Crater Lake July 11

When researching this road trip I found out that the Cleetwood Cove Trail, the only legal access to the shore of Crater Lake, would be closing at the end of the short 2025 season for multiple years while they rebuilt the trail. If we wanted to go for a swim or explore Wizard Island this would have to be the year. Further, I found out that the boat tours and shuttles on the lake start their season on the 8th of July so we would be confined to check it out at the tail end of our trip. A shuttle to Wizard Island was the first reservation I made for our trip with the rest of our plans working backwards from that booking. It would be nothing like our previous snowy trip to Crater Lake but I was looking forward to exploring it a bit further and seeing it from some new vantages. 

From our Diamond Valley Lake campsite we had a little over a half hour of driving through the north entrance to the Cleetwood Cove Trailhead, which was already buzzing with activity at 8am. We checked in, packed up for the hike down and 3 hours on the island, and started strolling down the trail. The trail was alarmingly steep and seemed to be half anchored in pumice deposits, no wonder that they were looking for a more resilient upgrade to the trail before a major accident happens. At the water's edge we could see the colors shift into the deepest blues as the lake rapidly deepened away from the shore with hard to comprehend visibility. On schedule the boat left the dock, cruising counterclockwise around the lake past amazing cliff exposures of lava flows draped over paleotopography, bedded ignimbrites, and cross-cutting dikes. We slowed through Skell Channel, the narrow and shallow gap between the crater edge and Wizard Island's chunky flow, then landed at the dock on the south side. A notable passenger was a woman in full ski garb with skis that had the other passengers and boat crew flummoxed alike. 

Llao Rock flows and ignimbrite

Devils Backbone (a dike system)

Although everyone had free reign to chose what to do with their three hours, virtually everyone beelined for the switchbacking trail up the 750 feet high scoria cone forming the main feature of Wizard Island. At its top the trail circumnavigates the rim of its crater (the Witch's Cauldron as its known), providing both outward and inward views that shifted. From this vantage the lake water's were remarkably deep blue. Interesting wildflowers (including Dr Suessian puffballs) adorned the slopes of the crater and a dead standing forest made for a fascinating natural sculpture garden. The skier donned her skis and everyone watched and cheered as she took on the only skiable snow patch around, a 100 feet descent into the ferocious sounding Witch's Cauldron, a 10 second ride dodging trees and exposed rocks. I've been known to do an adventure stunt or two but even I thought this was rather silly.

The Witch's Cauldron: double black diamond name, 10 second bunny run

This hike killed more time than we realized initially and we started back down the trail, passing a long line of the next group headed up. Most of the way down Heather made the sensible choice to head back to the dock and enjoy the uniquely pure and clear waters of the lake, while I decided to take the Fumerole Bay Trail to its end, and then do some professional grade scrambling across a rubbly flow to try to reach an interesting green pool I spotted on the flow. Fairly shallow and sitting on black rocks I hoped there was a chance at it being somewhat warm but when I finally reached it I found it just as cold as the lake (pretty and with interesting fish though). Unfortunately I had no time to hang out or swim and after only a couple minutes I worked my way back towards the dock so I did not miss my boat.

Clear waters of Fumerole Bay making the dock appear to float

I made it back a few minutes before the boat arrived and we actually left the island a little ahead of schedule. With Heather and my tight plans of exiting the tour, hiking up Cleetwood Cove Trail, traversing the park, and driving over 3 hours to get to Alturas, California before 4:30pm so we could pick up obsidian collection permits, every second seemed to count. Agonizingly the boats had a similarly tight schedule of when they should arrive at the dock (12:45pm), and so the boat operators stalled by filling everyone's water bottles straight from the lake and a full tour of Cleetwood Cove itself.

At 12:45pm we docked at Cleetwood Cove and as if a starter pistol went off, Heather led the charge at a stiff and continuous pace up the trail, dodging and weaving past the human obstacles in our path. This would be our best chance to gain or lose time since the drive would be more or less whatever was thrown at us (speed limits, slow cars, construction zones, etc.). We made it to the top of the trail in 20 minutes flat which I thought was a considerable achievement. I hopped in the driver's seat and we immediately set out counterclockwise around the rim to exit the park at its southern entrance. At the first cell reception Google Maps had us arriving at the USFS Alturas office at 4:15pm which dd not give us a lot of wiggle room! We passed a few slow motorhomes on the highway but for the most part just kept a steady pace with our eyes on the arrival time, making sure it did not creep closer to 4:30pm. As we neared we made a synchronized roadside pee stop with NASCAR pit crew efficiency and then continued on. We arrived at 4:11pm and strolled in to have two woman and a young kid working the desk casually fill out the permits for them. Despite the odds we would get to collect obsidian! It did seem a shame to have to rush away from Crater Lake but we were both satisfied with the mornings activities and the driving not being for naught. Heather's half-hour swim in the lake sounded particularly memorable.