Crater
Lake was as spectacular as we thought.
They had record snow fall this year (48 FEET), so the entire rim road
wasn’t clear yet in late June, but a good portion was open and we were most
thankful that it was a crystal clear day to take in this famous collapsed
volcano. It is hard to imagine water being this pristine and 2000 feet
deep! No water comes in (except from
snow and rain). I loved the feeling of
the cool crisp, humidity-free air in June!
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Oregon’s
trail history is clear as there are many covered bridges still standing.
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| This is a snow tunnel to get to the potty. |
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We
saw some elk about 30 minutes from the beach, which was really odd!
Dubbed
as the "Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast,” Depoe Bay has whale
watching almost year around since some grays hang out even when most head to
the Bering Strait and down to Mexico. During
the summer, many of Grays like to stay around Depoe Bay, OR, supposedly due to
their wonderful back scratching rocks for 50 ft whales J!
We didn’t plan to do this, but it sure was a fun experience to hear a
whale come up and blow so close to us. They were staying busy eating some
shrimp they like there in the kelp beds. My pics are not too hot since it was hard to tell when the whales were going to pop up (and where next?), and be on the ready to snap!
I
had seen seals and sea lions piled up in San Fran, but Jonas had yet to see the
pennipeds on their turf, so though we don’t usually do touristy things, we did
stop at the Sea Lion Caves and I am glad we did. It is a family-owned business and
a special part of the OR coast experience.
Their cave is the height of a 12-story building and stretches the length
of a football field. It is the natural home to a colony of Stellar sea lions
and a diverse array of other marine life. Stellar sea lions
gather in this natural amphitheater, usually during fall and winter. In the
spring and summer, they breed and have their young on rock ledges just outside
the cave. This place is very special, it is their home. The sea level portion of this cave and the
sea cliff rocks just outside the cave have become, over the centuries, the only
known mainland rookery (breeding area) and hauling area (wintering home) of the
Stellar sea lion, and to lesser extent, the California sea lion. Sea Lion Caves is the
largest sea grotto in America. Even if
no sea lions were coming down to the cave the 300 ft. drop into the cave from
Pacific Coast Hwy 101 was really cool! I
only wished my kids were there to see how happy they all looked swimming in and
out of this cave they clearly love. Again, the pictures are horrible since we
couldn’t use a flash down there.
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Jonas was one of the ONLY ones fully in the ocean the days we were nearby without a full wet suit on! But, he had to do it! It was COLD.
Oh the BLUE colors. You just can't get enough of them!
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