Crater Lake

In early May Nate had a rare Sunday off! We decided to get out of the house and ended up going for a drive. We had heard about some falls that were on the way to Crater Lake, so we headed up that way in search of them!

We drove, and drove, and drove, and drove ... we didn't see the falls, but we saw a sign indicating that the turn off for Crater Lake was only 20 miles away ... we looked at each other and decided, "why the heck not, we are already here."

As we approached the turn off for Crater Lake, we saw the turn off for the falls - we debated which way to go but again decided to head up to the Lake ... it was a very wise decision!

We were definitely unprepared for all of the beautiful snow and had to stop off at the gift shop to get a long sleeve shirt so we wouldn't freeze. After getting to the top, the sun was so warm that the long sleeve shirt was rendered unnecessary after hiking around for a few minutes ... oh well!

We stopped at Beckie's Dinner on our way back down the mountain for some dinner and some DELICIOUS cherry pie!!

Anyway, as you can see, it was a beautiful, beautiful day and Crater Lake is absolutely amazing! We loved the stark contrast between the lake and the snow, we loved that there was still a layer of ice on part of the lake, we loved the green pines, we loved it all!

Perhaps one day we'll head to the falls ... or maybe we'll just go back to Crater Lake!

... the drive home was beautiful, as well, and I can't resist posting this picture ...