We drove to Crater Lake and arrived around dinner time — and not just for us. The area was swarming with more mosquitoes than I’ve ever seen in my life. (We found out later this is because the valley is basically a lake with a thin layer of soil on top. There is a 14-inch water table in some places, meaning you only have to dig down 14 inches to find water.)
Now, I don’t know how you feel about being eaten alive, but we’re not huge fans. We swatted fast and furiously — and successfully; they were remarkably slow and stupid — but what the mosquitoes lacked in brain power and agility they made up in numbers. We were both glad we weren’t camping that night.
The next day I was pretty much ready to get on our bull and ride out of town, and we hadn’t even seen the lake yet.
But then we did see it.
And we stared.
And we stared.
And we stared.
The thing about the lake is, there aren’t any boats on it. There’s one company that runs boat tours, but even they were closed while we were there, and other than that there are no fishermen, motorboats, jet skis, kayakers, nil. Nothing to disturb the reflection in the lake. Which, as you can see, is astonishing enough to be worth getting out of the car and standing there, stunned, for long minutes, while tiny little Cullen-bugs suck my blood out.
You can see more pictures of the lake here, and pictures of our drive along the Rogue River just before that here.