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2019
January 28 2019 With the enactment of the continuing resolution, staff at Crater Lake National Park will resume regular operations. After 35 days of closure, time is needed to clear roadways, repair leaks, open restrooms and other facilities, check fire alarm systems, and ensure that the park is safe for visitors.
While staff work on reopening the park, Highway 62 remains open for travel. The road to park headquarters and Rim Village are projected to open on Monday, January 28th once they are safe for travel. Please visit www.nps.gov/crla for updated information about the park.
Crater Lake National Park’s employees are happy to be back at work, serving the American people and welcoming visitors to their national parks. (From CLNP website)
March 2019 (H/N) February’s snowfall total of 154 inches was the seventh-highest for the month since weather records have been kept — the six higher amounts came before 1960. As of Wednesday, the snowpack was 111 percent of average for March 13, but overall the snowfall total for the winter was at 93 percent because of exceptionally light snow October through January.
Efforts to reopen the road so visitors to Crater Lake National Park can see the lake continue to be frustrated by new snow but, even more, equipment breakdowns. “The road gets narrower and narrower,” park superintendent Craig Ackerman says of the three-mile road from park headquarters in Munson Valley up to Rim Village. “We can’t open the road until we have room for two vehicles. Right now there is no place to push the snow off the side of the road.”
The road to Rim Village remained closed most of February. Ongoing closures at Rim Village have limited operations for Crater Lake Hospitality, which is in its first year as the park’s concessionaire. Road closures to the rim mean the usual winter food and other services at the Rim Village Cafe and Gift Shop have extremely limited operations, which has resulted in staff resignations.
April 2 2019 The road to Rim Villege opens after being closed for a month due to the breakdowns of the Park’s 3 rotary plows. The Rim Village Café and Gift Shop remains close. Reopening date in unknown. (Park Website) Three days later the road is again closed.
Rain since October 1st – 51 inches – 98% of average
Snow since October 1st – 365 inches – 87% of average
Snow depth since October 1st – 108 inches – 92% of average
June 11 2019 A man was rescued after falling 800 feet into Crater Lake on Monday afternoon and surviving. The Coast Guard’s North Bend Sector received a call at 3:47 p.m. from the National Park Service that a man fell into the Crater Lake caldera near Rims Village, officials said in a news release.
Emergency aircrews respond to the scene more than 30 minutes later with a Technical Rope Rescue Team ready.After already descending 600 feet into the crater, the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew reportedly heard the man yelling from even further down. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter landing at a Crater Lake parking area to transfer the injured man to AirLink Critical Care Transport on Monday. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Sector North Bend)Approximately 15 minutes after arriving on the scene, the man, who had fallen 800 feet, was hoisted up. He was transferred to an AirLink Critical Care Transport Team who transported him to an area hospital. It was not immediately clear what condition the man was in. (Fox Entertainment, not a news source)
June 15 2019 The North Entrance Road and West Rim Drive opens. Most park facilities, including visitor contact stations at park headquarters in Munson Valley and in Rim Village, are open. Rangers are giving daily interpretive programs at the Crater Lake Lodge, which is also open for guests. A section of the Mazama Campground is open.
More ranger talks and evening campfire programs will begin Friday, June 21. Crater Lake Trolley tours are planned to begin Friday, June 28. Snow removal crews are still at work. The current focus is on opening East Rim Drive to allow visitors to drive around the lake. Crews are also working to open the Pinnacles Road and the Lost River Campground. For hikers, most trails, including the trails to Garfield and Watchman peaks, are still closed by snow. Concession operations are also opening. Along with the Crater Lake Lodge, all other concession facilities are open daily, including the Mazama Village Motor Inn, Rim Café and Gift Shop, and Annie Creek Restaurant and Gift Shop. (KF H and News)
June 18 2019 A 1.3 magnitude quake June 9 below Crater Lake, followed by a a swarm of smaller quakes Serves as a reminder that it is still an active volcano, KDRV TV reports. “We don’t have a lot of earthquakes here,” said seismologist Wes Thelsen, “This is more or less normal for the volcano to have earthquakes,” he said. The U.S. Geological Survey says the last recorded earthquakeswarms at Crater Lake took place in May 2015. KDRV TV reported.
July 26 2019 Facing a housing shortage that has made it difficult to hire seasonal employees to work at Crater Lake, the Crater Lake Natural History Association has purchased what is known as Dutton Park, a recreational vehicle, camping and housing site just south of the park’s south entrance. Kevin Talbert, the History Association’s vice president, said the organization hoped that housing at the 34-acre site 14 miles from Crater Lake’s south entrance and 17 miles from park’s main visitor center will help recruit and keep contract workers and employees for the History Association and the park.The area — called Crater Lake Meadows in recent years but known as Dutton Park since the 1930s — has a main house, two older structures, three one-bedroom mobile home units, an old bath house, seven RV sites with full hookups and 18 campsites with partial hookups.
