Steel did, however, expend his annual allotment of $250 for rebuilding or “improving” the lake trail, supposedly widening it from two to four feet over its 2,300 foot length.21 He also had another $250 in 1915 to build a trail to the top of Wizard Island. As something of a justification for both developments that summer, the government provided $150 to place crayfish in the lake as food the trout that Steel continued to plant in Crater Lake.22 Steel also found a way to build a four foot trail to Sentinel Point, from where the Corps of Engineers supplied a stopping point for motorists on the Rim Road. This came at the request of Assistant Secretary of the Interior Stephen T. Mather, who presumably approved paying for this relatively small project with the funding provided for paying seasonal rangers.23
Daniels, meanwhile, worked on a plan for Rim Village that summer and thus refined some of his subordinate’s recommendations. He began by suggesting a suitable trail to Garfield Peak, given how visitors from the lodge often climbed partway to the summit, but turned back due to the difficulty of going any further. Daniels also recommended the views from Arant Point and Union Peak, so suggested trails to them from the camp near Park Headquarters at Annie Spring. Steel no sooner received an allotment to build a trail up Garfield Peak in 1916, but instead wanted $400 of it reallocated to repair of fences and buildings.24
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| Visitors with a park ranger at Sentinel Point, about 1920. Photo by Alex Sparrow, courtesy of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. |
By the time Steel resigned as park superintendent in November 1916, he made a reference to outlining a system of trails in his last annual report. Although he supplied few details about the larger plan, Steel called for a route to reach the top of Mount Scott. As preeminent among park trails, he wanted it built on a grade that allowed for subsequent widening, with the eventual aim of use by motorists.25 Although not as chimerical as the tunnel proposal, the summit trail idea attracted no more support in terms of funding than had Arant’s recommendation for a wagon road to reach the park’s highest point.
