Driving Journey: Day 3: Crater Lake

Visiting Crater Lake was definitely the highlight of my trip. I had seen incredible photos of it before but just assumed that they had been tweaked with photo software.


But when my eyes first saw the magnificent blue color of the water it was hard to believe that it was really "that" blue!



No one is allowed to climb down except employees.








You can stay overnight at this lodge.
Is it just me, or do you see a face here too?



Once you get to the rim then you can drive around it, stopping at any vistas you wish. This is a typical section of the Rim Road.
Mt. Mazama, adjacent to Crater Lake is but one of many mountains that run up & down Washington, Oregon, & California.

Driving Journey: Day 3: Up to Crater Lake

I got up early on my 3rd day on the road in order to see all of the many things that I wanted to. The first leg of the trip was from Klamath Falls up to Crater Lake, about 70 miles.



I absolutely love this shot! Imagine waking up every morning and seeing this majestic view.





Here's a good shot of the canyon that sits off to the right as one drives up the mountain road to Crater Lake.

Driving Journey: Day 2: Klamath Falls

By the time I reached Klamath Falls, it wasn't really that late but I was absolutely beat. Perhaps it had just been awhile since I had done such a driving trip or perhaps I'm just getting old!

I checked into the Shilo Inn, which I had booked on Hotwire.com while still in Bend.

The people working there were super friendly and I got a nice room with much more space than I needed.
The lake was a bit far away but still a nice vista (minus the highway in between).
I was hankering for some good Mexican food and a quick check on VirtualTourist.com was a recommendation for Sergio's.


It turned out to be an excellent choice as the food was delicious!Klamath Falls is a small town of just 20,000, about 18 miles north of California. The downtown core revealed that it had clearly seen better times.
But I try to find beauty in all things and there were indeed some nice vistas abound.

Driving Journey: Day 2: Diamond Lake & Highway

By the time I got past the Cascade Lakes Highway it was after 3pm and I decided to leave Crater Lake for the following day. So instead I briefly visited Diamond Lake, which is immediately north of it.



Then I took the West Diamond Lake Highway around the western side of Crater Lake. I came across this small river which the photos simply don't do justice to. Just imagine a perfect day with warm, though not hot, weather, blue skies with a few clouds, and this scenery abound. Magnificent!




Then, before heading down Hwy 62 to Klamath Falls, I took another side road to capture this overview of the Umpqua National Forest.

Driving Journey: Day 2: Cascade Lakes Highway

Rather than head directly down Hwy 97, instead I chose to explore the Cascade Lakes Highway.

Driving Journey: Day 2: Around Bend

Prior to Before leaving Bend the next morning I drove around the town and photographed much of it. This panorama is comprised of 8 individual photographs.

Incidentally, it and the next two were all shot from Pilot Butte State Park, just east of downtown.