Anniversary trip

This past weekend, I drove down to Klamath Falls so I could reprise Jay's & my unsuccessful trip from last year, to actually successfully see Crater Lake and celebrate my second anniversary of moving to Portland.

Friday, I ended up taking the route that went right past Timberline Lodge, so since the last time I'd been there it was so foggy I couldn't see Mount Hood, I stopped in to see my old friend. He was looking fine:

View of Mount Hood from the amphitheater behind

Timberline Lodge

I spent Friday night in Klamath Falls, and drove out Saturday to see Crater Lake.  It was nothing short of spectacular.

It's impossible for pictures to do the lake justice. It's so enormous that all sense of scale is lost. Just remember - this lake started out as a 12,000 foot high volcano that exploded and left this hole in the ground.  My brain just can't cope with that.

And my heart had a tough time, as well. As gorgeous as the lake was, and as glad as I was to finally get to see it, Saturday was still a time of sadness and anger. All the usual grief stuff was there with me. I wanted nothing more than to turn to Jay and share all those moments with him. His death blew a huge hole in my heart that is certainly not a pretty thing surrounded by hills and pines.

Ah, well. Happy anniversary to me, anyway.

More shots of Mount Hood and Crater Lake at the Flickr sets.