CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK 



589 



roail ami the Anna Creek road. From the Superintend- 

 ent's office to the rim of the Crater, the road climbs 

 through a difference in elevation of a little over one thou- 

 sand feet and lands the passenger at the very door of the 

 Crater Lake Lodge on the rim. Throughout the entire 

 trip the colors have been the sombre shades of our Oregon 

 forests and the rich browns of the fields, but from the rim 

 an entirelv different color scheme bursts upon the view. 



The color 

 of the water 

 is a blue that 

 defies d e- 

 scription. It 

 is of a sap- 

 phire shade 

 and yet seems 

 to be translu- 

 c e n t and 

 sparkling. 

 The cliffs that 

 form the rim 

 are of rich 

 browns and 

 tawny yel- 

 lows, spotted 

 here and there 

 with deep 

 reds. At the 

 edge of the 

 Lake, i n 

 places where 

 the water is 

 shallow, the 

 \- e 1 1 o w of 

 the lava be- 

 neath shows 

 through the 

 blue of the 

 water and 

 gives thissap- 

 p h i r e sea a 

 border trim 

 of pale jade 



green against which the dee]) rich green of the cedars 

 and pines is brought out in most startling contrast. A 

 friend who just returned from there told me that he 

 was never so thrilled with conflicting emotions as at the 

 moment he first stood upon the rim of the Crater. 



Nearby stood a small boy, who, just as my friend 

 secured a vantage point, loosened a stone that went rat- 

 tling down its fourteen-hundred-foot journey to the water 

 below. My friend is a great lover of children, but he 

 said that at that moment he had a burning desire to throw 



A GIANT ARROWHEAD 



There is a comparatively small and jagged rock projecting above the glass-like surface of the Lake, which, at certain 

 angles, takes on the aspect of a great ship. Combined with its reflection, which at times is difficult to distinguish 

 from the rock itself, it looks like a giant arrowhead. The picture here shown is taken from a point on the eastern 

 rim and looks toward the Vidse Cliffs. 



the 



boy after the stone. First he wanted to leave 



the place, for he felt tliat all human things were strangely 

 out of harmony with the scene. Then he felt a sudden 

 and ardent desire to rush down the steep precipice and 

 bathe in the magic waters of the Lake. Then he felt 

 sick and then hungry. He never told me the entire 



gamut of his emotions nor which one he finally succumbed 

 to, but I am inclined to believe, from my knowledge of 

 his habits, that hunger won out and he finally woimd 

 up with a mess of crisp trout from the Lake. 



, Of all places to fish in still water, there is probably 

 none that equals Crater Lake. The water, despite its 

 deep blue color, is astonishingly clear, and objects may be 

 seen on the bottom of the Lake, in places where it is 



shallow, 

 forty or fifty 

 feet below. 

 Around the 

 rim there is 

 no form of 

 plant or tree 

 life that may 

 entangle the 

 line or catch 

 the hook of 

 the unskilled 

 fisherman. 

 One may 

 stand on the 

 brink of the 

 Lake and 

 cast, without 

 fear of snares, 

 for the trout 

 which may be 

 f r e q u e n 1 1 y 

 seen in the 

 depths below. 

 On a still day 

 the wily fish 

 may be seen 

 to dart from 

 the deep 

 shadows be- 

 hind some 

 boulder a n d 

 rise like a 

 flash to strike 

 at the fly on 



the surface. If the angler is sufficiently skilful to fasten 

 the hook firmly, he will see every move of the fish in his 

 struggles for escape. The trout in the Lake are mostly 

 rainbow and of considerable size, varying from a half 

 pound to four pounds in weight, and they are plentiful in 

 number. The average weight, I would say, is in the neigh- 

 borhood of one and a half pounds. The work of landing 

 them is, therefore, something of a task, for they put up a 

 beautiful fight. Anyone who has not enjoyed the ex- 

 perience of being able to see every move of a two- or 

 three-pound rainbow trout while he is being landed has 

 not enjoyed to the full the fascinating sport of angling. 



The lure of the Lake below frequently tempts inexpe- 

 rienced travelers to make the descent in the afternoon as 

 soon as they have changed and refreshed themselves 

 after the stage ride. Until the new trail was built last 



