CRATER LAKE, OREGON. 371 



The journey from Ashland by the Dead Indian road crosses the range 

 where the average altitude is less than 5,000 feet. The road passes 

 within a few miles of Mount Pitt and skirts Pelican Bay of Klamath 

 Lake, famous for its fishing. After following northward for some 20 

 miles along the eastern foot of the range, it ascends the eastern slope, 

 along the castled canyon of Anna Creek to the rim of Crater Lake. 



From Medford or Gold Hill, the trip is a trifle shorter by the Rogue 

 Eiver road. It affords some fine views of the canyons and rapids of 

 that turbulent stream and of the high falls, where it receives its afflu- 

 ents. Striking features along both roads, within 20 miles of the lake, 

 are the plains developed upon a great mass of detritus filling the val- 

 leys. Across these plains Anna Creek and Rogue River have carved 

 deep, narrow canyons with finely sculptured walls, which the roads fol- 

 low for some distance. 



Approaching the lake from any side, the observer sees, as in the dis- 

 tant part of figure 2, a broad cluster of gentle peaks rising about a 

 thousand feet above the general crest of the range on which they stand, 

 but not until after he has left the main road, 3 miles from the lake, does 

 he begin to feel the steepness of the ascent. The way winds over a 

 large moraine littered with lava bowlders and well studded with firs. 

 Arriving at the crest, the lake in all its majestic beauty, as it appears 

 in figure 3, comes suddenly upon the scene, and is profoundly impres- 

 sive. Descending the wooded slope a short distance within the rim to 

 Victor Rock, an excellent general view of the lake is obtained. Upon 

 the left is the western border of the lake (fig. 4), and upon the right 

 its southern border (fig. 5). The eye beholds 20 miles of unbroken 

 cliffs ranging from over 500 to nearly 2,000 feet in height, encircling a 

 deef) blue sheet of placid water, in which the mirrored walls vie with 

 the originals in brilliancy and greatly enhance the depth of the prospect. 



The first point to fix our fascinated gaze is Wizard Island, lying 

 nearly 2 miles away, near the western margin of the lake. Its irregu- 

 lar western edge and the steep but symmetrical truncated cone in the 

 eastern portion are very suggestive of volcanic origin. We can not, 

 however, indulge our first impulse to go at once to the island, for the 

 various features of the rim are of greater importance in unraveling the 

 earlier stages of its geological history. 



The outer and inner slopes of the rim are in strong contrast; while 

 the one is gentle, ranging in general from 10° to 15°, the other is abrupt 

 and full of cliffs. This difference is well expressed by the contour 

 map in figure 6. The vertical interval of the contours is 200 feet. 

 Upon the inner slope the contours are crowded close together to show 

 a slope so steep that one needs to travel but a little way to descend 200 

 feet, while upon the outer slope the contours are so far apart that to 

 descend 200 feet one needs to travel a considerable portion of a mile. 

 The outer slope at all points is away from the lake, and as the rim rises 

 at least 1,000 feet above the general summit of the range, it is evidently 

 the basal portion of a great holhjw cone in which the lake is contained. 



