Day 08 - Crater Lake Day

After our late star gazing the night before, we slept in a bit and headed down for breakfast around 8am. By 9:30 we we on or way to our day’s hike. The Watchman trail head was a short 3.5 mile ride from the lodge. Michele and Rob hiked up the 0.8 mile trail to majestic views of the lake.

We made our way back to the Wing and then rode over to the Phantom Ship Overlook (about 14 miles away). The water was very calm and the lighting very good for pictures.

We headed back to the lodge for lunch and stopped at this waterfall for a quick picture.

After lunch we walked along the rim to the visitors center admiring the views.

Michele made a 5:30pm dinner reservation at the lodge. After dinner we all walked along the rim trail a bit to find a good spot for Rob to take sunset pictures. When Rob started up the dirt portion of the trail, Michele decided she was not going to get her shoes dirty and returned to the room. It did not help that a Yellow Bellied Marmot was screaming at her.

Jerry soon found a good spot so he and Rob returned to the lodge to get warmer clothes and the camera equipment.

Rob and Jerry met back at the spot about 15 minutes before sunset. Along way, Rob spotted the marmot that was screaming at Michele. The marmot was nice enough to sit still for a picture.

Rob took 100 pictures but the sky was cloudless and the colors did not expand very far across the sky. He and Jerry will try again at Rainier and Olympic.

Tomorrow morning we depart the beautiful Crater Lake and head north towards Washington state.