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1948

1948      Crater Lake’s 1948 operations prospectus recommended that the NPS should be prepared to: “eventually condemn the existing public accommodations on the Rim and refuse to permit any rebuilding of such accommodations within the park area with the possible exception of a lunch room which could be located as to provide year-round, ample meal service and would not encroach upon the featured portion of the park”.

February 18       1948    John “Jack” Meissner, of Odell Lake, and Emery Woodall attempt to ski the full length of the Skyline Trail, built in 1919, from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake. The name of the trail was later changed to the Pacific Crest Trail. “Skyline” was the original name of the Oregon section of the trail.

White Stag offered to provide the two men orange jackets and nylon/wool pants for free if they agreed to test them under winter conditions. The rest of their gear was an Army backpack, sleeping bag and an A-frame tent and a 14-day supply of food.

The Mt. Hood Ski Patrol considered the undertaking “foolhardy in the extreme.”  The U.S. Forest Service frowned on the idea and pointed out the dangers of a 300-mile journey in the dead of winter. Arrangements were made for the Civil Air Patrol to check in on their progress. The CAP also dropped supplies and carrier pigeons along the route. Emery developed painful blisters and hitched a ride home from near Idanha.

Jack’s progress was slowed by storms that buried most of the trail markers. One of his skis split. He used pine pitch to repair the ski and kept moving. On night 3 feet of snow fell. Soloing to Willamette Pass ski resort, Jack was able to resupply and trade his old broken skis for new ones. On April 8, during a snow storm, Jack arrived at Crater Lake Lodge. The staff and cutomers looked askance at him when he walked in covered with snow, exhausted and hungry.

He had skied 300 miles from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake in 33 days on the trail, and 22 zero days while resting and waiting out storms. The Crater Lake rangers gave him a place to stay the night and a ride to Klamath Falls the next day to catch a ride home.

Jack died in November 2008 at age 88. Locals would like to see the Skyline Trail section of the PCT named in Jack’s memory as the pioneering skier of the trail from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake. (PCT Communicator December 2011)

1919 – the Skyline Trail, the precursor of the Pacific Crest Trail, is built from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake. (See Feb. 1948)

March 11               1948      Superintendent Leavitt writes that hotel accommodations should be provided outside the Park and all concession facilities at the Rim should be condemned.

April                        1948      Park Superintendent Leavitt and his staff find themselves without postage money after Congress cuts the NPS’s postage allowance by 60%.  Mailouts for informational requests is cut back.  The NHA comes to the rescue with the loan of a few stamps to help with pressing matters.

April 16                  1948      Snowfall for April sets a new record with 93.5 inches being recorded. The previous record had been 91 inches in April of 1932.

May 10                   1948      In an internal letter, the NPS observes that the fire escapes at the Lodge are inadequate.  To use them, a guest would have to get access to an often-locked room and then step up on a chair to reach the windowsill.  Then grab a knotted rope and swing out into the darkness.

June 3                    1948      NPS Director Drury writes that the removal of the Lodge should be made a condition for granting a new concession contract in 1960.

August 6                1948      Fatal fall of Lodge employee near Vidae Falls.

August                   1948      The Rim Drive is finally opened.  A storm closes the Drive about 4 weeks later.

Summer                1948      The regional NPS office recognizing the high fire danger of the lodge attempts to close the building as a public hazard, but political pressure keeps it open for another 40 years. During the 1960’s and 1970’s the building bedded down 300 employees and guests. Fire escapes included knotted ropes leading out to ladders nailed onto the roof. Fire escapes and a sprinkler system were not added until the late 1970’s.

September 18      1948      The North Entrance Station is demolished in a collision with a visitor’s car.

December             1948      Record snowfall for December of 196 inches. Record is nearly broken in  December 1996 when 195 inches fell.  The record was broken in December 2015 with 196.7 inches.  A 67 year span.

Season                  1948      Visitation: 243,533  (Online says: 313,580)

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