Crater Lake.

Lots & lots of water... But none of it when we needed it.
As I mentioned in the post earlier, water was hard to find & the previous days hiketowards Mazama Village had been as dry as an Irish bar the day after St Patricks day... & so we were having to plan our water resupply carefully.
Once we'd made the 4.5 mile climb (& what a climb! It was near vertical at the end!!) to the Rim Village, we stopped at the gift shop there, but decided against paying $3 for a can of soda. Carrying on, we got our first look at the awesome sight of a water-filled volcano crater.

We'd wondered why the data book had given a 'Water Alert' for the next 16 miles (as in, there was none on or near the trail) given that we were passing a HUGE body of water... But when we reached the crater rim, we understood why it wasn't listed as available... It was around 1000 feet below us down a very steep slope.
We took lots of pix and video, had a great lunch overlooking the lake, then made our way further north through nicely graded slopes of pines before stopping for the night near Hwy 58.
Since then, we have rolled on about 5 days to where we are now... Bend, OR.
We have taken a near-o here to recharge ourselves& our devices & will be back on the trail in the morning. I've not been able to upload any updates mostly due to the lack of coverage... We have been hiking towards & through Sisters Wilderness area which has been awesome, but very volcanic, rough & isolated. More pix will come soon, whilst I have some solid WiFi... Hope y'all like!
Cheers.
RWK.
Updatin'!