crater lake, oregon

saraya saw her first snow!  we took an overnighter to crater lake national park just in time for the first big snow.  my little sherpa baby loved sticking her tongue out to catch snow.  the lodge at crater lake was actually closed for the season so we spent the night in union creek on the rogue river.  the cabins were these awesome rustic spaces right next to the creek.  we enjoyed a hike alongside the creek before digging into beckie's famous pie.  very berry was so delicious!  and then we went up to check out the lake and play in the snow.

crater lake is the deepest lake in the country.  the water is such an unbelievably pure blue because it comes from rain and snow and the lake has no stream or creek to bring anything in.  it was created when a 12,000 ft mountain collapsed after a volcanic eruption.  we watched a little movie at the visitor center that gave the native american history as well as the story behind how it eventually achieved national park status in 1902.  here's the native american story:

The spirit of the mountain was called Chief of the Below World (Llao). The spirit of the sky was called Chief of the Above World (Skell). Sometimes Llao came up from his home inside the earth and stood on top of Mount Mazama, one of the highest mountains in the region. During one of these visits, he saw the Makalak chief’s beautiful daughter (Loha) and fell in love with her. He promised her eternal life if she would return with him to his lodge below the mountain. When she refused, he became angry and declared that he would destroy her people with fire. In his rage, he rushed up through the opening of his mountain and stood on top of it and began to hurl fire down upon them.  The mighty Skell took pity on the people and stood atop Mount Shasta to defend them. From their mountaintops, the two chiefs waged a furious battle. They hurled red hot rocks as large as hills. They made the earth tremble and caused great landslides of fire. The people fled in terror to the waters of Klamath Lake.  Two holy men offered to sacrifice themselves by jumping into the pit of fire on top of Llao’s mountain. Skell was moved by their bravery and drove Llao back into Mount Mazama. When the sun rose next, the great mountain was gone. It had fallen in on Llao. All that remained was a large hole. Rain fell in torrents, filling the hole with water. This is now called Crater Lake.

it's a beautiful park that would be cool to check out in the summer as well.  when justin was younger, he took field trips out here for school and got to boat on the lake.  since the average snowfall here is 44 feet a year, it takes months for the park services to clear the 33-mile rim drive.  pretty amazing stuff...