nature | setiawanphoto

A few years ago I went to Eugene, Oregon, to attend a wedding. While we were there, we had an extra day when we could do some sightseeing or a day trip. I went with some of my relatives to Crater Lake National Park, which was around three hours southeast of Eugene. Crater Lake National Park is a unique park where the main feature is its namesake, Crater Lake, a caldera lake that was formed around 7,700 years ago when a volcano called Mount Mazama erupted and collapsed. There is no water source flowing into the lake; it gets the water from rainfall or snowfall. As such, the water is among the purest in the world, giving it its clear blue color when combined with its depth. The lake at average depth around 1,150 ft is the deepest lake in the United States (ninth deepest in the world).

During the road trip to Crater Lake, one thing that was nice about the drive was that for a long stretch, it went through the Umpqua National Forest, so it was quite a scenic drive with pine trees around and at times we would cross rivers and streams. It was pretty interesting that as we got closer to the lake, the drive was like going up on the mountain (well, because it was actually going up the mountain), until we reach closer to the rim of the caldera. We could walk on the rim and enjoy the panoramic view of the lake (it is 5 by 6 miles in area). There is also a road that you can drive around and get the glimpse of the lake from various angles.

The photo below was taken at one of the overlooks during our drive around the lake. I didn’t have a camera with wide enough angle that could capture the panoramic view of the lake, but this particular photo shows the deep blue color of the lake surface.

Shenandoah National Park is the nearest of the 58 US national parks from my home, around 60 miles away. As such, it’s a great place to go for weekend outdoor activities when the weather is nice. The main route through the park is the Skyline Drive, which stretches around 100 miles from the north entrance to the south entrance of the park. There are a couple of highways that cut across the park, so you can also enter or exit the park at those points instead of coming or going all the way to the end.

Most people visiting the park stay only on the Skyline Drive. It has many nice lookouts where you can stop and enjoy the scenery. But if you’re physically able and have the time, I think you can enjoy the park even more by hiking through some of the 500 miles of trails within the park. Some of these trails take you to places with scenic views of the Shenandoah Valley, while others take you to waterfalls and streams. About 100 miles of the legendary Appalachian Trail goes through Shenandoah, so you might meet hikers in the middle of doing that epic journey. During the hike, you might also encounter the wildlife, from deer to wild turkey, rabbit, or even black bear. So for nature photographers who live in DC area, this is one of the popular photography destinations nearby.

The photo below was taken from a lookout on Skyline Drive in the morning, not long after the sunrise. You could see some of the clouds and fogs still covering the lower altitude area in the valley.