Southern Oregon Adventures I: Crater Lake

Sunday was fantastic. We jumped off a cliff into Crater Lake.


Five of us from Newswatch12 (Kaylin - morning anchor, Emily - 11 anchor, Adam - photographer, Kelley - 11 producer, and myself) took a day trip to Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US, and one of the deepest in the world. It's also a brilliant color of blue.

After the 90 minute drive, we were pleasantly surprised to learn we had free entry because it was National Park Weekend, and no park was charging for entrance. Great!

We drove to the top and spent some time at a couple of the lookout spots. The lake is gorgeous. It was formed when a volcano erupted millions of years ago and the explosion left the crater that was eventually filled with rain and snowfall. It's the only body of water in the US, and maybe the world, that's only source of water is rain and snowfall. And because the lake is so deep, most of the colors are absorbed by the water and blue is the only color of light reflected back. That's why it's so much bluer than other lakes.

After driving halfway around the 6-mile wide lake, we got to a point where we could hike down a trail to the water. So we hiked down one mile and got to the water. Then we got to the cliff.

There was about 50 people there (a number much higher than usual), some jumped and some watched and some just took pictures. We had already made up our mind: we were jumping into the lake.

Standing at the top of the cliff and peering over was pretty terrifying. We were maybe 25 feet above the water. And add a minor fear of heights, and it's not the easiest thing in the world to do.

Sure enough we all ended up jumping.














Kelley and Emily (roommates)











Kaylin















Adam















and me.




The water was freezing cold, but it was a fantastic thing to do.


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On the way home, we stopped at a cool looking waterfall just off the freeway.



It was beautiful to see and hear and feel the water rushing by.

There was a designated area to stop and take pictures, but sure enough, we hopped that fence. Well, most of us did. Kaylin ninja-ed her way through the fence.






We stayed there for about half an hour, soaking up all the beauty. It was a great day.