Nearly 7000 years ago, a massive volcano in southern Oregon, United States exploded leaving behind a collapsed caldera. Over the thousands of years that followed, the empty caldera filled with snowmelt and rainwater to form what is now known as Crater Lake. Geocachers from around the world have come to take in the amazing views, learn about this amazing location and find the Mt. Mazama Earthcache (GC123H6).

The explosion that destroyed the stratovolcano is said to have been 42 times more powerful than the Mt. Saint Helens eruption in 1980. In fact, the explosion reduced Mt. Mazama’s original height by about a mile (1.6 km).  Now, Mt. Mazama is more well-known for the result of the explosion: Crater Lake and Wizard Island.

“Crater Lake is such a beautiful place. We enjoyed our stay very much and also learned some new aspects about geology. Nature’s forces are really overwhelming. Thanks for the learnings and the cache,” said geocacher netteleut(h)e in a log to earn a smiley for the geocache.

At 1,943 feet (592m), Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, second deepest in North America and ninth deepest in the world. Wizard Island is actually a small cinder cone volcano that was formed by continued volcanic activity after Mt. Mazama’s big eruption.

This Earthcache puts you on the rim of Crater Lake, overlooking Wizard Island—but getting there is only one of the requirements for obtaining your smiley. Be sure to read the instructions and correctly answer the questions on the cache page before you log this geocache as “found.”

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.