Day 3: Lava Butte and Crater Lake National Park
The day started off with a short drive from the Riverside Motel in Bend to our first destination, the Lava Lands Visitor center. The visitor center is located at the base of a volcanic crater and lava flow called Lava Butte. After exploring the visitor center and talking to one of the rangers about the volcano and its history we drove up to the top of the crater. We could only be at the top for 15 minutes so we quickly walked around the top and took pictures. We then departed for one of the places that the group was most excited to see; Crater Lake. When we arrived we went up to the Rim Village Visitor Center and ate some lunch until it was time for our guided hike up the side of Watchman Peak. Watchman Peak is the second highest peak in the park that overlooks Crater Lake. This mountain was used to watch as the bottom of the lake was being mapped through depth measurements. The lake was measured 168 times in 1886, always being overseen by The Watchman on top of this mountain. As we hiked up the side Dave Grimes, our ranger guide, gave us other interesting facts about the lake and Crater Lake National Park.
History
Crater Lake is in the collapsed volcanic caldera of Mt. Mazama which erupted 6 to 7 thousand years ago. The lake is very unique. It is extremely clean and blue because there are no rivers running into or out of it so it is filled by direct precipitation such as rain and snow so there are no outside sediments to cloud the lake bed. The lake is so clear that you can see sunlight at the deepest part of the lake at a depth of 1,943 feet and on a sunny day you can see as far down as 140 feet into the lake.
Staff
As we continued our hike Dave introduced us to the park staff through pictures and a description of each of their jobs. All of their jobs are vital to running and sustaining the park. One of the employees, Mark Buktenica, is the park's Aquatic Ecologist who monitors the lake and watches for changes in water quality while working to preserve the lake. Having a history of the park and how it came to be is an important part that is done by the parks Historian Steve Mark. Watching over the huge expanse of forest in the park is the responsibility of Sean Mohren and Greg Funderberk who work to keep the forests healthy and disease free, as well as deciding what to do in the event of a forest fire. Fires in the park are a big part of reshaping the forest and vegetation and they happen quite often because over 95 percent of the park is forests. This summer there were more than 45 fires in the park.
Taking the Leap
At the top of Watchman Peak we took pictures and enjoyed the amazing view from the top of the crater. We then hiked back down to our vehicles and drove to the Cleetwood Trail where we made our way down the steep slope to the shore of the lake where we all went cliff jumping. The water was a deep blue and a crisp 50 degrees. Afterwards we drove back to Bend where we went out for dinner at Spork, an Asian and Latin American fusion restaurant. After this we had our group discussion about what we had seen and learned throughout the day back at the hotel in Bend.
Special thanks to Dave Grimes an Interpretive Ranger at Crater Lake
The day started off with a short drive from the Riverside Motel in Bend to our first destination, the Lava Lands Visitor center. The visitor center is located at the base of a volcanic crater and lava flow called Lava Butte. After exploring the visitor center and talking to one of the rangers about the volcano and its history we drove up to the top of the crater. We could only be at the top for 15 minutes so we quickly walked around the top and took pictures. We then departed for one of the places that the group was most excited to see; Crater Lake. When we arrived we went up to the Rim Village Visitor Center and ate some lunch until it was time for our guided hike up the side of Watchman Peak. Watchman Peak is the second highest peak in the park that overlooks Crater Lake. This mountain was used to watch as the bottom of the lake was being mapped through depth measurements. The lake was measured 168 times in 1886, always being overseen by The Watchman on top of this mountain. As we hiked up the side Dave Grimes, our ranger guide, gave us other interesting facts about the lake and Crater Lake National Park.
History
Crater Lake is in the collapsed volcanic caldera of Mt. Mazama which erupted 6 to 7 thousand years ago. The lake is very unique. It is extremely clean and blue because there are no rivers running into or out of it so it is filled by direct precipitation such as rain and snow so there are no outside sediments to cloud the lake bed. The lake is so clear that you can see sunlight at the deepest part of the lake at a depth of 1,943 feet and on a sunny day you can see as far down as 140 feet into the lake.
Staff
As we continued our hike Dave introduced us to the park staff through pictures and a description of each of their jobs. All of their jobs are vital to running and sustaining the park. One of the employees, Mark Buktenica, is the park's Aquatic Ecologist who monitors the lake and watches for changes in water quality while working to preserve the lake. Having a history of the park and how it came to be is an important part that is done by the parks Historian Steve Mark. Watching over the huge expanse of forest in the park is the responsibility of Sean Mohren and Greg Funderberk who work to keep the forests healthy and disease free, as well as deciding what to do in the event of a forest fire. Fires in the park are a big part of reshaping the forest and vegetation and they happen quite often because over 95 percent of the park is forests. This summer there were more than 45 fires in the park.
Taking the Leap
At the top of Watchman Peak we took pictures and enjoyed the amazing view from the top of the crater. We then hiked back down to our vehicles and drove to the Cleetwood Trail where we made our way down the steep slope to the shore of the lake where we all went cliff jumping. The water was a deep blue and a crisp 50 degrees. Afterwards we drove back to Bend where we went out for dinner at Spork, an Asian and Latin American fusion restaurant. After this we had our group discussion about what we had seen and learned throughout the day back at the hotel in Bend.
Special thanks to Dave Grimes an Interpretive Ranger at Crater Lake