My Oregon trip has come to an end and I’m back in the bay area again, but during the last weekend before I left, I decided to take one last adventure down to Crater Lake with M who was also visiting. Most people who visit the national park spend their time driving around the lake on the scenic Rim Drive. But we decided to try the road less traveled and take a boat out to Wizard Island, the small(er) volcanic mountain in the middle of the lake.
Wizard Island as seen from Crater Lake Rim Drive
Our day started with an early morning drive to Cleetwood Cove on the north side of the lake. We picked up our tickets the moment the ticketing office opened at 7:30, then started hiking down to the actual dock. The trail was pretty steep - makes sense considering it’s on the edge of a crater. We made good time going down and even had time to take some pictures before catching our boat at 8:30.
The dock at Wizard Island
The boat ride was wet and cold. A thick fog covered the entire lake, and the sun had not yet pierced through. As we kept going, a mountain suddenly materialized out of the darkness, and we were at Wizard Island.
On the way to the summit
There are two hiking trails on Wizard Island. We started with the summit hike, one mile of going straight to the top of the mountain, and then one mile back.
Mini crater at the top of Wizard Island
It was a struggle up the steep trail with the oxygen deprived air at 7000 feet elevation, but we made it up right as the sun was just starting to peek through the clouds, making for some great photo opportunities.
View from the top of the island
After going back down, we had some extra time before the boat came back to pick us up, so we decided to take the other trail to Fumarole Bay. The trail was incredibly rugged.
Look how rugged the trail was
We were basically walking on huge piles of volcanic rock, making it quite hard on the ankles. In order to preserve our joints, we just went to the first vista point of the bay and then turned back.
Beautiful Fumarole Bay
The boat ride back to Cleetwood Cove was a lot more pleasant than the journey out. By then the sun was completely out, turning the lake a brilliantly blue color.
We could actually see the island during the return ride
Despite having to wake up at the crack of dawn and make a final steep climb out of the crater at the end, it was totally worth seeing the amazing sights and getting to hike on trails orders of magnitude less crowded than those on the mainland. Wizard Island was definitely the highlight of our trip, and I would highly recommend it to anyone spending at least a full day at Crater Lake.
