The dry summer season of 1905 resulted in a large number of “almost uncontrollable forest fires” in the park. The fires, all of which were started by lightening strikes, were prevented from causing considerable damage by daytime as well as nighttime fire fighting efforts. The worst day for fires occurred on July 20 when an electrical storm triggered eight fires within the space of twenty minutes.
Arant estimated that 1,200-1,400 persons visited the park between July 1 and October 1, 1905. Parties of visitors and campers continued to enter the park through the early part of October.
Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the park fishing in Crater Lake was prohibited by Arant until July 1905. At that time an open season was created by a rule formulated by the superintendent:
Fishing with hook and line only is allowed in Crater Lake from July 1st to September 30th of each year, the catch of each fisherman being limited to five fish in any one day. Fishing in all other waters of the reserve is allowed under the regulations prescribed by the State laws.
In his annual report for 1905 Arant echoed his earlier complaints concerning inadequate appropriations for the park. Only $3,000 had been appropriated for fiscal year 1906–a sum which Arant characterized as being “inadequate to a good administration, and wholly insufficient for making the improvements that should be made during any one year.” Again submitting itemized estimates to justify appropriations for the park in excess of $7,000, Arant stated:
It should be borne in mind that the territory embraced within the boundaries of the Crater Lake National Park, owing to its high and mountainous character, and its distance from the settled valleys and the consequent lack of any improvements prior to its being made a national park, and in view of the very small appropriations which have been made for its protection and improvement, is still in a very primitive condition, and that if more liberal appropriations were made in the beginning, to the end that we might be able to make the most absolutely necessary improvements, then smaller appropriations would be sufficient to make the necessary repairs and maintain a good administration of the affairs of the reserve. [5]
As winter weather set in during late October 1905 Arant moved his camp to a ranch at the foot of Crater Lake Mountain referred to as the “Boothby place.” From there he continued to patrol the park until November 18 when the depth of the snow became so deep that travel was impossible. Thereafter, he moved to his winter quarters at his ranch near Klamath Falls, from which he made periodic visits to the park as weather conditions permitted.
On July 1, 1906, a regular mail service was established between Fort Klamath and Crater Lake. The first trip with the mail was made on July 4 “with great difficulty on account of the snow remaining yet deep in places and there being a great many fallen trees and logs in the road.”
Construction began on the park office and residence on July 24 and was virtually completed by October 1. By the latter date the superintendent and his family had moved into the residence and were “quite comfortably situated, as compared with the very long term they have had camping while superintending the affairs of the park.”
In his annual report for 1906 Arant estimated that park visitation for the season was between 1,600 and 1,800. The most heavily visited spot in the park was Victor Rock, a spot that posed problems for visitor safety. In this regard Arant stated:
A short distance inside the crater, 8 or 10 rods below the rim, there is a high promontory of rock, called Victor Rock, where nearly all visitors go for a good view of the lake and surrounding country. At the summit of this rock and where many people congregate it is rough and craggy and some parts of it slope or incline toward the lake. Below this summit and toward the lake the walls are vertical–in fact it hangs over for almost 1,000 feet above the water. This is one of the most prominent and probably most frequented points on the crater rim, and owing to the character of this rock, or promontory of rock, there is more or less danger of accident or even loss of life, and as a protection against danger to those who congregate at this point there should be a strong iron railing placed along the outer edge of this rock. . . .
