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2016
February 8 2016 Visiting the park during the summer will be challenging because of ongoing work to improve Rim Drive. Sections of the 33-mile road are being upgraded and widened.
Parking at Cleetwood, will be limited because the parking area will be closed in July and August. The parking lot will be enlarged and configured for larger vehicles.
The park is considering implementing some type of shuttle system to the trailhead. Devising a solution is necessary because the National Park Service will be celebrating its centennial in 2016, and another heavy visitation year is expected. Even in a normal year, the Cleetwood Cove Trail is the park’s most heavily used. The trail had upward of 52,000 users in 2014 and nearly 64,000 last summer.
The PCT saw a jump of almost 3,000, from 3,245 in 2014 to 8,942 in 2015. Receiving heavy use, too, was the Plaikni Falls Trail, the park’s newest. It recorded nearly 11,000 users during its four-month season. The Pinnacles Trail had 3,617 users last summer. (Mail Tribune)
February 2016 A frozen pipe on the 4th floor of the Lodge allows 7,000 gallons of leaking water, causing damage to rooms on the lower three floors and basement. The water damaged walls and wallpaper, carpeting, matresses and other features. Estimated cost of the damage is about $300,000. Although the lodge is owned by the NPS, the concessionaire, Xanterra, is responsible for its maintenance. It’s expected repairs, including installing new dry wall and carpeting, will be completed by late March. The damage went unreported because heavy snows forced the closure of the road between park headquarters in Munson Valley to Rim Village for 17 days in December.
Along with heavy snow, a National Park Service rotary plow used to help clear the deep snow was inoperable for several days, which prevented concession staff from making routine inspections.
February 21 2016 For the first time in park history, a woman, Kirsten Hardin, is Crater Lake’s maintenance chief. In her new job, which started earlier this month, the 48-year-old Hardin is overseeing park roads and trails, the full-time and seasonal maintenance staff, the department’s budget and myriad other responsibilities. Since joining the Park Service, Hardin has worked at Yellowstone National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore. Living and working in a winter climate isn’t anything new. Although she was born in Virginia, Hardin grew up in Boulder, Colo. She went to Mills College, where she earned a degree in anthropology and sociology with a minor in biology, then another undergraduate degree from the University of Wyoming in civil engineering.
“I’m a bit of a professional student,” Hardin laughs, noting she earned her master’s in civil engineering, with an emphasis in groundwater, also from the University of Wyoming. (MMT)
Winter 2016 The Mazama/Annie Creek store roof structure is rebuilt from within. The poorly designed building, opened in 2006 was in danger of collapsing. The composition roof failed during its first winter and the replacement wooden shingle failed the following year. It has taken 10 years for the builder and designer to admit fault allowing for the rebuild to happen. Xanterra is proposing that the Annie Creek Store remain open during the winter since Rim Village is often closed following major snowstorms and plow breakdowns. (From Park Historican Steve Mark and from the winter Xanter Manager.)
March 6 2016 Crater Lake National Park and Wuyishan National Scenic Area in China are now sister parks.
Representatives from Oregon, the U.S. National Park Service and China formally signed the sister-park agreement 10 days ago in China. The agreement, nearly 10 years in the making, helps promote Crater Lake National Park to a fast-growing Chinese travel audience. It also encourages cultural and environmental study exchanges between the two parks, according to Carolyn S. Hill, executive director of Crater Lake National Park Trust and CEO of Travel Southern Oregon. (NR Today Roseburg)
April 5 2016 Summary of a Herald and News article.
