![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Old Man of Crater Lake
Aug. 27th, 2009 04:59 pmCrater Lake National Park is a place of spectacular vistas and crazy geological formations. The most famous is "Wizard Island"-- that pointy caldera in the middle of the lake. One thing I'd -really- like to see (but probably not on this trip) is The Old Man of Crater Lake.
The Old Man
"The Old Man" cannot compete with Wizard Island visually-- it's just a floating log. However, this log's history is colorful and intriguing in terms of "oddness". First, The Old Man floats vertically (probably because of rocks lodged in the root ball in its early days). Second, this log has been, well, "logged" for over a hundred years! Joseph S. Diller noted (and sketched) this log in the first published geology of Crater Lake. He noted that this was the same log he discovered floating in the lake on his first visit back in 1896. In 1938, movements of this log were documented by rangers (daily) for two years. This survey showed that the log travelled all over the lake during the course of a year.
In the 1938 issue of " Crater Lake Notes" (vol.XI no.3, Sept. 1938) ranger Wayne E. Kartchner and naturalist John E. Doerr wrote:
Time will tell how long The Old Man of the Lake can withstand wind and wave, and the battering to which its base is subjected when it approaches shore. Until it does succumb to the elements it will remain as evidence of the changing winds that stir Crater Lake. On the evening of September 30, when the last recorded observation was made, "The Old Man" was riding the waves about a half mile from the south shore, directly below Sinnott Memorial.
That was over 70 years ago. The Old Man still floats-- and is boyant enough for an adult to stand on. I would LOVE to see photos of what the base of the stump looks like-- but I haven't found anything online. You would think that after all these years someone would have snorkeled down and taken one.
The Old Man
"The Old Man" cannot compete with Wizard Island visually-- it's just a floating log. However, this log's history is colorful and intriguing in terms of "oddness". First, The Old Man floats vertically (probably because of rocks lodged in the root ball in its early days). Second, this log has been, well, "logged" for over a hundred years! Joseph S. Diller noted (and sketched) this log in the first published geology of Crater Lake. He noted that this was the same log he discovered floating in the lake on his first visit back in 1896. In 1938, movements of this log were documented by rangers (daily) for two years. This survey showed that the log travelled all over the lake during the course of a year.
In the 1938 issue of " Crater Lake Notes" (vol.XI no.3, Sept. 1938) ranger Wayne E. Kartchner and naturalist John E. Doerr wrote:
Time will tell how long The Old Man of the Lake can withstand wind and wave, and the battering to which its base is subjected when it approaches shore. Until it does succumb to the elements it will remain as evidence of the changing winds that stir Crater Lake. On the evening of September 30, when the last recorded observation was made, "The Old Man" was riding the waves about a half mile from the south shore, directly below Sinnott Memorial.
That was over 70 years ago. The Old Man still floats-- and is boyant enough for an adult to stand on. I would LOVE to see photos of what the base of the stump looks like-- but I haven't found anything online. You would think that after all these years someone would have snorkeled down and taken one.
