Sojourn - Crater Lake
Recently
I drove to Crater Lake from Seattle. The entire journey was around 8 hours but
the route is so picturesque passing through a number of falls, lakes, rivers
that we completed the journey in five days.
The lake has inspired people for thousands of
years. No place else on earth combines a deep, pure lake, so blue in color;
sheer surrounding cliffs, almost two thousand feet high; two picturesque
islands; and a violent volcanic past. It is a place of immeasurable beauty, and
an outstanding outdoor laboratory and classroom.
The
depth of this lake is 1,943 feet, which makes it the deepest lake in the United
States, and the ninth deepest in the world. Its fresh water is some of the
clearest found anywhere in the world. No wonder that the local Klamath tribe
worship the lake and its water. The interaction of Klamath tribe people with
this place is traceable at least as far back as the eruption of Mount Mazama.
Crater Lake National Park was formed in the
year 1902 to help in preserving the natural and cultural resources around the
lake. The legislation for Crater Lake National Park, set forth in the same year,
mandates that this area be "dedicated and set apart forever as a public.
This important law allows for the unfettered access to this unique area. In
subsequent legislation, including the Organic Act which established the
National Park Service, emphasis was placed on the management of natural areas
in order to provide for preservation and protection. This law allows park
resources to be managed so that they may remain unimpaired and in a natural
state for future generations.
Crater Lake National Park is an area of 249 square
miles dedicated to the preservation of its natural and
cultural resources. For many years, park managers have looked at this task as a job to
be accomplished only for the enjoyment of its human visitors.
As important as
this goal remains to be, park personnel now take a more comprehensive view of the ecosystems and interactions within the environment
we call Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake falls under jurisdiction of Klamath County , approximately 60 miles northwest of the county seat of Klamath Falls , and about 80 miles northeast of the city of Medford .
In June 1853, John Wesley Hillman became the first American
explorer to report
sighting the
lake he named the "Deep Blue Lake." The lake was renamed at least
three times, as Blue Lake,
Lake Majesty, and finally Crater Lake.Crater Lake is also known for the 'Old Man of the lake, a full-sized tree whichis now a stump that has been bobbing vertically in the
lake for more than a century. The low temperature of
the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing
tree.
Two islands are in Crater Lake, with Wizard Island from
a cinder cone that eruptedafter Crater Lake began to fill with water, and Phantom
Ship Island with seven different trees living on it. There are also colonies of violet
green swallows, and several varietiof wild flowers and lichens living there.
The lake is 5 by 6 miles across, with a caldera rim ranging in
elevation from7,000 to 8,000 feet and an average lake depth of 1,148
feet . The lake's maximum depth has been measured at 1,949 feet, which
fluctuates slightly as the weather changes. On the basis of maximum depth, Crater Lake is the
deepest lake in the United States ,the second deepest in North America (after Great Slave Lake in Canada), and the tenth deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal is the deepest.Crater Lake is often cited as the seventh deepest lake
in the world,but this ranking excludes Lake Vostok in Antarctica, which is situated under about 13,000 feet of ice, and the recent soundings of San Martin Lake, which is located on the border of Chile and Argentina, so it may be the eighth or ninth
deepest in the world. However, using average depths of the world's deepest
lakes, Crater Lake becomes the deepest lake in the Western Hemisphere and the third deepest in
the world. According to limnologist Owen Hoffman, Crater Lake is the deepest, when compared on the basis of average depth among lakes whose basins are entirely
above sea level. The average depths of Lakes Baikal and Tanganyika are deeper than Crater
Lake; however, both have basins that extend below sea level.
The Klamath tribe of native Americans , who may have witnessed the collapse of Mount Mazama and the formation of Crater Lake, have
long regarded the lake as a sacred site. Their legends tell of a battle
between the sky god Skell and Llao, the
god of the underworld. Mount Mazama was destroyed in the battle,creating Crater Lake. The Klamath people used Crater
Lake in vision guests,which often involved climbing the caldera walls and
other dangerous tasks.
Those who were successful in such quests were often
regarded as having more spiritual powers. The tribe still holds Crater Lake in high regard as a
spiritual site.While Crater Lake is considered the primary scenic
wonder at Crater Lake National Park,management of all the natural resources of the park is
given equal weight.
As no forest is independent from the streams that run
through it or the geologic history which has given rise to its different kinds of soil,
ecosystems are dynamic parts of the whole which function according to their inputs and outputs.