Crater Lake may build its first-ever visitor center. Funding for pre-planning and design work has been received. Construction to begin in 2018. Superintendent Ackerman said the park has been allocated $4.9 million in National Park Service funds to build a visitor center in Rim Village’s historic district near the present gift shop-cafeteria. Efforts to raise money for exhibits and displays will be coordinated through the Crater Lake Trust. At least 22 designs for a visitor center have been considered over the decades. Ackerman said the new visitor center will be open on a year-around basis. He said exhibits will be modern and “interactive to every degree possible.” “We’re very excited to see one of the final pieces to the long-range planning process is coming together,” he said of the new visitor center, noting Crater Lake is “one of the few iconic national parks without a dedicated visitor center. This is a long overdue and needed facility for the park and our visitors.” (H/N)
April 22 2016 Report: A longer-than-usual visitor season and stepped-up tourism campaigns helped Crater Lake National Park generate $52.2 million in visitor spending last year, up 16 percent, according to the National Park Service.
The park lured about 614,000 visitors, who spent money on everything from meals and hotels to gas and souvenirs during their visits, up from about 535,000 visitors who spent $44.8 million in the same fashion in 2014, according to a park service economic report. (MT)
May 1 2016 Today we led our final public snowshoe walks of the season. In case you are curious, we set new records this year for the number of walks and the number of participants: (David Grimes)
FY 2016 119 walks 2,383 visitors
FY 2015 115 walks 2,099 visitors
FY 2014 116 walks 2,252 visitors
FY 2013 104 walks 2,027 visitors
FY 2012 98 walks 1,794 visitors
FY 2011 104 walks 2,093 visitors
FY 2010 91 walks 1,949 visitors
FY 2009 81 walks 1,657 visitors
FY 2008 65 walks 1,323 visitors
FY 2007 50 walks 909 visitors
FY 2006 30 walks 507 visitors
May 5 2016 Climate Change Poses A Threat To Deep Blue Water At Crater Lake National Park By NPS Staff
Will Crater Lake National Park continue to be such a popular park if its deep blue water wasn’t so blue, but perhaps a murkier hue due to algae blooms? That’s a question to consider in light of predictions that warming air temperatures will affect both the lake’s water temperature and water column mixing.
Researchers from the USGS, University of Trento in Italy, and Crater Lake National Park analyzed how climate conditions currently affect the fundamental temperature characteristics and water-column mixing processes in Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States and one of the clearest in the world.
The USGS modeling showed that warming of the atmosphere caused by climate change could disrupt the deep mixing process in Crater Lake. As the atmosphere warms, deep mixing events will likely become less frequent. Under the least severe warming scenario, deep mixing will occur on average once every three years by 2100. Under the most severe scenario, deep mixing could stop completely.
Mixing of the water column to the bottom in some exceptionally deep lakes requires a special combination of extremely cold water in the upper water column in winter and strong wind events that push that layer of cold water to one side of the lake. Given the right conditions, a plume of cold water can sink to the lake bottom. The deep mixing process requires the presence of cold air in winter. If the surface water does not become colder and denser than the deeper water, deep-water mixing will not occur.
These deep-water mixing events have two major effects on the Crater Lake ecosystem. As the plumes of cold water sink, deeper water is forced upward, which causes upwelling of nutrients that contribute to the growth of algae and can thus affect water clarity. Likewise, these sinking plumes of water are the critical process that replenishes dissolved oxygen near the lake bottom that is otherwise depleted by the decomposition of algae. Organisms that live in the deeper regions of Crater Lake depend on these mixing events in winter to provide the dissolved oxygen needed for survival.
“Crater Lake is, of course, well-known for its stunningly clear water and blue color,” said Scott Girdner, a lake biologist at Crater Lake National Park and participant in the study. “So changes in climate that may affect water clarity are of particular interest to the park from a lake-health perspective.”
May 22 2016 Crater Lake celebrated its 114th year as a national park. (H/N)
May 29 2016 Two Seattle men, Raul Mendez and Abraham Domingues-Gonzales, both 30, were plucked from the shores of Crater Lake by helicopter. Mendez had fallen 250 feet and was seriously injured. At about 2:30 Sunday afternoon the two men decided to decend down the caldera wall to the lake. Several hours later, when they did not return, they were reported missing. A helicopter was called in, and they were located, but darkness postponed rescue. Monday morning a Jackson County Search and Rescue helicopter was called in to lift the men up to safety. Mendez was airlifted to a Bend hospital. Domingues-Gonzales was treated for hypothermia. Both men were cited for entering a closed area and putting park rescue staff into harm’s way.
