As I implied earlier, Crater Lake is more than just the lake. Yes, without a doubt that's the centerpiece and the jewel of the Park. However, surrounding the lake is a diverse land riddled with geologic wonders courtesy of its volcanic past.

From the rim you can obviously look down on the lake and the waters are just as blue as before. We took the opportunity to drive the East Rim Drive out to the Mount Scott trailhead. This road had been closed until our last day (canceling our plans to climb Mount Scott, the highest peak in the Park) so we felt like we were blazing a new route when they opened the gates.

All along the East Rim there are overlooks of the features we'd seen from the boat the previous day. Each presented the sight in a new light that added to our appreciation. The Phantom Ship, the Pumice Castle, and even a tour boat near the shore looked so different from 1,000 feet up.

When we turned our back on the lake we found Vidae Falls right on the side of the road and the spectacular Plaikni Falls and easy mile hike in. After the desolation of Wizard Island it was refreshing to hear water roaring down bringing life to its edges. (Especially when that life was an astounding number of butterflies in the Euphilotes genus. And yes, that's as close as I can get to identifying them.)

But it wasn't all lush. In the southeast of the Park are the Pinnacles. They were formed when steam and hot gas passed through layers of pumice before Mount Mazama's collapse. All the other soil has eroded away, but the Pinnacles still stand. Down below, Wheeler Creek continues to carve away at the valley. We heard lots of little rockfall demonstrating nothing in the Park is static.

With only 10 days for our tour of Eastern Oregon we couldn't linger in the Park any longer. We had a multi-hour drive to our next stop almost at the California border. Don't worry, though. We're sticking with the geologic theme throughout the trip so you can bet it's going to be interesting.