Crater Lake, Oregon

Before I left Edmonton, it occurred to me that it would be really cool if I were to collect some volcanic ash that originally came from the eruption of Mt. Mazama in Oregon about 7500 years ago. In this eruption the cloud of ash reached all the way to the Edmonton region in Alberta and in the North Saskatchewan River valley there is a good exposure of this ash. I remembered visiting it in my days as a Geology student at the University of Alberta so I went back there and collected a sample.

I was hoping to meet another athlete I know from an online running group who lives in Tacoma Washington and who is a triathlete, runner, biker, mountain hiker extraordinaire, and all around fanatical outdoors person. She often climbs Mt. Rainier and other mountains in the Northwest US coast. She seemed familiar with volcanoes and with earthquakes. I wanted to leave her with a small gift of friendship of some sort, but had no clue what would be appropriate. So I had the idea that maybe I would return some native American soil to her that Canada has borrowed for the last 7500 years or so. That’s why I collected the sample of volcanic ash and I put in in a small vial with a brief note. I said that although she did not live near Crater Lake, if she ever visited it she could sprinkle a little ash back into the crater as sort of a spiritual thing. Unfortunately I had run out of time and she had other commitments so we could not meet, but I did mail her the package. I hope it arrived unbroken. The thought also crossed my mind that the US Postal service would blink at this guy trying to mail a vial of pinkish white powder, but they were very helpful and I mailed it off.

I carefully considered the possible environmental impact of doing such a thing and decided that it would be harmless. The impact from development and tourism in that area is much greater. So I visited the lake myself, and sprinkled a little ash into the lake. Here are some pictures.

Back to where it came from…

Crater Lake series showing the lake, Wizard Island, and surrounding crater walls…

Interesting Geology of the Crater Wall

The Wizard of Wizard Island?

A Natural Forest Fire. Park officials let this one go and there were signs that this fire should not be reported to them.

The Trail Down Into The Lake. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read it. If you are the hardy type, you can actually swim in the lake. Obviously, Lisa would have to train harder for this one, ha ha! Fish were stocked here early in the century and the new policy is to try to return the lake to it’s natural ecology. There is therefore no license required to fish here nor are there any catch limits.

These last two pictures are of the volcanic plateau surrounding Crater Lake. Beautiful.