March 30 - Crater Lake

The drive to Crater Lake was rife with typical Central Oregon scenery, brush and groves of lodge pole pine rising out of the dry land. Crater Lake has a North and a South entrance but the year's late winter rendered the north entrance impassable, perilous conditions the creation of a heavy mix of snow and ice covering the road. The added 30 miles around the east end of the park was beautiful; the surrounding mountains were still covered in snow, forests of huge pines adding a splash of green to a canvas of white.

A mechanic's poor diagnosis aside, my van had championed it's way over the distance traveled thus far but the probability of snow again raised in me questions about the van's abilities. I felt like a child with a new toy, wanting so desperately to play hard, while at the same time not wanting to break it on the first day. Knowing that the tires were all-weather and close to new calmed me but I was still worried that the van would operate like a senior citizen on roller skates, wobbly and old.

Peaked at 14 feet, walls of snow created a channel of white and outlined an easy path to the summit. The pavement was barren and dry save for a few small patches of snow and ice dotting the gray concrete and over the uphill, three mile climb the van kept plugging along, the engine's whine seemingly demanding third gear but the 67 horses faltering if I shifted any higher than second.

I had no visual cue of the distance traveled as the windy and snow lined road directed all of my attention to snow drift avoidance. After a 20 minute drive I rounded yet another corner and was surprised to see a two story, A-framed gift shop rising out of the snow, its exterior encased in 20 foot snow drifts. The skyline's vast emptiness to my left, the product of a once great mountain's collapse, signified that I was close. I searched the empty lot for the perfect spot to park for the night, one that buffered me from the wind as well as allowed access to the crater's edge.

I pulled alongside the walls of snow and climbed out to secure the van by wedging orange plastic chocks under the back tires - a purchase necessitated from a faulty e-brake's diagnosis earlier in the day. Climbing up and over the wall of snow I stood up to see the lake spread out before me, a beautiful 10 mile circle of opaque blue shimmering up from the crater.

I ventured to the precipice for a better view, my mind on the scene's beauty rather than the 800 foot drop not two feet from my vantage point. A sense of impending doom caused me to finally look down at the ice shelf and I noticed that there was nothing inhibiting my path to the water far below but a sharp drop of snow and ice. I decided a vantage point of more stable ground would be my best course of action and found a patch of trees nestled in a plateau of snow to my right and traversed there to gaze in wonder at the landscape before me.

It is difficult to put put into words the power of beauty but it is a feeling we have all experienced at those moments our sense of self becomes lost amidst something larger. I hope this is a feeling oft felt along this journey of mine, when the world's beauty speaks more to soul than mind. I have found beauty in Crater Lake and will soon be off to witness more of this country's landscape and scenery, the hopes of similar experience guiding my way.