Crater Lake is nothing short of amazing. The water is DEEP and PURE and AMAZINGLY BLUE. Every time I see it, I know it's going to be *this blue* but I never believe it until I'm standing there once again, above the blueness of it all.
This island is called Wizard Island, and you can pay for the tour of the lake, and the boat takes you all the way around the lake, and then out to Wizard Island. You can walk around on the island all day if you want, but you have to take the last boat back -- no camping on the island! :-)
My girlies, Mary Pearl and Emily Rose, on their first real camping trip. They were *very* excited!
The girls plus me and my husband, Charley, in the little viewing building -- it has interpretive displays in it in case you want to learn the actual facts about everything. We were just there to play and run around and smell the amazing fresh air -- it's impossible to describe the freshness of the air, really. It's crisp and cinnamon-y and just... perfect.
We couldn't remember what these are called, so we called them baby Truffula Trees.
Home Sweet Campsite
Learning the fine art of roasting marshmallows... I told them this is what we had before microwaves.
Breakfast was chilly -- we woke early, just after 5:30 a.m. and it was 35 degrees outside. HOLY MOLEY! So we ate breakfast with our gloves on and had seconds on hot chocolate. LOL
The Pinnacles -- lava came up through tubes in the soil thousands of years ago. The soil eroded away, leaving these formations behind. Amazing. Oh - and the tiny red dot among the trees? That's our pickup.
Mary Pearl got a new baby on this trip... meet "River St. Meadow" -- her new red fox.
Gorgeous waterfall surrounded by wildflowers... the reward for a VERY long walk!
The Phantom Ship -- on the opposite side of the lake from Wizard Island.
Home again, home again.... jiggety jig.
Last morning... a walk along the wildflower meadow trail... the girls reading the flower guide book.
We got there early enough to make a new friend. She had two fawns with her, too.
*bonus*
The monkey flower was still blooming, as was the bleeding heart and just a few others. But this late in August, most of the flowers have already bloomed. The flowering season is short 9,000 feet in the air, so they don't mess around!
Walking past lupine that was setting seed as fast as it can. There were several spots where tiny streams ran through the stepping stones of the path.
And that is all.... we were so exhausted, but so excited that the girls' first camping trip was so amazing! The weather was perfect, the bugs only bugged us for about 20 minutes on our second night when we were making dinner, not a cloud in the sky, we only forgot minor things, not major... truly a great trip.
AND...... I even re-plotted my YA out. I have such a solid outline for "Six Dates with Jenna" now that I may write that after I finish "Surfing Summer." Yeah! Exciting!!!
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