Where the Mountain Fell

We planned for this to be a short side trip, but as we started through these narrow highways through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, we wondered why we were in a hurry to be anywhere else. The hilltops were covered with pine trees, and the valley floors were lined with Aspen, Cottonwood, and other water loving broadleaf trees. The frequent rainfall maintained the fauna in bright and dark greens that made for the most relaxing weekend drive on sunny days like this day.1

Sunny it was, but in many of the narrower portions of the road, tree limbs reached out and greeted partners on the other side of the highway, leaving only a tunnel beneath the canopy of this Great Northwest rainforest. Beneath these passages was only a deep shade. After winding endlessly around mountains and beneath branches, we reached what seemed to be the most remote national park we had visited. This is Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.2

Crater Lake was formed after an eruption of Mt. Mazama over 7000 years ago. At one point in the eruption, the mountain collapsed into itself leaving a caldera over 5 miles (8 KM) wide at its narrowest. Now, on the edge of the crater, we stood at over 8,000 feet (2,440 M) of elevation, looked down over 2,000 feet (610 M) into the crater at the surface of a lake which is over 1,900 feet deep. 3

Reflections of the sky are visible in the deep blue surface of the lake, and in the smoother areas of the surface, even the cottony reflection of the occasional cloud can be seen. Wind patterns are clearly marked by lighter blue as breezes churn the surface of the lake and break up the glassy sections. 4

The water seems inaccessible standing on these cliffs. Indeed, it seems to be a sheer drop down these spongy cliffs to the surface. On one side, a giant castle of pumice overlooks the edge of the lake. A quick scan of the land behind reveals a small, barren, yellowish pumice desert in the middle of this northwestern rainforest of pine and aspen.5

Even though Mount Mazama collapsed at a level that left a caldera over 5 miles wide, as you scan the horizon, you find that you still stand at one of the highest points in this area of the Great Cascades. Remembering that you stand on the edge of a caldera and looking at the shape of the mountains around you, it is easy to see recognize the distinctive cinder cone shape and read the story of the violent beginnings of this range. Many of these brothers of Mazama also bear barren pumice deserts of their own on sections of their steep slopes.6

A quick look back across the lake with the Pumice Castle on your right, and the Pumice Desert behind you reveals the most prominent feature of Crater Lake – a silent story teller not so far from the edge of the lake who recounts to all with ears to listen a tale of more recent happenings on this collapsed mountain. This Wizard of an Island stands with the perfect posture that story book artists try to emulate each time they draw a volcano. The perfect cinder cone standing at a height that almost equals the cliff on which you stand bears witness that the implosion of Mount Mazama that formed the lake you admire was not the last fiery conflagration here. True, he is much smaller than the massive crater in which he stands, but were he in another setting, he would be an impressive volcano of its own. Of course, the ancient historical soothsayer of whom I speak is Wizard Island.7

A trip around the Pumice Castle to the other side of the lake reveals not just another view of the same oval of water, but rather a new world. On this side, thick forests of pines surround you in sharp contrast to the pumice desert of approach side. If you come here at the right time of day, then from this side, you can see the sundown setting fire to the lake, replacing its deep blue with brilliant oranges and reds. And as sundown brings ghosts in many folk tales, here, the sunset brings out the natural beauty of the Phantom Ship which sails endlessly without moving from this side of the lake. 8

For the scientifically minded, the Phantom Ship is another cinder cone which was partially melted in a subsequent eruption within Mount Mazama. 9

For the romantic, it is the lonely vessel on a remote and isolated lake in the middle of an enchanted wood which sails into the loveliness of the fatigued sun as it finds its bed somewhere out across the endless evergreens which have now conquered the fury of the volcanoes and whispered them to sleep. The ground may rumble a bit beneath your feet, but look before you. You are staring at where the mountain has fallen, and the volcano was conquered. This is Crater Lake, Oregon. 10