VIA Magazine

Wizard Island | David Sharp

Years ago I traveled partway around the world, to Greece, to explore the volcanic island of Santorini. There’s another volcanic island in my home state of Oregon that I recently found to be just as dazzling—and nearly as difficult to reach.

A world unto itself, Wizard Island is the only place at Crater Lake National Park other than the Cleetwood Cove Trail where you can actually hike inside the volcano. You can fish for kokanee salmon and rainbow trout along the island’s shoreline (no fishing license required, but you are required to use artificial bait). Climb to the summit for a picnic and you’ll be treated to a dizzying, unobstructed panorama of one of the world’s most stunning lakes. There’s even a trail that encircles the summit like a widow’s walk, offering an ever-shifting perspective of the lake, the surrounding cliffs, and the island’s yawning caldera.

The park provides boat service to the island only between July and mid-September; you can either reserve a seat ahead of time (the better bet) or try to book passage at the ticket kiosk near the top of the Cleetwood trailhead on the day of your arrival.

I booked early, and with ticket in hand hiked the trail—the only route that leads to the lake—from the rim of the caldera to the boat dock. I was glad I’d joined a gym a few months earlier, because the 1.1-mile hike was the workout equivalent of descending 70 flights of stairs. And that was the easy part; on the return trip I’d have to climb back up.

View from the top of the island | David Sharp

At the dock, tour boats come in two varieties: those that let off passengers at Wizard Island and those that tool around the lake without stopping. Upon reaching the dock I found out that the stopover at Wizard Island for which I’d signed up had been cancelled because of inclement weather—despite a sky that was just as stunningly clear as the lake.

“Talk about being overly cautious,” I grumbled.

Figuring I’d salvage at least part of the trip I took the sightseeing tour around the lake.

The boat tour offered up-close views of the Phantom Ship (a small island covered with jagged towers of lava), the Pumice Castle (a uniquely shaped outcropping on the crater’s east wall), waterfalls, and other photogenic natural features that I’d otherwise have glimpsed only from distant overlooks, if not missed altogether.

If that weren’t spectacle enough, my fellow passengers and I were treated to the sight of an eagle and an osprey engaged in mid-air combat over a fish in the osprey’s talons. (The osprey won.)

Closing access to Wizard Island turned out to be a smart move. As we circled the lake the sky started clouding up. I saw the first crack of lightning just as we eased back into the dock. Had I been standing atop the island at that moment I’d have been a human lightning rod.

Two days later, I tried going again. This time I not only reached the island, but climbed to its summit (which entails another steep climb up and down a 70-story rock pile). It took some doing, but I’d finally reached my goal. And with blue skies above and the nation’s deepest, bluest lake below, the trek was well worth both the sweat and logistics.

David Sharp wrote about Crater Lake for the July/August 2011 issue of VIA.