The History Association completed purchase of the property for $340,000 earlier this month from Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which until this year had been Crater Lake National Park’s concessionaire. Crater Lake Hospitality, owned by Aramark, took over concession operations — including the Crater Lake Lodge, Cabins at Mazama Village, Rim Village and Annie Creek Gift Shops, Annie Creek Restaurant, Mazama and Lost Creek campgrounds and lake boat tours — late last year.(H&News)
August 10 2019 The 43r rd running of the Crater Lake Marathon. Sergio Morales of Klamath Falls won his fourth Crater Lake Rim Run marathon title, setting his own personal course record by crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 47 minutes, 7 seconds.
Morales won comfortably, finishing over 15 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Nelson, who ran the course in 3:03:55. Morales has won the Rim Run every time he has raced, including three in a row before having to sit out due to an injury last year.
Each year Morales has improved his time. His first winning time was 2:53:38, and he’s been slowly closing in on the course record of 2:34:38. Grace Hooberwon took the women’s crown in 4:43:49, and was sixteenth overall.
August 18 2019 Sumedh Mannar drowns in Crater Lake. Mannar, 27 years old, an Oregon State University graduate student from India, drowned after jumping off a cliff known as Jumping Rock at Cleetwood Cove at 4:40 p.m. Sunday. Emergency crews from Jackson and Klamath counties responded, but had to temporarily stop their search for a body because of darkness before resuming Monday morning. Mannar was found about 90 feet below the water’s surface on a rock ledge. “Jumping Rock” at Crater Lake is listed as one of the top most scenic jumping cliffs in the US.
September 3 2019 Boat tours end because of a lack of staffing. (Reflections CLNP)
September 8 2019 A motorcyclist was killed when his motorcycle collided with the back of pickup on the park’s North Entrance Road. Park officials said Matthew O’Brien, of Portland, died following the 11:45 a.m. incident.
According to park officials, rangers and emergency personnel from Chemult Fire Department, Chiloquin Fire and Rescue and Air Link Medical Helicopters responded to the intersection of the North Entrance Road and the Red Cone Trail parking area after receiving a report of a motor vehicle crash. on scene.
O’Brien was traveling alone and was on a weekend camping trip to the park. The pickup truck was stopped in the northbound lane waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear so that the driver could make a left hand turn into the Red Cone Trail parking area when O’Brien’s motorcycle collided into the back of the truck. Poor visibility, weather and road conditions, along with speed, attributed to the accident. (Herald and News)
September 14 & 22 2019 Crater Lake National Park, in partnership with Discover Klamath, hosted the fourth annual Ride the Rim days.
On these consecutive Saturdays, East Rim Drive from North Junction to Park Headquarters was closed to motorized vehicles from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to allow for non-motorized recreation including biking, hiking and running.
Superintendent Craig W. Ackerman said, “Ride the Rim has grown in popularity each year. It provides an opportunity to experience East Rim Drive in a unique way, under your own power, whether you’re on a bike or on your own two feet. It is a strenuous endeavor, but the rewards of a slower pace, opportunities for quiet reflection, and healthy, vigorous recreation make it a special experience for many people.”
West Rim Drive was open to both pedestrian and cycling traffic. Park staff recommends bicyclists avoid riding on West Rim Drive if possible, because of increased traffic from Ride the Rim participants, shuttles, and other park visitors.
September 30 2019 End of the water year. Seven inches of new snow makes it 700% above average for that date. Total snowfall since October 1: 434 inches. Average snowfall is 485 which makes it 89% of average. 73 inches of precipitation has fallen. Average for the year is normally 65 inches, which is 112% of average.
October 7 2019 Representatives from the National Weather Service celebrate 100 years of weather record keeping at Crater Lake by holding a brief ceremony on the Lodge veranda overlooking the Lake. Observations taken the first 30 years were gathered in different spots around the park. From October 1919 through June 1930, the main location was at Annie Spring. From July 1930 to August 1949, the location moved up to the Rim Village. Since then, observations have been taken at the park’s headquarters.
There was a break in observations during World War II.
The park has utilized Weather Service equipment since 1953.
Over the course of a century, the park took observations 97% of the time. Since relocating the observation site to park headquarters, that rate has been nearly perfect, 99.4%. Estimated number of observations: 34,500.
