Mt. Mazama is one volcano in a line of a dozen volcanoes that run from British Columbia through Washington and Oregon and into Northern California. Some others include Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood and Mt. Lassen.
Mt. Mazama erupted approximately 7,700 years ago in a violent explosion of pumice and ash powered by expanding gases from a magma chamber deep inside the mountain. As the magma chamber emptied the mountain walls could not support their own weight. The walls collapsed forming a deep CALDERA where the peak of the mountain once stood. The Caldera or basin then filled with hundreds of years of rain and snow forming a deep blue lake whose waters are a striking blue color.
Precipitation in the form of rain and snowfalls up to 44 feet per year, balanced with evaporation and seepage, keep the lake level constant. No streams or creeks run into or out of the lake. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet at its deepest point. At its maximum it is 6 miles across and at minimum is 4.5 miles across. The lake holds 4.9 trillion gallons of clear, clean blue water.
The picture below is taken at Watchman Overlook. Wizard Island, the land mass in the lake, is actually a cinder cone that erupted from the ruins of Mt. Mazama after the violent eruption 7,700 years ago. Wizard Island was named by William Gladstone Steel who saw it as a sorcerer's hat.
We visited Park Headquarters on September 11, 2013. Noticing that the flag was flying at half staff, we took a group moment of silence and remembering. And gratitude.
And then headed out on a short hike at Castle Crest loop.
Phantom Ship is a fragment of lava that looks for all the world like a ghostly ship sailing across the water. It is the oldest visible rock in the lake.
Another hike was along The Pinnacles.
The Pinnacles are a result of the eruption of Mt. Mazama when super hot avalanches of ash spilled forth down the flanks of the mountain. The ash flow moved quickly and filled the canyons of Wheeler Creek and Sand Creek. Inside the flow, hot gases welded the loose ash into pillars of solid rock. Years and years of erosion have exposed the hardened ash as spires known as The Pinnacles.
And then on to Plaikni Falls.
Enjoy Crater Lake!
Crater Lake Sunset
One of the enjoyable features of our trip was a morning reading given by one of our guides, Mark. He read from the works of different naturalists and environmentalists and the reading set a tone for our day. One person he introduced us to was Sigurd F. Olsen who was an activist and author from the north Minnesota lake country. When I got home I went to the library and got his book, The Singing Wilderness. I want to close this blog with something I read. There is a powerful silence that is felt in the presence of Crater Lake. And this writing speaks to that.
"It was before dawn, that period of hush before the birds begin to sing. The lake was breathing softly as in sleep; rising and falling, it seemed to me to absorb like a great sponge all the sounds of the earth. It was a time of quiet - no wind rustling the leaves, no lapping of the water, no calling of animals or birds...Standing there alone, I felt alive, more aware and receptive than ever before...This was a time for silence, for being in pace with ancient rhythms and timelessness, the breathing of the lake, the slow growth of living things. Here the cosmos could be felt and the true meaning of attunement."
Thanks for looking. And Thanks to Ken Barker and Northwest Discoveries for a truly memorable trip!
