Crater Lake National Park, “Hillman Blues”

Crater Lake and Wizard Island seen from Hillman Peak

Crater Lake is Oregon’s only National Park and encompasses 183,000 square acres. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is The United States’ 5th oldest national park. Crater Lake’s surface is at 6,178 while its caldera rim ranges from 7,000-8,000 feet in elevation. Because of its elevation and positioning along Oregon’s cascade crest, Crater Lake’s rim averages over 460 inches of snowfall annually. Crater Lake and its caldera were formed over 7,700 years ago by the explosion and collapse of Mount Mazama which filled with the clearest snowmelt water imaginable, leaving behind the brilliant blue lake that inspires countless visitors every year. . The now excepted depth of Crater Lake is 1,949 feet, making it the deepest lake in the United States!

Oregon has many gorgeous lakes such as Sparks Lake, Wallowa Lake, Hosmer Lake and Paulina Lake but none are as famous as Crater Lake.

Crater Lake Lodge

No visit to Crater Lake is complete without a visit to Crater Lake Lodge. This stately structure was completed in 1915 in part because of the lobbying efforts of William Steel.

The lodge contains 71 lodging rooms and the Crater Lake Dining room all in a historic setting.

 Charles Blakeslee, a talented photographer and on some levels a mentor to me years ago photographed what I still consider to be the definitive photography book about Crater Lake National Park.  Over a decade ago, I was photographing in a meadow above the town of Parkdale, Oregon at sunrise when I was approached by another photographer who was curious about my large format camera. He introduced himself as Chuck. Later in the conversation, I realized he was Charles Blakeslee and honestly, I was a bit star-struck. I knew of Chuck’s work through his Crater Lake Book as well as his large line of greeting cards. Chuck was and is one of my photographic inspirations who I’ve always admired. Chuck and I exchanged numbers that morning and corresponded many times over the subsequent 15 years.  He would freely offer up advice on my line of  Oregon Greeting Cards and photographic locations. I recently learned that Chuck passed away after a long and joyful life, which brought me sorrow in his passing and at the same time, joy that I was fortunate enough  to know such a kind a talented person.  RIP Chuck Blakeslee.