How weather watchers share their data with the National Weather Service has changed, too.
“If you go back a ways, all these cooperative weather observers would call us,” Sandler said. “Then we’d write down their information, their high, low and precipitation.”
Now there’s a program called Weather Coder where observers submit their data, making it instantly available to Weather Service meteorologists. “So the reporting process is much better,” Sandler said. There have also been some recent upgrades to data collection equipment. Rain gauges that read hourly data debuted in the ‘40s or ‘50s, Weather Service hydrologist Spencer Higginson said. “The last several years we’ve installed digital units that log the data, and then we use thumb drives to download it.”
Changes are on the horizon for temperature observations, too, he said. Essentially, the temperature devices are going wireless. (MMT)
October 8 2019 A food-service worker at Crater Lake National Park escaped jail time Monday after he admitted severely sickening two co-workers by putting Visine eyedrops in their water bottles in 2016, authorities said. Christopher Michael Morrison, of Chula Vista, California, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Medford to 200 hours of community service and two years’ probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor assault charges, court records show. Morrison worked in the park’s employee dining room, which was near a prep kitchen where several employees kept water bottles, according to federal court documents. On two occasions in 2016, Morrison put Visine drops in the water bottles of two co-workers, including his supervisor, records show.
Both became extremely sick, with the supervisor saying she experienced severe nausea and pain that she described as “almost like hot pokers, almost like labor pain,” court documents show.
A few days after becoming ill, the supervisor overheard Morrison bragging about putting Visine in her water bottle, and she later learned that her daughter almost drank from that bottle, records show. Law enforcement officials tested the water bottle and found it contained tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient in Visine, which can cause respiratory distress, coma, blurred vision, diarrhea, seizures and other complications when ingested.
When questioned by Department of the Interior agents, Morrison admitted he intentionally put the Visine in one of the victim’s water bottles as a “harmless prank” after first researching Visine poisoning on the internet, court records show. The investigation revealed that at least a dozen employees experienced similar symptoms during the same period, court documents show. Morrison pleased guilty in April to two counts of simple assault. Federal laws applied because the crimes were committed on NPS land. The Mail Tribune. (MMTRIBUNE)
November 1 2019 The North Entrance and Rim Road close for the winter. Entrance fee is reduced to $15 per car and $10 per person.
November 22 2019 Rim Drive designated as a Historic District. A series of “The Original Rim Road” brochures are being prepared for visitors. They include, “East Entrance & Pinnacle Valley Segments, 1913,” “Grayback Segment, 1914,” “Lightning Springs Segment, 1915,” “Watchman Segment, 1916,” “Cloudcap Segment, 1917” and “Grouse Hill Segment, 1918.”
When the work started in 1913, park visitation was only 13,000 for the year. By 1931 that figure had climbed to 170,000. While Rim Road initially served its purpose as a circuit around Crater Lake, by the 1920s changes in automobile technology made the roadway unsuitable,” the brochures explain of the need for an improved road, now known as Rim Drive.
“In 1931, construction began on the modern Rim Drive, the roadway visitors still use to enjoy the sights of Crater Lake. Although the Rim Road’s tenure in Crater Lake was short, it represents a technological feat and is part of the larger history of automobiles in America’s national parks.”
November 30 2019 Crater Lake faces visitation challenges. An article by Lee Juillerat that appeared in the Mail Tribune. Visitation at Crater Lake National Park continues to increase and, according to superintendent Craig Ackerman, that’s not necessarily a good thing. “We’re approaching numbers that become unmanageable for us,” Ackerman said, noting this year’s visitor numbers are expected to climb above 780,000, a slight increase over 2018 when visitation totaled 770,250. He believes as the yearly figure approaches a million visitors, “We will probably be beyond the capacity we can provide quality service.”
Ackerman said 2019 has been a “difficult year.” The park was mostly closed during the 35-day government shutdown, although visitors could walk or cross-country ski from the park’s west entrance at Annie Springs 4 miles to park headquarters or, less often, another three uphill miles to the rim. The park was inundated with 135 inches of snow in February, a problem made more challenging because six of the seven snow-clearing machines, all the plows and blowers, were inoperable. At one point, he said only a grader was available.
Ackerman said there are preliminary proposals to add a second station at Annie Springs but noted a long-range solution would require widening entrance roads off Highways 62 and 138.
