Boats land in Crater Lake: new boats to start service on Sunday
Herald and News
Klamath Falls, Oregon
July 23, 2003
By LEE JUILLERAT
CRATER LAKE – Goodbye Ralph Peyton, Glen Happel, Rudy Wilson and Paul Herron.
Hello Klamath, Umpqua and Rogue.
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Four 1960s-era tour boats named after people who figured prominently in the history of concession operations at Crater Lake National Park were flown out of the lake Tuesday and replaced by a trio of new-generation vessels named for Southern Oregon rivers.
The new boats will begin serving visitors Sunday, following four days of training and familiarization outings by park rangers and staff from Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the concession company that’s footing the $600,000 bill for the three boats.
Hundreds of park visitors lined vantage points around Rim Drive as the 12,000-pound custom-made boats, tethered on a 200-foot long lease, were individually flown in and out by a Boeing 234 Chinook helicopter. Shortly after 10 a.m., following a two-hour delay for safety reasons, the Umpqua was flown to the lake by copter pilot Dave Stroup.
The Umpqua and its two look-alike boats were airlifted from trailers parked at the Pumice Desert staging area to the lake. After crossing over the rim near the North Entrance viewpoint, the copter and its load dropped into the caldera near the Devil’s Backbone. The boats were placed on the lake at Governors Bay, just in front of the Wizard Island boat docks.
Tom McDonough, who has worked as a seasonal park ranger for 35 years, says the new boats will be environmentally friendlier and believes they will help provide lake visitors with a greater appreciation for the water-filled caldera.
