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Crater Lake









Sky scraping pine trees pave the path through the Oregon Cascades, leading the way to Crater Lake National Park. The enormity of the giants was a breathtaking experience for a city girl like me. The twisting two-lane road seemed to go on forever and the lack of cell service and other cars made me a bit uneasy.
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Finally we arrived at our destination. Crater Lake, the states only official national park. We paid the $25 entry fee to the park and began our ascent. The temperature steadily dropped as we began our search for any of the 30 scenic overviews Rim Road had to offer. What we failed to realize was that Crater Lake is known as one of the snowiest places in the Unites States, with an annual average snowfall of 43 feet per year. It was the middle of May and the white walls surrounding the roads inched higher and higher.


After what seemed like 20 minutes of searching, we reached the Park Headquarters. We decided to park our rental car and begin our search on foot. Within minutes, we passed a park ranger.
"Where is…. The lake??” we hesitantly mumbled.

He chuckled and went on to explain that the massive snow accumulation was to blame while pointing us in the direction of where Mount Mazama once stood 12,000-feet tall. Had the volcano still been there, we could have been spared of the awkward search we found ourselves on.


There was only one problem. My coworker and I embarked on the two-hour journey from Medford to the park immediately after our training course convened for the day. I was wearing flats and she was wearing heels. The hill that he suggested we climb in order to see the crater had at least a foot of snow on it. We hadn’t just driven two hours through winding roads to turn around, so into the snow we went.
Awe-struck by the view and losing feeling in our toes, we headed to the next overlook the park ranger suggested in hopes of more friendly viewing terrain. A sign reading “Danger Keep Back” greeted us. It’s 1,943 feet to the bottom of Crater Lake, making it the deepest lake in America, and at 35 degrees out, we did not want to fall in! We spent the next 30 minutes taking in the picturesque scene.

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