Nature Notes From Crater Lake
Volume 3, No. 2, August 1930
By F. Lyle Wynd, Acting Park Naturalist
Recently, Dr. John C. Merriam,
President of the Carneigie Institute of Washington, Dr. H. C. Bryant,
Assistant to the Director of National Parks, E. C. Solinsky,
Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, and the writer were
exploring the western portion of the Rim with a view to selecting sites
for the erection of observation stations. In a previous year Dr. Merriam
had seen a ledge of well glaciated rock in the vicinity of the Devil's
Backbone. Dr. Merriam pleased the members of the party very much by
leading them to this interesting relic of the Great Ice Age.
The surface of the rock was clearly
polished and striated by the great glacier that went down the slopes of
the ancient Mount Mazama between what is now Llao Rock and Hilman Peak.
This was probably the largest and longest glacier that Mt. Mazama ever
had. Its path has been traced far down the Rogue River for many miles.
A deep layer of pumice and other
explosive material covered all but a protruding ledge of what is
probably an extensive glaciated surface. This shows that Mt. Mazama was
not yet dead during the Pleistocene or Great Ice Age.
A fragment was found which could be
moved by each of the party taking turns. This was later placed in the
temporary museum. Its surface is beautifully polished by the ice sliding
over it for many centuries. Running parallel there are several well
defined grooves caused by rocks imbedded in the moving ice.