June 2016 Park visitation is up 42%
July 2016 Park visitation is up 28%
August 2016 Park visitation is up 78%
June 4 2016 Long time Lodge maintenance man is fired for stealing money from a Coke machine in the Lodge. He was told to, “Just go away!”
June 11 2016 Letter: We need action on climate change to protect national parks By Brian Ettling
Recently, John Gottberg Anderson wrote an article for The Bulletin called “National Park lands of the Northwest.” It focused on the amazing Pacific Northwest national parks, such as Mt. Rainer, Olympic, North Cascades, Redwoods and Crater Lake, where you can celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service. As the article noted, 2016 marks the 100th birthday of the National Park Service, established by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on Aug. 25, 1916.
I currently work as a summer seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake National Park, about a two-hour drive south of Bend. I have worked there for the past 24 years. I write this guest opinion as a private citizen, not as a National Park Service employee.
Crater Lake is truly an American and a global treasure. It is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the purest and cleanest bodies of water in the world.
Unfortunately, as we celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, I have observed climate change impacting Crater Lake.
Even though Southern Oregon experienced a good snowpack this 2015-16 winter, the average annual snowpack has been diminishing for decades at Crater Lake. The previous winter of 2014-15 saw the lowest snowpack on record. Consequently, the summer of 2015 saw our largest forest fire in our park’s history. National Park Service considers climate change a top threat facing our national parks as we look ahead to protecting them for the next 100 years.
I spend my spare time writing, educating and organizing on the issue of climate change because of what I have seen in our national parks. Over 97 percent of climate scientists, the U.S. Defense Department and the Catholic Church tell us climate change is real and human caused, but we can limit the damage if we act now. We must reduce our carbon emissions quickly from the burning of oil, coal and natural gas and switch to clean energy such as solar, wind, geothermal and energy efficiency.
As a private citizen, the best solution I know to reduce the threat of climate change is for Congress to pass Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s carbon fee and dividend proposal. (Bend Bulletin)_
June 15 2016 FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A San Diego woman who painted and drew on treasured natural rock formations at national parks across the West — including Crater Lake – and shared her work on social media pleaded guilty Monday to defacing government property. Casey Nocket, 23, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Fresno, Calif., to seven misdemeanors for the autumn 2014 painting spree at seven national parks including Yosemite in California and Zion in Utah. She also admitted to defacing rocks at Crater Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Nocket used Instagram and Tumblr to document her trip and her graffiti-like work, which led to broad outrage on social media. She was sentenced to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service. (MT)
Summer 2016 Work continues on an $20 million, 10.7 mile, three year, rehab of the West and North Rim roads. Work this summer is concentrated mostly on the West Rim Drive.
Work continues on the 58 parking space expansion of the Cleetwood Cove Parking Lot.
July 4 2016 July activities began with a naturalization ceremony in Rim Village, an event Superintendent Craig Ackerman calls “one of the most moving events I’ve seen.”
