Tsunamis, volcanoes, and wildfires, oh my!

It was a very eventful travel day for the Chank family.  We left the ocean and by midday, were over 5,000 feet in elevation at Crater Lake.  While we began the day under threat of tsunamis (the basic thrust of advice is to run like heck to higher elevation) we ended the day watching a wildfire being fought. 

Preparation for the journey home...

Crater Lake! Yes it really is that color blue... Shelly can explain why...

The volcano cone in the middle is called Wizard Island, Malcolm wanted to climb it.

Getting ourselves psyched for our hike!

 Our hike led us up the Watchmen Trail which was short but steep... 

Lets play, can you spot the van?

Made it to the top!

Moving back down...

The crater at the top of Wizard Island.

 We had been noticing a haze in the air even at Glacier National Park but it was much thicker at Crater Lake. 

We were about an hour from our destination when we noticed smoke in a canyon on a mountain in front of us.  As we got closer we noticed two helicopters and two airplanes working to extinguish it.

They were filling the bucket right in front of us.

The airplanes were dropping bright red fire suppressant onto the fire.

Very exciting stuff...

We ended our day with burgers and ice cream at a place called Burger Queen in Lakeview Oregon.  Verdict? Very tasty!