The Crater Lake Incident (as it’s become known by the Anderson Family) July 12, 1988
Submitted by Jim Anderson, 2020
On our epic month-long cross-country camp/drive vacation in 1988, myself, Linda, Lila and Kate arrived at the Crater Lake camping area late in the day. After a comfy night in our pop-up camper, we decided to hike down into the caldera and take the Wizard Island boat tour. We got an early start having packed a picnic lunch as this was to be an all-day adventure. The hike to the lake involved an hour walk down a switchback trail clinging to the caldera wall on the North side of the lake.
The floating dock at lake level provided mooring for two ~40 foot open tour boats as well as a small fleet of rental rowboats. During the day a predicted cold front was to drop the July temperatures from the 70’s to the 50’s and generate a persistent wind out of the south. The wind was already picking up at the dock when we set off on a tour of this spectacular lake.
As we boated along the caldera walls whitecaps on the lake were beginning to build, but as we approached Wizard Island off the south side of the lake, the waves subsided due to closing the distance from the south rim. After disembarking, we hiked a spiral trail to the summit of Wizard Island. Wizard Island is a cinder cone volcano formed after the collapse of the emptied magma chamber under the much larger Mt. Mazama, the mountain that created Crater Lake. We lunched at the windy summit surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountain vistas in the world. Later in the afternoon after arriving back at the pier, we examined the sole human development on the island, a modest research station that housed a small contingent of environmental scientists studying the pristinely transparent water.
We boarded the return boat awaiting departure, but quickly noted that the park rangers were having a serious back and forth radio conversation with personnel at the crater wall dock. The previous tour boat was radioing that their boat had nearly lost people into the lake trying to disembark onto the floating dock, because of waves up to 5’ high.
The rangers made the decision to delay our return assuming that the winds would subside as evening approached. We were told that we possibly would have to spend the night if wind and waves didn’t abate. We were among some 15 or 20 tourists stranded on the island. Their major concern as we were to find out, was that there was only one Portapotty on the island providing for the research station and it could not handle all the tourists for a prolonged stay. They were afraid that it could overflow and contaminate the pristine lake.
Evening turned to dusk and then to night with temperatures steadily dropping. After more at times frantic radio communications, the rangers eventually made the decision to return us to the “mainland” as the wind had subsided somewhat. So finally, at 9 PM, they loaded us all on the boat, waves and all, and motored us back. What I most remember about the trip back was the stars. The air was so clear, and the lake so remote, that it seemed like a billion stars were visible with the total lack of light pollution and a moonless night.
It was an increasingly rough crossing and when we got back to the crater rim dock, we found that the Park Service was in emergency mode and had mobilized all their shifts. We were met by dozens of Rangers with flashlights to help us off the boat. The dock was at the base of the crater and we still had to hike up the switchback trail now in total darkness. Rangers were posted all along the trail to light the way with lanterns and flashlights. It was 11:30 by the time we topped the rim and midnight by the time we got back to our tent camper.
This was the first time such a crisis had occurred in the history of this National Park. News reporters from the local TV station were providing coverage for the 11:00 local news and they were interviewing people that had been stranded.
We were exhausted by the time we reached the relative comfort of our camper and we decided to stay an extra day to recoup our strength. Even with that, we were all tired and cranky for much of the homebound 1.5 week return trip. The Crater Lake Incident as it became to be known, was the highlight of our vacation.
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