Waldo Lake

Once again, my old friend showed me yet another spectacular spot in the Oregon Cascades. There seems to be an endless number of them.

This is Waldo Lake, Oregon's second largest, very deep, and so pure and clean that you can see the bottom 100' away in its deeper parts. And you have to get out there using paddles, wind power or an electric motor, so it's not defiled. No fossil-fuel powered boats allowed.

What I find interesting is that this same friend took me on a hike to the top of that mountain to the left many years ago and we looked down upon this lake. It was pretty spectacular from there, too.

This first cove we visited was so spectacular that I took a lot of photos. You can see how clear the water is, with the different colors and the lake bottom. Aside from a yappy dog and some noisy kids, it was a pretty serene spot. We sat here for quite awhile. Surprisingly warm, quite sunny, but winter will reach this altitude (5000') before you know it.

At another part of the lake, lots of folks getting ready to head off with their kayaks. How we wanted to go with them! Notice the snow-capped peak in the distance, which I believe is Diamond Peak. You can see the air flow of wind on the main lake in the distance, but this cove continued off to the right and it was calm and perfect for kayaking.

The same view, but I couldn't resist because I love the deep blues in this shot.

A shadowed information sign, should anyone be interested. Note all the hiking trails around this lake -- about 25 miles around, plus there's a spot off a trail somewhere that's considered the source of the Willamette River, although that flow comes from this lake so it seems to me that the lake is the source.

This last place we stopped was pretty much more of the same -- beautiful blue water, lots of big fir trees -- other than this colorful spot at the tip of a little peninsula.

On the road driving from the lake back to main highway. A much better view of Diamond Peak.

I've been griping about not having a photo editor for this computer yet, but today I'm much more relaxed about that. Lacking that ability to crop photos has simply taken me back to the many years I used a film camera loaded with color slide film. In slides, cropping isn't possible unless you make a print, so you have to learn to frame the photos the way you want them. I kind of like going back to that as it's a place I'm really comfortable, even though it takes a few more moments to get it right. And of course, I've never manipulated my photos other than cropping, straightening if necessary. I like real photos better than manipulated photos, any day of the week. I know that goes against the current trends -- and I don't care.