What Caused Crater Lake? It's Not What We Thought

Written on 8-16-25.

   I am lying on one of the queen beds in our little cabin.  We are in Room #4 of the four rooms in the G Cabins, and the electricity has gone out.  We just had a dreamy breakfast over at Annie Creek’s Restaurant, which is connected to the gift shop.  We had some rain last night, and the feeling is very different from yesterday.  It’s overcast and cool.  With no electricity, it is darker, too.  The only light that is coming in is from the single window opposite me.

Belinda spoke with Danielle after we ate, and she informed her that she had spoken with many of her academy buddies this morning.  They are supportive, but they all said...

it doesn’t look good.  If I write anything about it today, I will just be guessing again, so I won’t.  We will know when we know, and that will most likely be on Monday when we celebrate James’s birthday.

James turns 32 tomorrow.  He and Casey are doing well.  He joined the conversation with Danielle yesterday, and I joked that he was living the Cats in the Cradle song.  I think it hurt his feelings, but I didn’t mean to do that, of course.  He is an excellent father.  I know that he missed out on hearing Rowan laughing when he was at work recently, so that is why I brought it up.  Looking back, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.  With Casey cutting back on her work, the pressure naturally goes to James to bring home the money.

We took the two hour boat tour yesterday despite Danielle firefighter hubbub.  We got there in plenty of time, because that was what the tour recommended.  We were glad we did, because parking situation was a mess.  They had one parking lot across from the trailhead, and it was chaos.  It was so busy, we chose to park on the side of the road a decent walk away from where the lot was (we had no other choice).  Many cars were circling like buzzards waiting for potential spots, and we were one of them until we gave up.  I saw only one car leave, and I was happy for the people in the gray Tundra that happened to be at the right spot at the right time to snag the spot.

The hike downhill took about a half-hour, and it was fairly easy.  It was the climb back up that was a chore, but we were thankful to get some exercise.  We both broke a sweat, and I even took a couple of puffs from my rescue inhaler.  I am just thankful we were able to do it, because it was so worth it.

The water here is a blue I’ve never experienced before.  The most beautiful blue I can think of comes from Belinda’s eyes, and they are super-sparkly blue when she smiles.  It’s like that.  Not better, just a bit different.  I was mesmerized during the tour, and I caught myself just staring into the water.

The highlights were learning how Crater Lake was formed, seeing the Phantom Ship up close, and having that ‘freedom of a vacation’ feeling midway through.  

Our guide was very knowledgeable for her age; she had done her homework.  Crater Lake was formed because of a volcano that caused the mountain to collapse in on itself.  The volcano exploded, and then it imploded.  I think that was the gist.  The eruption was greater than Mt. St. Helen’s, and ash spewed as far away as Greenland.  Yes, Greenland.  As we cruised next to Llao Rock, I looked at the topography and was amazed.  In some areas, it looked as if someone had taken cookie dough and twisted it off leaving a swirly pattern, but imagine the cookie dough looking like gray and black rock instead.  We also saw dikes, which are extremely hard to erode, and they were similar, in my mind, to Shiprock or the Stegosaurus spikes we just saw near La Veta.  

The Phantom Ship was the older of the two sisters, our guide said.  The younger one being Wizard Island.  The Phantom Ship is special to us, because that was the first thing we chose to go see when we arrived.  From up above it was fascinating to see, and then it was even better up close as we motored around it.  Even the ‘old man,’ a famous, floating, cantankerous, old log was hanging out by the Phantom Ship.  It is just a cool island that had spiky rocks and trees, and it looks similar to an old pirate ship.

B and I made sure to not drink too much water before our two hour tour.  That was a catch-22, because we know it’s important to hydrate.  It worked out fine.  We basically fasted yesterday to take the boat tour.  When they asked if everyone was okay with being out on the water for two hours without a bathroom nearby, I hoped it would be okay.  It was.  Being distracted by the stories really helped.  

About 45 minutes in, I got weepy.  It was a conglomeration of many things: emotional release for what was happening with Danielle, the freedom of being on a vacation, and the very spiritual feeling that comes from being in a spot where God’s beauty is revealed to you in one big rush.  No tears came from beneath my Ray-Ban sunglasses, but it was an emotional moment, for sure, and one I was thankful for.

Okay, Belinda has lost her entertainment.  The digital book she was reading went away when she close her iPad.  We are going to go for a drive and a short walk.  Still no electricity, and it’s been about an hour.

On to golf (briefly)…

Mike and Marc have invited me to play in a progressive best ball tournament at Hillcrest a week from today.  I told them I was on vacation, but I would let them know on Monday, and they were fine with that.  Just wanted to get that in here really fast.  Okay, off we go…