Swimming in a Volcano

On Friday we continued our road trip about an hour and a half south to Crater Lake. It was James’ idea to visit here and we had an excellent day. We came in through the north entrance of the National Park and went to Cleetwood Cove where we bought tickets for the five hour boat trip to Wizard Island. First we had to descend on a steep path into the crater which took about half an hour. This of course worried me because I realised that I would have to climb back up at the end of the day!

The very friendly park ranger on the boat pointed out all of the features of the lake including the hard ignaeous rock which stood out on the slopes, the landslides and the colours of the rocks and plants. About seven and a half thousand years ago Mount Mazuma grew, erupted, collapsed, and then the caldera filled with rainwater and snow melt. Or as our park ranger explained, it “Grew, blew, fell and filled.” It is truly amazing that such a beautiful and peaceful place has been formed by violent eruptions. 

Wizard Island was formed by a later, smaller eruption and rises in the lake with a crater on the top, and we were dropped off there to spend three hours exploring. We headed up through the trees to the crater, a hot and steep forty-five minutes walk. I tried to think cool and breathed through my nose and took lots of sips of water, and it actually worked; I got to the top without stopping and we were rewarded by fantastic views around the lake. I felt quite stupefied by the beauty of the place. 

When we got back down to the jetty we decided to go for a swim in the lake. The water was very clear and very cold, but it was great fun to be swimming in a volcano!
The boat collected us got the last part of the tour around the lake, which was very entertaining. I managed the walk back up the crater to the car park surprisingly well and it only took us thirty-five minutes - the park ranger had estimated forty-five minutes so I was well chuffed. My secret was to walk quite slowly - the path was all uphill of course - but not to stop for a rest.
After our amazing day, we still had to drive ninety minutes to our next destination of Ashland. We had dinner at the very welcoming Annie’s Creek Restaurant before leaving the National Park. We arrived in Ashland at half past ten at night, and were pleased with our spacious and smart room at the Bard’s Inn Hotel. I had to take a shower before bed because my hair was full of volcano dust.