July 8 2016 Letter from: Paul Scott
Hello to Crater Lake community and Institute. I’m a Captain currently working in the med and was in a Marina in Genoa, Italy this week when I saw a interesting boat named “Crater Lake”. Being from Port Orford, Oregon and seeing the vessel I was curious about the connection and was lucky to get a chance to meet its owner. Claudio has had the boat for over 20 years and told me as far as he knows it was always named “Crater Lake”. He informed me that it was in England and used during D Day as it worked in the channel picking up survivors and those that didnt. He could not confirm where or who built it. He says may have been built in 1943 but could not confirm. I felt that maybe the Institute would be curious. Was this a boat built for mine and submarine sweeping? Left in England after the war? Its strip plank mahogany and has been converted by Claudio as a dive boat. Lots of original hardware etc best I could tell. If it has known history from your sources, let me know and I’ll pass it along. The humble home on the stern quarter is a trademark design feature. Best to you..ciao Capt Paul Scott
From Larry Smith: We were excited to hear from you. I keep a history log of Crater Lake and have included your item in our log. In doing research on the naming of Navy ships I did find that ammunition runners were named after volcanos. That was interesting. So that is a possibility. Also some Navy ships are named after national parks and natural geologic places in the US. So that is a possibility. I did find a: USS Mazama (AE-9)
April 2 2017 Hi Larry Here are more pics of the “Crater Lake”. I understand the mine sweeps from the era were all named after US lakes. The couple who owns it I met in Genoa, Italy where they had bought the boat in the 60’s to use for a local dive boat. They still do trips on today. The prior owner said it had done duty in the Channel during D-day. Interesting to see the connection and its part of history. Take care Paul
July 10 2016 Nearly three inches of snow falls at Rim Village. I hope you enjoyed our summer snowstorm today. I spent an hour roving at the Corrals, singing Christmas carols with the public. And, rather bizarrely, I was hit in the head by a snowball thrown by a blind woman. This is the latest in July that I’ve experienced snow at Crater Lake. Dave Grimes, Park Ranger (Interpretation) 541-594-3093
July 11 2016 Park rangers are going after people poaching morel mushrooms now popping up all over the site of last summer’s National Creek Complex fire, confiscating mushrooms and citing pickers who rangers say are threatening the post-fire ecosystem there. Park rangers have cited more than a dozen recreational and commercial pickers, and rangers seized more than 234 pounds of morels with a market value of nearly $8,000 over the July 4 weekend alone. (MMT)
July 27 2016 A 21 year-old Portland man was seriously injured when he tumbled 250 feet into Wheeler Creek at the Pinnacles Overlook. Xiong Wei Yu was exploring the area near the Pinnacles Trailhead with friends when he got too close to the edge of the Wheeler Creek Canyon and fell about 7 p.m. Saturday. Yu landed near some snow that had built up over Wheeler Creek and suffered “very serious injuries. Yu was transported by ambulace to the Mt. Scott Trailhead using fire crews to carry him out and then airlifted by helicopter to the Klamath Falls Hosptial. (H/N)
July 28 2016 The Bybee Creek Fire begins. By Wednesday, August 14 it was contained at 100 percent and 1,072 acres. For a time, it had closed West Rim Drive, part of the Pacific Crest Trail and Lightning Springs Trail and prompted an evacuation-preparation notice for Rim Village and park headquarters, but it caused no injuries and did not burn any structures. The human-caused Bybee Creek Fire started at the junction of two trails in the park and burned dead vegetation and trees in an area that burned in the same vicinity about 10 years ago, according to Mac Brock, chief of natural resources. (MMT)
July 29 2016 Belgium dentist, Karel Sabbe, 26, runs through Crater Lake on the PCT, just hours before the PCT was closed because of the outbreak of the Bybee Fire. The Belgium dentist did end up setting the trail record at 52 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes on August 13. The old record was 53 days, 6 hours, and 37 minutes. That meant that Sabbe had to average more than 50 miles per day for 52 days. His teammate, Joren Biebuyck, followed along by motorcycle, providing support along the way. Story from Larry Smith who interviewed Joren at North Junction.
Why he ran: “The trail had always been on my bucket list, after a few visits of America’s West coast. Due to working obligations I would not have the time to hike the trail, but because I started running ultra distances the idea came to me to run the trail.” From his web news release.
Karl Meltzer, a former ski-resort bartender arrived at Springer Mountain in Georgia setting a record for completing the Appalachian Trail. He covered the 2,190 miles over 14 states in 45 days 22 hours 38 minutes. Scott Jurek set the former Appalachian Trail record last year at 46 days 8 hours 7 minutes.
