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- Old Man of the Lake still evokes curiosity
- Lee Juillerat stands on the Old Man of the Lake some time in the 1970s, years before the practice of standing on the log was banned. Photo courtesy Lee
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- ?Standing on the Old Man?The practice of standing on the Old Man, something done by rangers as part of boat tours of Crater Lake, was common for several decades.
- ?By Lee Juillerat for the Mail Tribune? 7, 2016
“A spectacle curious enough to excite the imagination.”?— Joseph Diller, 1902, writing about the Old Man of Crater Lake.?CRATER LAKE — The Old Man of the Lake has stumped and excited people who’ve seen it for years, decades, more than a century.?Make that 120 years.?The Old Man is the name of a log that’s been seen randomly floating around Crater Lake since 1896. Despite its longevity, there’s a lot that’s not known about the Old Man, and that’s fine with Mark Buktenica, Crater Lake National National Park’s longtime aquatic biologist.?”He really captures the imagination of the public,” says Buktenica, who believes those lingering mysteries add to its appeal. “I’m continually surprised at how universally excited people get.”?That excitement recently captivated Conor Knighton, who is visiting all 59 national parks for “On the Trail” segments for CBS’s “Sunday Morning With Charles Osgood.” The series is part of the focus on the National Park Service’s year-long 100th anniversary celebration.?Buktenica said Knighton, who visited Crater Lake earlier this month, largely focused on the Old Man while recently filming a segment that’s scheduled to air in September.?Knighton isn’t the first person intrigued by The Old Man. He — that’s how Buktenica refers to the Old Man — also captivated Joseph S. Diller, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who visited and explored the lake extensively beginning in 1886. While rereading Diller’s 1902 manuscript, Buktenica realized Diller didn’t spot the Old Man until 1986, meaning this year is its 120th birthday.?”This is probably the best estimate of a birthday we may get,” Buktenica says.?Several years ago he and Scott Girdner ran a carbon date on a piece of the Old Man that had fallen off naturally. The test indicated the sample had stopped growing 465 years ago, plus or minus 100 years.?”We aren’t sure if the piece was from near the core when it began growing or from the outer portion when it stopped growing,” Buktenica notes. “But given the recorded history and the diameter of the tree, 465 years seems like a reasonable ballpark estimate.”?Although commonly referred to as a mountain hemlock, he says studies haven’t been done to confirm its species. Hemlocks do grow within the caldera walls, and it’s theorized he — the tree — died and slid into the lake. Why it hasn’t become waterlogged and sunk is another unknown.?Buktenica first saw the Old Man in 1985. Like others, he stood on the tree and had his photo taken. Unlike others, he’s seen the Old Man from below while scuba diving “to see what’s growing on him.”?Below lake level, he found mosses, mayflies and other aquatic insects and crayfish. He’s seen ant colonies and spiders living on its bleached top. Although actual measurements haven’t been done, he believes Diller’s studies indicating the Old Man has a 2-foot diameter trunk, sticks about 4½ feet above the lake and dips about 37 feet underwater are relatively accurate.?Another mystery is why and how the Old Man moves about the lake. A 1938 study showed it moved 64 miles between July 1 and Sept. 30, including 3.8 miles on a single day.?”I’ve seen him travel from one of the lake to the other in a day,” says Buktenica. “And stay in one place for days, weeks, a month or more.”?The Old Man generated special attention in 1988, when a one-person submarine was flown to the lake that summer to conduct underwater explorations. Buktenica, who made 17 dives, including one to the lake’s deepest spot — 1,943 feet — remembers the lead researchers had the Old Man lassoed and tied it to Wizard Island’s eastern shore to prevent it from possibly interfering with the submarine. Almost immediately, the calm, sunny weather turned stormy and violent. When the Old Man was released, the weather eased.?”Even scientists don’t know what they don’t know,” Buktenica says of the lesson learned.?He’s pleased the Old Man evokes curiosity — and a sense of mystery.?”I think the Old Man is still a spectacle, and his story still excites the imagination,” Buktenica says. “Maybe some questions should be left unanswered.”?Lee Juillerat has been writing about outdoor adventures in Southern Oregon and elsewhere for more than 30 years. He is also a regular contributor to the outdoor-travel website High On Adventure at www.highonadventure.com. He can be reached at 337lee337@charter.net or 541-880-4139.
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