Once upon a time a volcano erupted and then collapsed in on itself leaving a beautiful lake with another volcano emerging from it. In my mind, I imagine a glorious mountain getting too big that it swallowed itself whole and in essence, flipped itself inside-out. The five hour drive to Eugene wasn't quite long enough for us, so we decided to sit in the car for five more hours to explore around this mysterious lake, more popularly known as Crater Lake.
It was a balmy 24 degrees when we got out of the car, strapped our snowshoes on and started tromping away from the crowds. It didn't take longer than a mile to get away from the tourists, who looked at us quizzically as we walked into the snow with giant backpacks on.
There was a sign in the visitor center- an advertisement to rent snowshoes and it said "Explore Crater Lake like Few do! Rent Showshoes!" We had our own snowshoes (thanks to bae for the Christmas gift :) ) so yes, we were going to explore Crater lake like few do. Check!
But we decided to take the adventure one step further and stay overnight, because why not?! We had all of our snow camping gear and decided to set up a little home right on the rim of the lake so we could appreciate it's loveliness for a few hours longer.
Rich dug a tent-sized hole for our double walled tent so the winds wouldn't be so obnoxious/freezing hitting the sides of the tent where we "sleep".
We set up our temporary housing and dozed on and off for a few hours while temps dipped below 18 degrees, got up early, had some coffee, and went for one of the most pleasant and gorgeous morning strolls I had ever been on.
Pictures as proof that it was all worth it:
I'd say that was a pretty great last adventure for 2016.
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