Wizard Island, Crater Lake NP

An incredible hike on a volcano within a volcano.

One of the greatest things about Bend, Oregon is the amount of activities one can do within a short drive of town. All of the hikes my parents and I have done in the last six days (hikes #30-36) were within an hour’s drive from town. On my sixth day visiting my home state, my parents and I took a drive 3 hours south to spend the day at Crater Lake National Park, the only National Park in the state. With just a day to see the large park, we would have to plan our trip wisely. After scanning the web for hike options at the park, one stuck out more than the rest, quite literally. There is one major land mass poking out of the deep-blue lake: Wizard Island.

We arrived into Crater Lake NP via the north entrance around 8:45am. You’d think that this would give us a full day to explore many of the sights of the park, eh? Yeah, I though so too, but not the case. Not only is the park massive – 286 square miles, the lake is just 20.4 square miles of that – but there are very few roads within the park. Wouldn’t you know it, we arrived on a day where they were working on the main road running the perimeter of the lake. These delays caused us to rush and plan out our time to the minute, two things I hate to do while traveling.

When we reached the rim of the lake, we stopped to check out the view. My parents and I don’t recall if I had ever been here before, even though I was born and raised in Oregon, but ooking out over the lake with its famous deep shimmering blue water, I think I would have remembered if I was here before: the sight was not one I would have forgotten! You can see for 100 miles from the highest vantage points in the park.

We stopped into the small ticket booth at Cleetwood Cove to purchase our tickets to Wizard Island. Boats leave about once an hour, but only a couple allow for a long enough stay to explore the small island. Reservations can be made in advance for half the tickets and the other half are on a “first come first served” basis. After purchasing our tickets for a noon departure, we had just enough time to rush over to Rim Village to buy some picnic supplies before rushing back to catch the boat. I’m sue without the construction work on the road, we would have had plenty of time to hang out at the small village and browse the gift shop, but with 20+ minute delays, we were cutting it close. But getting to the boat was more than just a park and a short walk. I could have made the hike down to the dock and back a hike unto itself. One must hike down the steep, 11%-grade Cleetwood Cove Trail, dropping 650 feet in elevation in less than a mile. The trail isn’t for everyone: going down isn’t too hard, but the trip back up can be difficult for those that aren’t in great shape.

We made it down to the Cleetwood Cove dock with enough time to make a little lunch and dip our feet in the ice-cold water. It was mesmerizing to see the rocks below the dock so well. The lake is not only one of the deepest in the world, but one of the clearest as well. Measurements taken using a Secchi disk revealed that one could peer 173 feet (52.8 meters) into the lake.

We departed from the cove at noon in a full boat. There were visitors from around the world on board, something I enjoy seeing when visiting national parks. The 45-minute boat ride included a ranger-guided tour. The ranger couldn’t have been more than 24 years of age, but he was very knowledgeable about the lake and it’s history. We arrived at the Wizard Island dock around 12:45pm.

On the island, the 42 passengers didn’t waist any time getting off the boat and on their way. The last boat of the day would be back to pick us up at 3:30pm and there wasn’t as moment to spare. Some brought fishing poles and headed out to the nearby cove to see how many they could reel in (no permits necessary, no catch limits). Others headed up to the top of the island. More than a few spent their time near the dock, either reading a book or swimming. Mom & Dad decided to stay at the shoreline. They have done seven hikes with me in the past five days and it has started to wear them down. I delayed my start up to the summit. I wanted to let the other hikers get up the trail a bit before I started, allowing me to hike with my thoughts. The plan worked and I found myself seemingly alone on the island. I sat down on a log and enjoyed the tranquility, writing in my hiking journal and listening to the birds and the wind. Last year, 415,686 people visited this park, and yet I feel like the last man on the planet sitting here.

I didn’t more than 2-3 people on the trail until I got to the top of the 750-foot cinder cone. I couldn’t have planned it better with all of the fifteen or so summit hikers heading down just as I arrived. I stood on the top, looking down into the “Witch’s Cauldron” – the caldera of this small volcano on the lake. The view of the surrounding lake and the sheer cliffs holding the lake were exhilarating! And to have the view all to myself for at least 30 minutes was heavenly.

After taking a handful of pictures and some video (see below), I headed back down to the cove. Our boat arrived just minutes after my return and when everyone was accounted for, we departed. The boat ride back to Cleetwood Cove took about 70 minutes and included a full tour of the southern and eastern coastlines of the lake. We saw waterfalls in Chaski Bay, circled Phantom Ship, a small rocky island that looks a little like a sailing ship, and saw Pumice Castle and Sentinel Rock, among other geological formations. We sat on top of the deepest point of the lake – where the land is about 1,932 feet below the water’s surface – before heading back to Cleetwood Cove.

Many of the passengers in our boat struggled up the 1-mile trail to their vehicles. I admit, it was pretty grueling for me as well – but I felt in really good shape and kept a good pace the entire way up. My parents didn’t do a bad job either, but they were a hurtin’. My dad’s knee started to bother him and he had to stop frequently. Could this be the last hike they do with me for 100hikes? We’ll see…

Thoughts about the hike:

1. The boats on Crater Lake only run during the summer months (mid-July to mid-September). The tickets cost us $20 a piece, but don’t be surprised if they raised the price yet again when you go.
2. The animals on Wizard Island have been separated from the rest of the world for centuries. The garter snakes on the island have adapted to their surroundings and lost their stripes!
3. We brought walkie-talkies with us on this trip. They came in very useful when exploring Wizard Island.

Resources:

1. Crater Lake National Park, By the Numbers
2. nps.gov – Crater Lake National Park

Hike #37 Trip GPS Stats:

• Date of hike: July 23th, 2009
• Location: Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
• Length: 5.1 miles (minus the boat ride)
• Duration: 6 hours
• Average speed: n/a
• Altitude at start: 6,850 feet
• Altitude min.max: 6,176/6,850 feet

This map was made with the data my GPS captured on the hike.
For a more detailed trip report map, check this out.

Video:

Photos:

This was originally published on 100hikes.com