Crater Lake National Park

Summer is almost here and no better time than to put up an entry for a national park that is one of Oregon’s most precious gems. Crater Lake National Park’s grandeur, beauty and serenity is what makes this wonder one of the most visited places in Oregon. A blog entry for Crater Lake has been long due and since most people prefer to visit Crater Lake during summer, I thought this would be great time to put this out. Crater Lake is the deepest in the US and is “considered” to be the “bluest” too. Unrealistically blue…but sublime! Once you look at it, you will know 🙂

Crater Lake National Park is one of those places where you have plenty to time to sink in the natural beauty since the park is quite small and if you are not visiting nearby places, two days should be more than enough to cover the park. The lake was created by volcanic eruption of Mount Mazama. By the way, there is an ancient legend associated with the creation of the Wizard island in the middle of this caldera, as well as a few other creations within the lake, but, I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the legend when you visit Crater Lake.

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THINGS TO DO: Definitely start with the Rim drive. It is a 30-40 mile loop and even if you take the whole day, you can comfortably stop at all the vista points and pack in a few hikes. Take a hike down the Cleetwood Trail which is the only trail going down to the lake. This is the only place where the volcano boat tours depart. By the way, only some boat tours depart for the Wizard island. The rest just go around the lake for a couple of hours. So make sure you check the timings if you plan on going to Wizard island. If you don’t want to go to the island, then Watchman lookout on the rim drive has some great views of the Wizard island. Another great stop is the Pinnacles Overlook. A lot of people miss this, but I highly suggest taking the stroll to the end of the road at the overlook. Along the rim drive is a wonderful rock formation called Pumice castle. Some great photograph opportunities at the Pinnacles as well as Pumice castle. Along the rim drive, there will be plenty of vista points to take a look at Phantom ship, however; we took the short walk at the Sun Notch Phantom Ship View Point. Vidae Falls is a pretty famous stop too! There are a lot of hiking options, so choose depending on how much time you have. Even if you don’t hike, the rim drive has plenty of amazing panoramas capturing the beauty of the place.

ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS: Staying inside the park always helps. There are a few options – The lodge at the lake has spectacular views of the lake. If you don’t want to stay in a lodge, then there are a couple of campsites in the park too. We camped at the Mazama campground. They have a few first-come, first-serve campsite reservations, so no prior planning is required if you reach there before a reasonable time. A bug (big) warning if you are camping: July is the time when all the insects and bugs in the whole world gather at Crater Lake NP. Seriously…no kidding!!! If you go without an insect repellent, you will literally be at bug mercy!

Wizard island - Crater Lake National Park

BEST TIME TO VISIT: July to September (if you want less snow and open roads). But I have seen some gorgeous photographs of Crater Lake National Park in winter so if you are okay with cooler temperatures, check the weather and road conditions before making plans. I believe the campsites will be closed, but other lodging options should be open.

AROUND CRATER LAKE NP: If you are into caving, go check out Lava Beds National Monument. We stopped by at this monument for half a day on our way to Crater Lake National Park. The place has plenty of volcanic caves to explore. If you are not a pro, only attempt the beginner and intermediate caves. The advanced ones require some caving skills so be cautious and well prepared if you want to venture into those! The volcanic legacy scenic byway from Lava Beds (Klamath falls) to Crater Lake is a gorgeous drive.

Crater Lake for me is a leisurely vacation stop with not much to do but relax and enjoy one of nature’s great creations :). If you are looking for a vacation outside California, but not too far, Crater Lake would be an awesome option!

Seattle: The emerald city for a first time visitor!

I had a hard time figuring out how to start writing this post and what to put in this post, because most of our trips involve a lot of outdoorsy stuff involving nature. So I thought the best approach of writing a blog on a city would be to make a list of prominent places that would attract tourists. When you visit a place for the first time, you probably look for the top things to do in that city. So here’s a quick highlight of our Seattle trip – suggestions for top things to do in Seattle, FROM a first time visitor FOR a first time visitor. A big thank you to family and friends who gave us some great suggestions so that we did not miss the absolute-must-see places. It indeed made our trip memorable.

1. Pike Place Market: Almost every visitor to Seattle visits Pike Place for a lot of reasons: To see the fishmongers sing while tossing fish into air, to eat , to shop at the local shops and stalls, to eat, to take a stroll by the Seattle Waterfront, to eat , for fresh seasonal produce/flowers, and oh did I mention – TO EAT!!! Of course, you won’t miss the first Starbucks if you go to Pike Place. Since I mentioned so much about eating, a few picks for us were Cinnamon Works (bakery) and Local Color (coffee shop) outside Pike Place. Beecher’s Cheese would be a good stop for cheese fanatics. To complete your Pike Place visit, go to the Gum Wall in Post Alley. Don’t know what to call it: colorful, yukky or a hidden gem. Don’t forget to take a chewing gum if you want to contribute to the gum wall 🙂

View from Kerry Park in Queen Anne

2. Space Needle: Although this is pretty high on everyone’s list, after climbing to the top of Empire State, Sears tower and a few other sky scrapers across the country, I felt that the hour-long wait to get to the top of the Space Needle wasn’t really worth it. It’s totally okay if you skip this if you are short on time. There are some other nice places to view the Seattle downtown skyline.

3. Ballard Locks: The Ballard Locks connect salt water Puget Sound with the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union. A large lock is formed by closing two bridges and then ships/boats are raised and lowered as water on both sides levels out so that ships can pass through by opening the lock. I highly recommend visiting this place. I’d like to call it an engineering marvel.

4. Pioneer Square: A visit to this historic district and Seattle’s oldest neighborhood is worth. We opted for Bill Speidel’s Underground tour and we did not regret it. As they claim it, the tour is definitely unusual. Different, hilarious, and a great way to learn about Seattle’s history. If you are hungry, grab a bite at Merchant’s Cafe – Seattle’s first cafe.

5. Alki beach/West Seattle: This place undoubtedly offers one of the best views of downtown Seattle across Elliot Bay. Go there in the evening and hang out at Alki beach, have dinner at one of the restaurants on Alki beach and head out to Admiral Way to take night pictures of the lit Seattle downtown after it gets dark.

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6. Mount Rainier National Park Day trip: A drive to view Washington’s highest peak Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately, we were hit by bad weather and had very low visibility when we drove to Mt. Rainier, but if you go in summer there are lots of hikes to view the wildflowers. We did a couple of hikes, viewed some waterfalls and lots of snow 🙂

7. Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill: (One of) the best places to photograph Seattle’s downtown with the Space Needle in front and Mt. Rainier behind.

8. Museum of Flight: A trip inside an old Air Force One and Concorde Plane made my trip to this museum worth while. Otherwise I don’t know what more to pen down since a museum full of airplanes is definitely not my cup of coffee! If you have someone with you who is fascinated by airplanes and flight exhibits, make sure you don’t miss it.

9. Lake Washington/Lake Union: Seattle is famous for the various water bodies that it is surrounded by. Lake Union might ring a bell if you have seen the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”.

10. Museum of Glass: I love art, especially glass art and if you do too, then you will enjoy a visit to this museum in Tacoma. They have sessions where artists demonstrate the art of glass blowing, which I found very interesting.

That said, we did miss the most famous thing in Seattle – Rain!!! Whether we were fortunate or unfortunate I can’t tell, but I hope I was able to put some pointers for all you Seattle visitors.