Because the ‘suggested alternatives’ (such as the Crater Lake Rim, the John Muir River Trail, etc), and all the detours due to fires and heavy winters, the length of the trail varies from 2600-2650 miles, so an ‘average’ day is hard to calculate. The official start is no longer at the Mexico border- politics have moved it north a few miles. When Marcus and I ran the trail, the ‘official’ length was 2627 miles, but with detours and what-nots, we ran well in excess of that. The new ‘official’ length, when last I checked, was 2650. I’ve always thought that running the trail for record time, N to S might be faster, because if you started in August, and had water available, the trail conditions would be much faster. Oh, to be young again! Clayton Gillette of Jacksonville, Oregon who ran the complete trail in segments over many years.
July 29/30 2016 The Britt Orchestra, from Jacksonville, performed the world premiere of a musical composition inspired by Crater Lake and composed by Michael Gordon. To ease traffic congestion when the Britt Orchestra performs the world premiere at The Watchman parking area, Rim Drive was closed. Two other July 28 performances and three July 29 performances were held in the Rim Village area. The July 28 premiere was by invitation only because of limited space at The Watchman. In addition, quartets and trios provided music at Rim Drive overlooks between full orchestra performances. The performances featured 15 members of the Steiger Butte Drum, about 40 members of the Britt Orchestra, 30 brass and percussion students from Southern Oregon University and a 70-voice regional choir. The performances were free, but regular park admission fees appled. Enrolled Klamath Tribal members, however, had free entry to the park. (H/N)(Eugene Register Guard)
August 1 2016 Flames from the Bybee Creek fire leaped into the Crater Lake caldera Monday as the blaze nearly doubled in size, despite attacks by firefighters trying to corral the four-day-old fire in Crater Lake National Park. Spot fires that forced the closure of a portion of West Rim Drive found their way over the Crater Lake rim, burning in a small cluster near a closed portion of the road and south of Wizard Island, according to firefighters. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but park officials suspect it was human-caused. The fire, southwest of The Watchman overlook and north of Highway 62, began early Thursday afternoon, about 300 yards off the Pacific Crest Trail. Flames cut through a section blackened in 2006 by a 2,900-acre blaze that burned for three months. Another fire hit the area in 1994. (MMT)
August 2 2016 The Park issues a Level 1 evacuation warning for Rim Village and Park Headquarters. The warning was issued because of the growing Bybee Creek Fire southwest of Crater Lake, which nearly doubled from 425 acres to 720 acres between Monday and Tuesday mornings. Fire crews remain on scene attempting to stop the fire from spreading past the Pacific Crest Trail and Rim Drive. Thefire was 10 percent contained. A Level 1 warning informs park residents and guests they need to be prepared in the event of an evacuation and should begin taking precautions to keep people and pets safe if an evacuation is ordered. If the fire spreads nearer the affected areas, a Level 2 warning may be issued indicating an evacuation is imminent, or a Level 3 warning that an evacuation is in effect.
Summer 2016 Work on the Cleetwood parking area continues. The new parking lot has additional spaces, including some specifically for RVs and large rigs, along with two permanent comfort stations and a ticket sales booth, all with wood and stone exteriors. Park officials investigated providing shuttles from Rim Village to Cleetwood Cove but abandoned the idea after it was learned the cost would be about $500,000. Road projects this summer included finishing improvements to Rim Village parking areas and the reconstruction of Rim Drive from Rim Village to the North Entrance.
August 13 2016 The 41st running of the Crater Lake Rim Run with 400 runners completing one of the three races.
Race winners
Marathon men — Sergio Morales, Klamath Falls.
Marathon women — Amanda Hoskins, Puyallup, Wash.
13-mile men — Sho Ogasawara,Yokohama, Japan.
13-mile women — Janelle Ralph, Sams Valley.
6.7-mile men — Alek Angeli, Klamath Falls.
6.7-mile women — Sarah Williams, Klamath Falls.
Sergio Marales won in 2:51:40, the 13th fastest ever in the 26-mile, 385-yard. “It took a lot”, said Amanda. “I had to dig really deep. The altitude was tough. This is the hilliest course I’ve ever been on, and I have run Boston four times where there are a lot of hills. That hill at the end was brutal.” The race saw 90 runners finish under intense heat after a comfortable start early in the morning.
