Driving into the park, you pass through a large
forested area, which was part of a back burn, two years ago. The burned forest
transitioned into a forest and then, it is flat and barren.
The eruption of Mount Mazama shot astronomical
amounts of ash skyward, and helped create the park’s Pumice Desert,
approximately 50 feet deep, following the eruption. The desert is porous and
cannot sustain much plant life, though what does exist there is rugged enough
to endure the landscape. Trees are few and far between in the Pumice Desert,
but lodgepole pines are slowly encroaching. Given more time, a few thousand
years, perhaps, the forest might recover.
We signed up to take a Trolley Tour of Crater Lake.
Taking the Trolley will allow us all the opportunity to see the sights and here
it narrated by a Park Ranger. If we drove, one person would have to keep their
eyes on the road as we drove and we would miss some of the insights that an
experienced guide can provide.
Our Trolley driver was Bill. We were his last run of
the day and his last run of the season. Tomorrow he goes back to driving school
bus, as school starts the fourth of September. He was a great guy and a
very good driver. He had lots of fun with our group, as almost all the trolley
was from Yankee RV Tours. Our Ranger was Tim, he has been a seasonal Ranger for
over 15 years at Crater Lake. William Gladstone Steel is considered to be the
“Father of Crater Lake” and first read about Crater Lake in a newspaper as a
child, back in 1870 while living in Kansas. He dreamed to visit the lake one
day, and got his chance in 1885. Steel vowed to have Crater Lake named as a
national park, which eventually happened on May 22, 1902.
Tim shared his knowledge of Crater Lake, its history
and a few unique facts. The history of how this park began is absolutely
incredible. Crater Lake sits in the caldera of the collapsed volcano Mount
Mazama and is surrounded by incredible old-growth forests, evergreens, and of
course volcano remnants. Mount Mazama formed half a million years ago and
erupted around 7,700 years ago. The Native Americans experienced the collapse
of Mount Mazama and have many stories about the creation of Crater Lake and its
many features.
Long before it became a national park, The Klamath
Tribes, which include the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin band of the Snake, knew
Crater Lake as gii-was, meaning "a sacred place." The Cow Creek
Umpquas also knew and respected Crater Lake. They considered the lake to be a
spiritual place; only those who possessed great wisdom and strength could view
it. Llao Rock, which rises nearly 2,000 feet above the lake’s surface, is named
after one of the Spirit Chiefs that the Klamath believed created Crater Lake.
The first European-American to see Crater Lake was
lucky to survive the experience. On June 12, 1853, gold prospector John Wesley
Hillman was riding his mule up a long sloping mountain. He was lost, tired and not
paying attention to the terrain ahead, some say he was sleeping. Suddenly, his
mule stopped. Hillman sat up and found himself on the edge of a cliff, gazing
in astonishment at the bluest and most beautiful body of water, he had ever
seen. This point is marked today, by “Discovery Point.”
Llao Rock is a vertical cliff capped by pumice from
the caldera-forming eruption. Llao is a
prominent peak that towers almost 2,000 feet above the northwest shore of the
lake. Its cap is beige pumice, which is home to a natural garden of miniature
plants that somehow survive in this windswept location. The Llao Rock’s
435-areas are a Research Natural Area. There are 4 of these areas in the park.
These federal lands have been singled out because they represent prime examples
of particular habitats.
We stopped at Vidae Falls which is a cascading
waterfall between phantom Ship Overlook and Steel Visitors Center. It is a
spring-fed creek that tumbles over a glacier-carved cliff and drops 100 feet
over a series of ledges. I am sure that it is even more spectacular when the
water is flowing.
From October through June, the park is covered in
snow, and is known to stick until around July. Crater Lake has an average
annual snowfall of 44 feet, and during the winter can reach about 18 degrees,
with summer temperatures soaring to 90 degrees. Crater Lake weather can be
somewhat extreme. While it came close to a total freeze in 1985, the last time
Crater Lake National Park was completely frozen was in 1949.
The only national park in Oregon is home to a number
of mysterious deaths, with only bones left behind to help us understand what
caused their death. One mysterious death goes all the way back to the summer of
1974, 19-year-old Charles McCullar photographer left his home state of Virginia
and set out to visit Crater Lake National Park. He left Eugene, Oregon, where
he was staying for a few weeks and left on a short excursion, hitchhiking to
Crater Lake for some winter photos. He had planned to return home to his
friend’s house two days later and never returned.
We tried to have an early dinner at the Crater Lake
Lodge, but they don’t serve dinner until after 5pm. The Lodge originally opened
in 1915, and had extensive renovations done in 1995. The lodge is reminiscent
of the 1920s and immerses visitors in its rustic charm, including breathtaking
views from the back deck and half of the rooms.
We ended up having our early dinner at Diamond Lake
Resort. We enjoyed a great meal with 3 other couples and saw 4 other couples
from our Yankee RV Caravan group that came here to dine too. We were
celebrating Nancy’s 65th birthday!
While we were sitting out at the campsite, we had our nightly visitor pop his head out from his hiding hole! He wanted to wish Nancy a happy birthday too!
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