The park’s new concessionaire, Aramark, which in November 2018 took over operations of Crater Lake Lodge, Mazama Campground, Rim Village Cafe-Gift Shop and the Annie Creek store, gas station and cabins, also experienced challenges. Aramark had difficulties hiring personnel, a problem complicated by relatively low wages and housing shortages in and near the park, a problem faced at many national parks. Failures with the lodge’s heating system and water system problems resulted in the need for extensive repairs. In addition, the Mazama Campground opening was delayed to remove numerous hazard trees.
Park officials had hoped that after a season of operating lake boat tours, Aramark would have a new fleet in place for 2020, but boat design studies have not been completed. Ackerman said electric-powered boats are not feasible because it’s currently not possible to recharge batteries.
Although Crater Lake is the nation’s fifth-oldest national park, it has never had a full-scale visitor information-education center. Previous estimates for a center, which has been discussed for decades, were recently set at about $11 million. The park has two visitor contact stations that provide limited visitor offerings, at the Steel Center in Munson Valley and, during summer months, at the Kiser Studio in Rim Village.
Other park projects under study include rehabilitating and stabilizing the 1.1-mile trail from the expanded Cleetwood Cove parking area to the lake at Cleetwood Cove, where boats leave for summertime lake circuits. Temporary dock facilities will remain in place for at least another year.
Ackerman said plans to restore the Steel Visitor Contact Station, previously scheduled to begin in 2020 and take two years, may be delayed to start in 2021. Before the multi-million dollar project begins, the information station, sales outlet, post office and restrooms will be relocated to double- wide trailers at Mazama Village, and park staff working at the Steel Center will be moved to other offices.
Delayed, too, is a Federal Highway Administration project to repave and upgrade East Rim Drive from Cleetwood Cove to Munson Valley. Estimated cost is about $39 million. Road and all construction work is seasonal because of heavy snow that typically lasts eight to nine months a year.
December 27 2019 Crater Lake will increase its entry fees for the new year by $5 to help cover deferred park maintenance Starting Jan. 1, it will cost $30 per vehicle and $25 per motorcycle to visit the park. Annual park passes will cost $55, This is the last scheduled price increase for Crater Lake and other parks around the nation as part of that plan. The Park Service estimates the new fee structure will increase annual revenue by about $60 million nationally.
Fiscal year 2019 A record $3.5 million brought in from entrance fees.
Season 2019 The park had five official fires, all lightning- caused, with the largest only 0.3 of an acre. In contrast, fires burned 3,600 acres in 2018 and about 60,000 acres in 2017.
Budget: 2019 $5,533,000
Visitation 2019 704,515 the fourth highest since 1979. (The previous three years were higher reaching the peak during the centennial year of 2016 at 756,000. In 2018, crowds shifted from the busy summer months to the shoulder seasons.) OregonianLive
Budget summaires for the last decade:
Here are the base operational budget numbers. As you can see we have $3000 more than ten years ago. Adjusting for inflation we are significantly behind. (Yes, FY13 was a particularly difficult year.) More and more we have to rely on donations, volunteers, partner staffing and other work-arounds to keep everything running.
| FY 2010 | FY 2011 | FY 2012 | FY 2013 | FY 2014 | FY 2015 | FY 2016 | FY 2017 | FY 2019 | |
| 5,530,000 | 5,410,000 | 5,318,000 | 4,997,000 | 5,265,000 | 5,348,000 | 5,452,000 | 5,470,000 | 000 | 5,533,000 |
FY 2018 FY 2019
5547,000 5,533,000
Craig W. Ackerman
Superintendent
It is estimated that 36,806,894 visitors have visted Crater Lake National Park since the park was established in 1902.
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“THE GREAT SUNKEN LAKE HAS WALLS THAT ARE ALMOST PERPENDICULAR. THE DEPTH OF THE WATER IS UNKNOWN. ITS SURFACE IS SMOOTH AND UNRUFFLED. IT LIES SO FAR BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE MOUNTAIN THAT AIR CURRENTS DO NOT AFFECT. IT LENGTH IS 12 MILES, AND BREADTH IS 10 MILES. NO LIVING MAN HAS OR PROBABLY WILL BE ABLE TO REACH THE WATER’S EDGE. IT LIES SILENT, STILL AND MYSTERIOUS IN THE BOSOM OF THE ‘EVERLASTING HILLS’ , LIKE A HUGE WELL SCOOPED OUT BY THE HANDS OF THE GIANT GENIE OF THE MOUNTAINS IN AGES GONE BY. THESE FACTS SEEM INCREDIBLE, BUT THEY ARE VOUCHED FOR BY SOME OF OUR MOST RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS. THE LAKE IS CERTAINLY A MOST REMARKABLE CURIOSITY.”
The Jacksonville Sentinel, October 28, 1869
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