Mount McLoughlin

I just finished a week at the foot of Mount McLoughlin, at Willow Lake.  The view from my window was, to say the least, spectacular.

The lake is, by all indications, a good spot for fishermen.  It was for this particular fisherman.

For me, I saw it more as a palette upon which the colors of the forest and mountain were reflected -

at least when the air was calm, such as at sunset.

To the north are the western slopes of Mount Mazama, the remainder of the volcano that became Crater Lake.  The upper slopes are deep in ancient ash.  When that ash erodes, the result can be remarkable.  Here is one such ash area.  Those two trees are on the far side of the ravine and are perhaps 100 feet high each.  The pillars of ash are perhaps 20~30 feet across and perhaps 100~150 feet high.  I was right at the edge of the near side of the ravine and that soil is crumbly.  I was NOT about to hang onto a tree at the edge and lean out trying to see/photo the stream at the bottom of this thing.  This type of formation is apparently fairly common on the outer slopes of Mt Mazama near the crater.

If you use Google Earth, this ravine can be seen at 42 deg 53.75" N, 122 deg. 15.25' W.  Google Earth says it is about 200 feet deep, so my estimates may be off a bit.