Among the marathon finishers was Lori Johnson, who called Saturday’s race a personal homecoming after having lived at Crater Lake National Park for three years when her father, Einar, was park superintendent.“Oh, my gosh,” Johnson said. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I will remember it forever. It was wonderful. Every so often the lake would sneak into view. If I do it again, I definitely do so high-altitude training.”
Also finishing Saturday was Martin Balding of Susanville, Calif., who completed his 40th Crater Lake marathon after having overcome some personal health problems. In a normal year, Balding would have Balding, one of only two runners to win the marathon three times, along with Alden Glidden, also served as the starter for Saturday’s race.In winning his back-to-back races, Morales joined Shorrock and five women who have won back-to-back marathons — Jeanne Otteman (1979-80), Hillary Simmons (1991-92), Karen Rayle (1996-97), Margie Retterath (2002-03) and Becky Kirschenman (2009-10).
August 14 2016 The Bybee Fire is contained at 100 percent and 1,072 acres. For a time, it had closed West Rim Drive, part of the Pacific Crest Trail and Lightning Springs Trail and prompted an evacuation-preparation notice for Rim Village and park headquarters, but it caused no injuries and did not burn any structures. Surpression costs that included airplanes and helicopters totaled $5.2 million.
August 15 2016 The Cleetwood Cove Parking Lot is closed until the end of the season. A shuttle from Rim Village becomes the only way to access the Lake Trail until September 5. This major construction project includes expanding the parking lot by more than 70 percent, installing two permanent vault toilets, and improving trailhead access. “It is difficult to close roads and facilities or limit access during our peak summer season, but due to the snow and temperatures that make construction impossible in the fall, winter, and spring, we must temporarily restrict access so that safe and secure infrastructure can be maintained,” said park Superintendent Craig Ackerman. “We have no alternative but to conduct this work when conditions allow. This project will alleviate many parking issues at Cleetwood Cove trailhead and provide much needed visitor facilities, such as permanent restrooms in this popular area.” (H/News)
August 20 2016 Two Natural History Association board members, Lee Jullerat and Greg Walter, join a small group spending the night on Wizard Island, tagging along with park researchers involved with ongoingprojects like the proliferation of crawfish, which are threatening the Crater Lake newt, and water quality studies. Herald and News.
August 25 2016 Crater Lake National Park celebrated the National Park Service Centennial by hosting a “pop up” museum. A “pop up” museum is a temporary exhibit created by anyone who chooses to participate. For this event, Crater Lake Staff invite you to bring your Crater Lake memorabilia to share. Participants will write a label for their object and leave it on display for others to see for a few hours. The goal is to bring people together to share their National Park Service memories through stories, art and objects.
Season 2016 Tom McDonough, seasonal interpretive ranger since 1969, “retires”. Tom’s service to Crater Lake lasted 47 years, setting a park record for longevity.
September 5 2016 The Cleetwood shuttle service ends and the trail is closed to the public for the remainder of the 2016 season while crews work on the parking lot and trailhead, and make critical repairs to the Cleetwood Cove Trail. The newly expanded parking lot and the trail will reopen in the summer of 2017.
September 17/24 2016 Ride the Rim even brings in over 4,000 people of all ages, shapes and sizes to walk, hike and ride 24 miles of the East Rim. “Of all the things we have done at the park this is one of the most exciting,” Superintendent Ackerman said. (H/N)
Fall 2016 Crater Lake National Park rangers issued dozens of tickets and seized hundreds of pounds of morel mushrooms from pickers who ventured across park boundaries looking for morels that popped up in the wake of the National Cree fire. Violators in those cases paid $130 in bail and fees, but vilatiors can face potential fines of up to $5,000 and a maximum of six months in jail. (Reported by the MMT April 23, 2019)
October 2016 The start of the new year water year brings one of the wettest Octobers on record. Heavy snow storms had the snowfall for several dates at over 1500% of average for several dates, but after several days of heavy rains the month closed with only one inch of snow on the ground at Park Headquarters, or 15% of average as the month closed out. Precipitation for the month measured 14.2 inches or 292% of average for the month. Snowfall for the month totaled 34 inches or 175% of average.
