Hillman Peak - 7.31.2026
We entered the north entrance of Crater Lake National Park by turning off of Oregon Hwy 138 onto the North Volcanic Legacy Scenic Highway... then drove 9.2 miles up the road to Merriam Point... where the West Rim Drive meets the East Rim Drive... then drove the West Rim Drive 1.4 miles where we parked in a pullout on the right side of the road... and got this view of Hillman Peak from where we parked.
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We are crossing the West Rim Drive from where we parked... and we will join the Rim Trail which runs left-to-right across the middle of the photo... with Hillman Peak up there on the left.
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We have crossed the road from where we parked and Denali Girl is almost up to the Rim Trail... and you can see two joggers on the trail above Denali Girl on the right.
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Hiking south on the Rim Trail... and we can see 'The Watchman' out there in the distance.
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After hiking the Rim Trail for less than a tenth of a mile we are getting ready to leave the trail and head up to Hillman's NW ridge.
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As we gain elevation up to Hillman's NW ridge we are looking down to the Rim Trail and south out to 'The Watchman'.
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Gaining elevation on Hillman's NW ridge... and we can see where we parked down there on the right.
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Still gaining elevation on Hillman's NW ridge... here looking north toward Llao Rock in the right-center of the photo... with Mount Thielsen the pyramidal peak on the horizon in the left-center of the photo.
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Still gaining elevation on Hillman's NW ridge.
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Still gaining elevation on Hillman's NW ridge.
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Still gaining elevation on Hillman's NW ridge... and we can see a little piece of Crater Lake below Llao Rock in the distance.
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Denali Girl is ready to join me by hiking underneath the summit of Hillman Peak.
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This view of Crater Lake comes just 20 feet below the summit of Hillman Peak... with Llao Rock out there on the far left... with 'The Watchman' in the far right foreground... looking down on Wizard Island... with Applegate Peak and Garfield Peak beyond Wizard Island on the right... and Mount Scott is on the horizon in the center of the photo.
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Time to gain 20 more feet of elevation to get over to the 8,151 foot summit of Hillman Peak.
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Denali Girl is working her way over to join me on the summit of Hillman Peak.
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On the summit of Hillman Peak... here looking down at that boat on the right side of Wizard Island... Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States... and the eighth deepest lake in the world.
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Time to come down from the summit of Hillman Peak.
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Coming down from the summit of Hillman Peak... pretty much tracing our steps back down Hillman's NW ridge.
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Almost back down to the Rim Trail.
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Only a stone's throw to get back to our car... the total hike was 9 tenths of a mile, gaining 500 feet of elevation.
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