For example, if down wood is removed from park streams, a major source of habitat
for insects has been taken away. In turn, fish
will suffer from the loss of a significant food source. In the end, it is not only the fisherman who will ache
for their catch of yesteryear, but the bear, eagle, and other fish-catching animals
will suffer even more.
The most exciting part of Crater
Lake experience is it’s Rim Drive. The drive is located high in the Cascade Mountains. At
its lowest point, Rim Drive is 6,500 feet above sea level. The
road reaches almost 7,900 feet at its highest point on top of
Cloudcap. Rim Drive has eight main viewing areas with roadside parking. Four of
these observation points (Pumice Point, Skell Head, Cloudcap, and Kerr Notch)
are located just off the road. Short trails from parking areas lead to the
other four observation points (Sinott Memorial , Discovery Point, Watchman Lookout , and Merriam Point). In addition to the main
viewing areas, there are 15 turnout vista points along the road. Heading
northwest from the Crater Lake National Park headquarters in the Munson Valley Historical District , it is three miles to
Crater Lake rim and the Rim Village visitor area which is also a historic district. The
Sinnott Memorial overlook is located in Rim Village. Leaving Rim Village, the
speed limit is reduced to 35 miles per hour . Visitors reach the
Discovery viewing area in just over one mile . From there,
it is five miles to the junction with the North Entrance Road.
Between these two way points visitors pass over the 7,350 feet West Rim Summit. The section of Rim Drive between Rim Village and the North Entrance
Road is known as West Rim Drive. This part of the road is used heavily
during the summer because it is the direct route between the park’s north and
south entrances and passes by the Rim Village visitor area and the park
headquarters at Munson Valley. It also offers classic views of Crater Lake and
Wizard Island along the way.
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Rim
Drive looking south toward the North Entrance Road junction and Merriam Point
parking area.Continuing north on Rim Drive past the North Entrance Road
junction, visitors traverse the back side of Llao Rock. This is the beginning
of East Rim Drive. The next turnout for viewing the lake is
approximately two miles beyond the North Entrance Road junction. Viewpoints
along East Rim Drive are generally not crowded except at the Cleetwood Cover
parking area which is at the north end of Crater Lake. Cleetwood Cove is the
trailhead for the only hiking trail down into the crater. The National Park Service
maintains a marina for boat tours at Cleetwood Cove.
Beyond
Cleetwood Cove, Rim Drive becomes a one-way road running clockwise around the
lake rim. Along this section of East Rim Drive there is a series of seven
turnout-parking vista points. These turnouts retain almost all of their
original stone masonry and offer spectacular views of Crater Lake. The first of
these view points is located above Grotto Cove, about halfway around the lake
from Rim Village. The next viewing area is Skell Head, about a half mile from
Grotto Cove. The next five vista points are spread over the approximately seven
miles. These stops are Cloudcap, Cottage Rocks, Sentinel Point, Reflection
Point, and Kerr Notch. Each site provides a unique view of the lake and
surrounding landscape include Mount Scott.
Kerr
Notch, located 21 miles from Rim
Village, is the last observation point on the Rim Drive loop with a view of the
lake. After leaving Kerr Notch the road cuts across the east face of Dutton
Ridge offering a spectacular view of theKlamath Basin from near
the East Rim Summit. Rim Drive then descends to the Sun Notch trailhead where
visitors can hike to another viewpoint overlooking the lake. Rim Drive
continues along the outer edge of Sun Meadow to a parking area in front of
Vidae Falls, a 100-foot cascade. Vidae Falls has a picnic area and a trailhead
to a cinder cone called Crater Peak.
The
final two miles of Rim Drive passes by the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden. The
half mile long Castle Crest Nature Trail takes visitor through a wetland
wildflower meadow. The wildflower display is at its peak in July and August.
Rim Drive terminates a half mile from the Castle Dr The
park’s north entrance is nine miles north of the Rim Drive
junction across an area known as the Pumice Desert. From the north entrance, it
is 119-mile to Bend, Oregon. The North
Entrance Road is closed in the fall and does not re-open until the following
summer.
In
the Crater Lake area, winter lasts eight months with an average snowfall of
533 inches per year, and many snow banks remain well into
the summer. While the park headquarters and visitor center at Munson Valley and
the Rim Village cafeteria are open year-around, Rim Drive is only open during
the summer due to the heavy snowfall. In most places, the road is covered by
more than 20 feet of snow with drifts as deep as 60 feet in some areas. Sensors buried in the roadway help snow removal
crews locate the center of the road under the accumulated snow.
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