Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)

I don't believe I have ever seen a place as beautiful and peaceful as Crater Lake National Park.  There are tons of easy to strenuous hiking trails all throughout the park.  You can walk along the rim of the lake for as long as you want, or as little as you want.

I stopped at every overlook to take a different photo of the lake.  Everywhere you go, it has a different look to it.  Simply beautiful.

As the sun came out and went back under clouds, the water color changed from dark blue to a deeper blue.  It also depended on the sun and the time of day.  I saw different colors throughout the day.

I kept seeing that yellowish/white swirl in the lake, and was very curious about it.  A man there told me it was "pine pollen" in the lake; but, I didn't believe him.  I looked it up on the National Park website, and he was, indeed, correct:   

"Through the month of June and into July, yellow swirls of "stuff" can be seen on the surface of the lake and will always prompt great concern from the visitors. It's not pollution or oil or some sort of chemical foamy stuff, it's merely pine pollen - the same stuff that most people find coating their cars in the spring. It's harmless to the lake and will eventually settle out to the bottom."

The views of the mountains from here are spectacular!

These mountains look like the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina!

There was still LOTS of snow higher up.

Some kids snowboarding.

Amazing how flowers grow out of rocks!

This beauty had his eye on a chipmunk!

THIS is why people die in national parks; they are taking selfies and not paying attention to their surroundings.

Then, they have to look at their just-taken selfies!

And, I am NO exception.  A selfie (but, I wasn't on a cliff!)

Life does NOT get better than THIS!