how many cigarettes it is the equivalent to smoking. While sleeping last night we smoked 11 cigarettes.

The sun sets and glows blood red.