Crater Lake

Meaning

The moment you crest the steep ridge, a vast circular wall drops away beneath you, and at its floor an impossibly deep blue water lies still. In a place where wind and sound alike have faded, the color of the water meets you in a blue deeper than the sky.

About 7,700 years ago the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed, and rain and snow gathered in the caldera to form this lake, 594 meters deep — the deepest in the United States. The Klamath people call it Giiwas and hold it a sacred place in which the story of the making of the world dwells, one not to be gazed upon lightly, and here they have offered prayers to seek a vision.

Field notes

Location

Cascade Range · Oregon · N42.9° · W122.1°

Best time

On a clear, windless day at midday, when the water deepens to its most intense blue

Getting there

In the southern Cascade Range of Oregon; in summer, the Rim Drive reaches many overlooks above the lake.

Etiquette

One meets the water the Klamath have held sacred quietly, in a low voice.

Sources

• · National Park Service — Crater Lake
• · Encyclopaedia Britannica

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