November 21 2016 Conservation groups are stepping up the pressure on Oregon’s congressional delegation to designate more than 500,000 acres of public land, including Crater Lake National Park, as a federal wilderness area. Representatives from Oregon Wild and Environment Oregon on Monday delivered a petition with 37,000 signatures in support of the proposal to Sen. Ron Wyden’s office in Northeast Portland. The Democrat sits on the Senate’s energy and natural resources committee. The proposed Crater Lake wilderness calls for establishing a 90-mile corridor of the Cascades — from Mount McLoughlin in Jackson County to Mount Thielsen and surrounding areas north of Crater Lake. The area stiches existing wilderness areas, such as the Sky Lakes Wilderness surrounding McLoughlin and the 55,000 acres of protected wilderness around Mount Thielsen — into one supersized territory. (Oregonian)
December 4 2016 John William Moeller and Lindsey Lorraine Johnson, both of Klamath Falls, face multiple federal charges alleging they vandalized a locked fee box at Annie Spring Entrance Station. Moeller was allegedly seen on park surveillance video making multiple attempts to vandalize and take the contents of a metal “Iron Ranger“.
The footage allegedly shows Moeller making several failed attempts to take the collection box, first spending about 25 minutes attempting to drill holes into the top of the fee container, and later using a crowbar and a hammer. When those attempts failed, Moeller made attempts at the container with his car, first attempting to remove the collection tube with a chain connected to his 2001 Ford Taurus sedan.
Footage taken at 4 a.m. showed Moeller using his Ford to ram the container. The deposit containers can contain between $1,500 and $2,500. At about 2:30 the next morning, the park ranger caught Moeller making new attempts to get into the same box while Johnson held a flashlight from the passenger seat. The park ranger said Moeller admitted that he tried to steal the collection tube, saying he was broke and needed the money. (MT)
Winter 2016 – 2017 A hole in the Wizard Island Boat House roof allows melting snow to partially fill the Umpqua our boat. Freezing and thawing causes a small hole to open up and a process of delamination. A 4-foot repair hole is opened on the launch. Repairs were not completed until August, thus limiting boat tours on the Lake to only two launches. The Klamath and the Rogue.
When the Rogue, the Umpqua and the Klamath were launched in 2003, they were designed for 43 passengers. But the U.S. Coast Guard says that Americans are getting heavier with an average weight of 180 lbs. The boats have been downgraded to carrying 38 passengers. The passenger numbers are based on total weight.
There is talk of replacing the present launches with aluminum boats and outboard motors. “If a motor goes bad, just take it off and replace it with a spare.” (The above boat information is from Chris, the boat supervisor.)
Winter 2016/2017 The Cleetwood bulkhead/dock partially collapses exposing a large chasm dumping 40 yards of fill into the Lake. The $1.5 million cement block dock was built in 2011 and began settling almost immediately, with large cracks appearing along the east wall. The Park Service blamed the contractor. The contractor blamed the designer. A temporary dock has been established along the shore since only a small portion of the rock-filled dock is safely accessible to the public.
The designer/engineer stated after inspecting the collapse that the failure was because of “seismic activity” inside the old volcano.
The cement blocks for the dock were placed onto a foundation of compressed rock which was undermined by wave action. The designer chose not use a cement foundation because of the fear of introducing lime into the lake. (Story from Boat Supervisor)
Season 2016 Annual Budget: $5,452,000
Season 2016 Crater Lake sets record drawing 756,344 visitors. The total was 23 percent more than 2015, when the park set the previous record of 614,712. Nearly 83 percent of visits in 2016, or 621,791, were recorded from June through September. Monthly visits peaked in July, with 190,231. Overnight backcountry stays increased to 4,706 in 2016, a nearly 45 percent increase from 2015’s 3,253.
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