For Steven, waking up and feeling as he did on Father's Day in our hotel room in Burney in northeastern California was not quite what he was hoping for on the day he should have been celebrating the great dad he is to our four children. Almost immediately, he said we needed to forget about the rest of road trip through the Pacific Northwest and head home right away because he was in such pain. I was so concerned and insisted that he go to the nearest hospital immediately. There was none in Burney but fortunately there was in the town of Fall River Mills, 18 miles away.
Considering the extreme pain Steven was in, I was so thankful that there was a hospital so close by and a sign outside the small hospital indicated a doctor was on duty on that Sunday morning. After blood work and a cat scan were completed, the doctor stated that Steven had been in pain because he'd just passed a kidney stone, an experience Steven was all too familiar with.
Fortunately, after three hours in the hospital, he was released. Steven said right away he wanted to continue with the trip that day as planned as he felt that much better! We kept saying how very fortunate we were that the kidney stone attack happened then and there as he got some top notch care, and not a day earlier when we were in the middle of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Things could have been so much worse.
So, after our hospital detour, we headed toward Crater Lake National Park on the crest of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon. There were substantial mining operations near Klamath Falls.
The drive on Oregon Scenic Byway 62 along Upper Klamath Lake was particularly scenic, especially of snow-capped Saddle Mountain whose elevation was 6,847-foot high.
Annie Spring was the entrance station at the southern entrance to the park.
A specific series of events allowed nature to sculpt the rocky spires in this river valley. A glowing avalanche of gas-rich pumice had flowed down Mount Mazama's slopes during the cataclysmic eruptions 7,700 years ago, burying a river valley. Over thousands of years, erosion has carved away the softer ash and pumice, exposing these mysterious formations. Erosion revealed the hardened pinnacles, many of which have been found to be hollow.
We parked at Rim Village Visitor Center to walk the short distance to the lake.
At almost 2,000-foot-deep at its deepest point, Crater Lake is the country's deepest freshwater lake. Until about 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama, a 12,000-foot volcano, occupied the site of 6-mile-long Crater Lake. Eruptions emptied the magma chamber beneath the mountain and caused the mountaintop to collapse, creating the caldera where the lake is located. Centuries of rain and snow filled the basin which formed this deep, blue lake. The scientific explanation was the lake is so blue because longer wavelengths of sunlight - red, yellow, and green - are absorbed by the water. As blue light is not absorbed by the water well, it strikes the water and is scattered and redirected back from the lake depths to our eyes.
On the west side of the lake was Wizard Island which erupted after the lake began to fill.
In addition to its brilliant color, Crater Lake is known for its unique clarity and purity. Water clarity in Crater Lake is measured by determining the lowest depth at which an eight inch black and white Secchi disk can still be seen by the human eye. No streams empty into the lake that would bring sediment and therefore cloud the water.The lake is still only filled with rain and snowmelt. Its depth and extreme clarity bring out the remarkable blue color.
Steven looked pretty darn good for having gotten out of the hospital just a matter of hours ago, don't you agree?!
I was sure glad I had worn hiking boots instead of sandals when we walked through snow by the rim!
Our view of Watchman and Hillman Peaks in the distance would sadly be as close as we could get of them. That was because the 33-mile-long Rim Drive encircling the lake normally only opens in early July after winter is over in the high country to make the roads passable. Hillman Peak was named for the first non-Native American to reach the rim of Crater Lake when he was a 21-year-old prospector searching for a lost gold mine.
Native Americans were undoubtedly the first to gaze at the breathtaking beauty of this high mountain lake. We read that local tribes' oral traditions of the cataclysmic eruption closely parallel known geological details, indicating tribal ancestors had to have witnessed the event. After the eruption, the area became a prominent ritual site for the tribes in the region. As they perceive "that spirits and particular powers inhabit the volcanic terrain," ceremonial activities are held now as they have for centuries.
After European settlers moved West seeking their fortunes, the lake was 'discovered' in the later 1800s and 're-discovered' several times and given a new name with "each discovery." An exploring party in 1869 had named it Crater Lake.
Did you think I was exaggerating about snow falling until the end of June?! These were our views as we headed on the only portion of Rim Drive that was open.
A closer view of Wizard Island:
The first scientific expedition of the lake was conducted in 1886 when an attempt was made to determine the lake's depth by the US Geological Survey. Their founding of 1,196 feet deep was remarkably accurate when it's been determined they were only off by 53 feet and used a simple wooden sounding device to lower a section of pipe attached to piano wire!
Steven and I laughed watching young people sledding down the hill at Watchman Overlook but without the benefit of any sleds!
All along the side of the road were poles to indicate the road's edge for the snowplows as the park receives almost five feet of snow.
Though Mazama may be 'asleep,' it's not an extinct volcano. Once can only wonder when it may awaken with a new eruptive phase as the geologic processes that built the Cascade Range continue. Will the violence of its past return at some point to transform this peaceful landscape?
Next post: On to Bend and the Cascades Scenic Byway!
Posted on September 15th, 2020, from Columbia, SC, after deciding to get away from Hurricane Sally which was heading to Grayton Beach State Park where we'd planned to return to on Florida's Panhandle. Steven and I hope that you stay safe, stay well and stay connected during this time that is so challenging for so many people.
Good thing you were in the US when Steven's kidney stone decided to erupt, and you were relatively near an ER. Just think, you could have been in a small town in India. I've got to put Crater Lake on my bucket list along with Lassen Volcano. Janina
ReplyDeleteJanina,
ReplyDeleteYou're so right we were lucky that Steven and I were near Falls River Hospital and its great doctor and staff when Steven had his kidney stone attack. We counted our blessings then and still.
I am sure you and Pat would have a great time at both Lassen Volcanic and Crater Lake National Parks. I hope you decide to take a road trip up to that beautiful part of America especially if you can't travel internationally for a while.