Crater Lake National Park

The weather on Monday dampened my journey through Oregon. A massive front of moisture sweeping in from the Pacific had pushed its way inland. My entire route from Baker City to Medford, Oregon by way of Crater Lake National Park was wet.

Oregon has some oddly compelling topography. The curvy, up-and-down two-lane roads are proof. Creased golden hills. Broken mountains. Buried fossils. There's a lot of vertical features the road needs to avoid. But I had a hard time appreciating them through the rain, which was starting to give me travel fatigue.

Crater Lake National Park was a dud. Not the park itself, just the visibility when I was there. I caught one glimpse of the mysterious blue water of the deepest lake in the U.S. before clouds closed in. The volcanic crater is over a mile above sea level. Clouds are beautiful when you're looking up at them high above in the sky, but when you're caught in them, they severely restrict the view.

I'm still glad I visited. The lake is much larger than I imagined and brilliantly, indescribably blue. Seeing the park in the fog was still better than not seeing it at all.