Oregon

About 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama in southern Oregon erupted and collapsed into itself. The basin filled with rain and snow and became Crater Lake, nearly 1,950 feet deep, the deepest lake in the United States, with no river running in or out. The Klamath tell of a battle between the sky god Skell and the underworld god Llao in which the mountain was destroyed, and they call the lake Giiwas.

Wizard Island, the wooded cinder cone near the west shore, is a later volcano inside the crater, covering about 316 acres.

Oregon is the Beaver State, and its flag is the only one among the fifty with a different design on each side: the state seal on the front, a gold beaver on the back.

Two hikers stand on a dirt path at the rim looking down, a taller one in olive trousers and a smaller one in green shorts holding a walking stick. Below them lies deep blue water with a small forested island, and beyond the far cliffs rises a snow-covered peak. In the lower corner a bluebird with an orange flank perches among white blossoms.