Was there a snow tunnel that went from the roadway to the Rim Center or was it just plowed or dug out?
One of my duties in winter was to cut steps to the top of the snow bank from the parking lot in front of the Rim Center. I then made a little trail back to the building and had it drop down onto the porch. If the program started at 1:00, I guess I’d be there at 11:00 starting to cut my steps. It took a while to do that.
How did people see the lake at that time? Was there a viewing tunnel?
I don’t think the tunnel was there at that time. Visitors would have to stand on top of the snow pile between the parking lot and the edge of the caldera.
Did they have to cut steps for people to climb the pile of snow?
I think there were some steps cut, or the front of the rotary was used to make some sort of a ramp. That was dangerous for people to be out on that bank where they blew all the snow off the parking lot. How did we get on winter? We jumped right to it.
It came from your summer duties and the wide range of interpretive programs.
Those first five years I was doing all these things. I switched from the summer full time seasonal to intermittent because I was close by and they could call me. I enjoyed talking to people about the weather and all that. People from Grants Pass didn’t realize that I beat them up there by minutes to do this program. I could tell them all about the weather in the park the last couple of days and how much snow fell. They would say, “And where are your from?” I would say, “I’m from Grants Pass, too.” I didn’t lie to them about where I was from, but if they didn’t ask, I wouldn’t tell them, either.
As an intermittent you would go up on Saturday morning and come back Sunday night?
Yes, spent Saturday and Sunday up there. I sometimes worked on interpretive projects, doing signs. I actually did some routering and painting. I know that they’ve cut down on the use of the shops by just anybody. But when I was there, if you needs something done, you had to go in and find the drill and the screws, and the wood, and do it. Repairing snowshoes was anther duty that I had, maybe on a Sunday morning.
