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1996
January 1996 170 inches of snowfalls in 17 days. Downs thousands of trees throughout the region. West Entrance road is closed from Union Creek to the Park for three weeks.
Jan – Feb 1996 14 feet of snow in 17 days.
January 6 1996 Crater Lake National Park reopens for business following a three-week shut down because of a Federal budget shutdown.
February 7 1996 Crater Lake Highway 6, between Union Creek and Annie Spring, opens after being closed for three weeks due to thousands of blown down trees.
July 20 1996 Lodge employee, Chris Luttrell, 19, falls asleep at 6:45 a.m. as his car approaches the Steel Circle Junction, swerves to the left, and strikes a large hemlock tree. Chris was trapped in the mangled car for over two hours as rangers worked to extradite him. An Oregon Life Flight helicopter flew Chris to Rogue Valley Medical Center. Still unconscious, Chris was placed in ICU. Injuries included two broken neck vertebra, facial injuries, a crushed leg and ankle, and multiple cuts, bruises, and abrasions. The doctors did not expect him to recover from surgery. The young man was unconscious for 13 days. After 16 days Chris was able to return home to Chiloquin, where his father pastors an Assemblies of God church. The family believes that Divine intervention saved Chris’ life. In less than two months he was walking and playing his guitar. His doctor called Chris’ recovery “a miracle”. Several operations reconstructed his face to the point where one can hardly detect his was in a life threatening auto accident. The Luttrell family eventually moved to Jacksonville, Oregon where Chris continued his recovery.
July 29 1996 The Bybee Fire, near the base of the Watchman, burns 62 acres after being allowed to burn as a natural prescription burn. As it approached Rim Drive, 50 fire fighters were brought in for several weeks, along with a helicopter. Costs associated with the fire fighting effort climbed to the neighborhood of $15,000 to $20,000.
August 1996 Launch tours are carrying 500 passengers a day with 7 – 10 boat trips per day.
August 1996 The Park Service releases its Environmental Impact Statements for the restoration and redevelopment of the Cleetwood Cove Trail and boating facilities. The dock and ticket booth are old and need replacement or repair. Retaining walls along the trail are in similar condition according to the MT.
August 1996 Natural fire between Garfield and Vidae Falls.
August 10 1996 21st annual running of the Crater Lake Rim Run. (108 Marathon runners, 133 thirteen-mile runners & 199 runners for the 6.7 run.) A very hot day. Martin Balding of Susanville, CA runs his 17th CL Run and places second in the marathon distance. Penny Lancaster of Neenah, Wisc. runs her 25th marathon and her first CL Run. Runners entered from four countries and 26 states. 25 runners over 60, with Paul Conner of Klamath Falls the oldest at 73.
Men: 6.7 Ryan Pauling, of Tacoma, Wash. 36:06
13.0
Ted Pawlik, 40, of Albany, OR 1:25.58 (fourth CL run)
26.2 Erich Reed, 28, of Eugene, OR 3:03.22 (Reed’s first ever marathon)
Women 6.7 Rykka Wienert, of Corvallis, OR 42:18
13.0
Myra Klettke, of Beaverton, OR 1:30.02
26.2 Karen Rayle, 24, teacher in Beijing, China 3:24.13 (new women’s record)
August 13 1996 A 13-member search-and-rescue team spends the night looking for two teens stranded below Hillman and Watchman. Brain Conion and Jason Raver of Eugene, both 17, had one shirt between them and both were dressed in shorts. The team plucked them from the crater wall the next morning. One of the boys’ mother unsuccessfully tried to stop the illegal hike.
August 17 1996 Wedding held at Cloud Cap. A windy, smoke filled day.
Summer 1996 The Park buys its first real fire truck at a cost of $285,000. The purchase elates the Chief Ranger.
Summer 1996 Construction begins on a $7.5 million, 35,000 square foot Lodge employee dorm to be located across the South road from Mazama Campground, near the sewer lagoons. Will be built in three units. Since the Park wants to maintain control over the building, the dorm is being financed with Federal money. Will be completed in 1998.
Proposal made for a $250,000 rehab and restoration of the Watchman Fire Lookout.
The proposed total Rim Development with day lodge, visitor center, parking garage and overnight accommodations declared dead, or at least “30 years distant.” The costs had ballooned to $64 million. A more modest plan is proposed to rehabilitate the Sinnott Overlook, the Kaiser Studio and the Stone Comfort Station. The wooden 1921 Community Building is slated to be torn down because of having “no significant historic or cultural value.”
September 11 1996 Lodge employee, Kristen Gehling, 20, falls to her death on Mt. Thielsen. An Oregon National Guard helicopter flew in from Salem with special night-vision goggles and located the body at 2:55 a.m. in hazardous terrain and held off moving Gehling until after daylight.
Fall 1996 Park purchases a new Kodiak snowplow at a cost of $325,000. The Chief of Maintenance is elated.
Season 1996 A recent survey reveals that poachers annually comb the flanks of Crater Lake for matsutake mushrooms that can bring as much as $100 a pound.
Fiscal Year 1996 ONPS Budget set at: $3.3 million. The first time the Park’s operating budget has topped $3 million.
December 1996 Second snowest December in recorded history with 196 inches. Record December snowfall was set in 1948 with 197 inches. This record was broken in 2015 with 197.7 inches.
Season 1996 Visitation: 526,557 (Online says: 476,957)
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