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Travel Yogi: Off da' Ma'at - Crater Lake National Parks Edition

Writer's picture: Stephanie JordanStephanie Jordan

By S.L. Jordan


You reconnect with nature in the most intimate and powerful way by becoming aware of your breathing, and learning to hold your attention there, this is a healing and deeply empowering thing to do. It brings about a shift in consciousness, from the conceptual world of thought to the inner realm of unconditioned consciousness.” - Eckhart Tolle

I didn't need science to tell me the benefits of spending time outdoors, my body always sent the message. As a former Girl Scout and daughter of a woman born & raised in Alabama, I have always enjoyed being outdoors. As a child, I could never put into words how being outdoors made me feel - the way it made me feel big and small at the same time and brought me back to myself. That's the reason why it's hard NOT to play hooky when it's over 70 degrees. Be INSIDE FOR WHAT?!?!?


However, the more I started to practice yoga OFF da' ma'at I started to pay attention to how I felt afterwards. My Oura ring showed the science behind it: stress levels would reduce; my heart rate would slow down. I realized the effect being outdoors had on my mood, how invigorated I would feel after being outside. And oddly enough my breath, something about being amongst trees makes me take deeper inhales/exhales. And don't let there be a creek or some water nearby. The country gal in me pops right on out!


A few years ago, my mother sent me her old truck and inside there was a National Parks Passport. I had never seen one of those before and the collector in me wanted one as well. Around the same time, my best friend from college and I had started to look at trips/vacations that were more outdoorsy. We still have Lake Havasu on our bucket list.


The inspiration behind this trip for me started on a trip to Aruba with my little brother in March 2021. We went to the beach and the water was SO BLUE! Honestly, probably the bluest water I had ever seen up to that point. So, I had to KNOW - who had the bluest water. That prompted me to Google, "the bluest water in North America" and one of the first places to pop up was Crater Lake in Oregon. At the time I had never been anywhere near the PNW, the furthest west I had been was San Francisco.


[Spoiler Alert: there are a few that are in the PNW, HERE is the list]


As life would have it, earlier this year a friend of mine shared her 40th Birthday Bucket List with me and she had, "Go to a National Park" on the list. I politely asked if I could crash her trip, then she tells me she was doing a gig in Eugene, Oregon with their Symphony for the Bach Festival in July.


C'mon life bringing me my desires. We immediately started to play a trip to Crater Lake.


I am here to tell you - there isn't a picture/video in existence that does the Lake justice. NONE!!! I don't even care what type of camera they have. And if someone says there is, they are a (in my Katt Williams voice) "Fat Faizon Liar"! EVERY. VIEW. WAS. BREATHTAKING!! Honestly, the whole state was beautiful. Being from Detroit, a flat urban city - the mountainous topography just makes you realize how beautiful the world really is. It's like, WOW I get to live here and see this. Amazing I tell ya'.


That's why we need to take care of the Planet - but I digress.

A view of Crater Lake
Crater Lake National Park

Like, seriously. The blue is so pretty and clear!! I had to ask myself, "Girl, have you ever seen blue water before???" All other bodies of water give dingy in comparison.


How exactly was Crater Lake created, you ask - let me tell you:


After a violent eruption, the inner magma chamber of an ancient volcano collapsed in on itself, creating a deep caldera in modern-day Oregon.

  • Experts estimate that it took approximately 250 years for the caldera to fill to its present-day amount of five trillion gallons of water, ultimately creating Crater Lake as we know it today.

  • The ancient Makalak people attributed the collapse of the volcano to a mighty battle between the sky and mountain spirits.

You can get your nerd on HERE if you want to know more.

My friend and I posed in a squat in front of Crater Laker
Jaya and I at Crater Laker

FTR: We took the Garfield Trail specifically for this view. The closer we got to the top, the more snow there was. Like SOLID snow, I was shocked to see snow in JULY!


Caution: the trail was "trailing"!! We are both active women, Jaya just won 1st in a Bikini Body Building competition earlier this year - and at one point we both looked at each other like, "are we REALLY in shape or do we just do yoga?"



That excursion took up the whole day as we stayed in the cutest town - Ashland, OR which was about 2+ hrs from Crater Lake. Besides my own face in the mirror -I don't think I saw another Black face once I left the airport, but I didn't feel out of place while I was there. No strange looks or behavior. No GET OUT vibes. Just an overall welcoming attitude. There was a main street that ran through the town where most of the businesses were. A lot of the places closed at 9pm - but the town had a feel about it that made you slow down and just relax.


Ashland is small, but very popular amongst the Theater Crowd. They host an Oregon Shakespeare Festival every year, that brings the Theater Mami's and Zaddy's OUT. We were there for the tail end of the Fest and didn't have a chance to go to see a show, but I just added that as another reason to go back to Ashland.


Walkability score is 10/10.

A picture of the sun setting on the Main Street in Ashland, OR
Main Street in Ashland, OR

Now, I COULD and WOULD throw all the picture I took in this post - but I want y'all to actually read it, so I limited myself. The Majestic-ness of it all .... it's been almost 3 months, and I am still in awe.


I got my hands on a National Parks Passport too!

We did more than just visit Crater Lake. We explored Ashland, met up with Jaya's old violin buddy who happens to be from Ashland and was in town for the weekend. We met her for breakfast [the homemade biscuit sandwich at Ruby's is a MUST], and later went by her parents' house for possibly the BEST vegan meal I have ever had - okay, Imma be honest. Ya girl is a carnivore, and I like to eat meat. This was my first FULL vegan meal, and I scraped that plate.


Before the meal, we had Happy Hour in the creek behind their house. We just pulled out some chairs and sat in the water - drinking wine and chatting. It was such a good time.


We also spent one day going to Wineries in the area. We picked a tour that would pick us up from the AirBnB, take us to three different wineries before dropping us back off.






We visited these Wineries:



Ashland has this "special" water fountain called the Lithia Water Fountain, because of the levels of natural lithium oxide deposits in the spring, it is said to be a Health Tonic. We tried it - I have never in my life drunk water that tasted like you gargled with rocks in your mouth. I don't even like regular mineral/sparkling water - yeah, miss me with the Topo Chico.

Lithia Water Fountain in the center of Ashland, OR. It is popular  because of natural lithium oxide deposits in the spring, has been touted as a health tonic since the 1880s
Lithia Water Fountain

I came back from that trip with a renewed sense of calm, with a desire to see more National Parks, a promise to spend more time outdoors communing with myself and nature, and a newfound appreciation for small quant little towns.


Forget about a BRAT/Demure Era ..... enters Outdoor Girlie Era


Until next time, Keep It Classy Oregon.

Meet Me on the Ma'at .... or on the grass.


P.S. They weren't lying when they said the PNW has the best marijuana.

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