Crater Lake

A couple more days of travelling. Miles and miles of dead straight roads.  So glad I wasn't driving, must be mind numbing!

We had an afternoon (mostly I think to give Ryan, our guide, a bit of a break) in Bend, Oregon.  A lovely town named after the shallow bend in the river that was the only crossing point for hundreds of miles in both directions. Now an outdoorsy town that seemed really peaceful and nice.  The river has paddleboarding and kayaking, and there is a constructed standing wave for those that want to surf!

The riverside walk was very picturesque, with some weird poles that I think are for osprey or heron nesting

The houses by the river looked idyllic!

Saw this bird.  Pretty certain it's a bluebird.  You know, because it's blue.

 Next day did yet more driving, with a stop at Crater Lake. I'd seen pictures of this before, but it didn't prepare me for just how still and pristine it was. I've never seen reflections like it before.  It's a caldera that collapsed in on itself and has then slowly filled up with rain and snowmelt.  There is no water flowing in, and the only water flowing out is by evaporation and some seepage through the rocks. It is crystal clear, they say possibly the clearest on the planet.  Sechi disk measurements have put the visibility up at 140m.  This has allowed plant life to grow at deeper depths than normally found and there is a ring of underwater moss at almost 400 meters around the entire lake.

We took a walk down to the lake itself at the only accessible point. It was a walk of about a mile, with switchbacks all the way.  Nice to go down, but a challenge to come back up.  Again the altitude had some sort of effect, but who knows how much.

In an attempt to reduce the purity of the lake, several of us went for a swim. (it's allowed, and no I didn't pee in the lake).  The only way to go in is of course to jump. Very very cold (as you can imagine), but rather invigorating!

 And then there were these guys!  So damn cute, and as it's only really nature buffs who aren't arseholes that make the trip, also quite unafraid of people.  I dug out some pistacios to feed them.  Sooooooooo cute!

Later we saw Superman.  Don't ask me, I have no idea.