That morning, at an Oregon rest stop, we argued over whether to spend the day driving, and stop at some more rest areas (car parks) along the way, or spend the day driving, take a two hour detour, costing several hundred dollars in gas and stop at Crater Lake. After days of driving and non-descript rest areas, we had a majority vote for the lake. So off we went.
A couple hours later, we found ourselves driving first through dense pine forest, then up a fairly narrow, fenceless road that seemed to be winding around the side of a mountain. Crater Lake partly fills a nearly 4,000 ft. deep caldera, that was formed around 150 BC, by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama.
An aerial view of the lake
The first view that visitors get of the lake as they reach the top of the ridge is famous, and we were not disappointed. An audible gasp echoed down the bus as people looked out the windows to see a gigantic, indescribably blue lake.
The water looked unearthly. I felt as if I was looking down at a story book illustration. The blue seemed so heightened that it reminded me of those old Technicolour movies, where the water in the big studio tanks would be coloured to look more brilliant on screen.
We all sat, trying to find words to describe the sight, as we slowly circled the top of the crater. Suddenly Manu said ‘It’s Nityananda’s chadar.’ It was the perfect description. I looked down at the lapis water, imagining Lord Nityananda, wearing beautiful blue, shimmering cloth. A minute later I turned around and realised that Manu had actually been telling Bhakti that the chadar she found on the seat and wanted to borrow, was actually part of Lord Nityananda’s costume, from the play prop box. Oh well. A happy accident…
1 Comment
November 16, 2008 at 1:05 am
nice