One day before this photo, we could not see the lake...at all. The smoke from the fire just outside the west rim was blowing into the park. Luckily we had one day where the wind changed enough to reveal the beauty of the lake. See our previous post for a closer look at the fire and the proximity of it to the park.
What an insane couple days at Crater Lake! We cut our stay very short because of terrible smoke conditions. We drove in on Sunday and could not see into the crater at all. Visibility was terrible everywhere else as well. This fire you see in the photo is burning nw of our camp (just off the rim) about 20 miles and on Sunday the smoke from it was blowing over the lake and campsite. On Monday the winds shifted enough to blow the smoke off the lake - so we could at least see and breathe some cleaner air. In the middle of the wind direction change between Sunday night and Monday morning, ash and debris fell onto our truck and trailer covering it. We can honestly say we've never experienced anything like this before! We're now traveling into California where there are still many fires, but after a few weeks of living in the smoke, we'll be trying to find some better conditions
Wahkeena Falls Trail, Oregon
