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2014
January 7 2014 In case you haven’t heard, we’ve had a record-breaking winter so far here at Crater Lake! Right now, at the weather station here at Park HQ, only 4 inches of snow hide the ground. In fact, there’s enough grass outside the Steel VC that I think I might bring a picnic lunch to work tomorrow.
Never in recorded history (since 1931, when the park began keeping track) has there been so little snow on the ground on this date. The previous record on January 6th was 14 inches, back in 1990. Normal for this date is a snowpack of 70 inches.
The good news is that our sunny skies and warm weather conspired to bring a record number of people to the park over the holidays. (What also brought them here is the fact that we’re the only place in southern Oregon that has any snow at all in which to play.) In the past few weeks, we’ve led 668 visitors on guided snowshoe walks. It’s been crazy busy. David Grimes – Park Ranger
February 2014 Crater Lake’s newest snowplow – Information from lead mechanic Mike Stone.
The Park operates two different types of large snowplows. One is the Oshkosh truck mount and second one is the front-end loader using a “quick clip-on mount”.
The Park’s newest snowplow is an Overaasen UTV 600 – front end loader mount. Manufactured in Norway at a cost of $430,000 and built to Crater Lake’s specifications. The machine shipped from Norway on February 3, 2014.
The single purpose truck mount snowplow sits idle for about 5 months of the year. The loader mount makes that machine much more versatile. Come summer, the snowplow is dropped and the loader can be used with a large front-end bucket.
The new UTV 600 all-electric snowplow is more fuel efficient, compared to the truck mount plow, by using “Best Available Technology”. (BAT) And it will be much more reliable than the Park’s older snowplows. The Kodiak’s drive train is replaced every other year. The Overaasens have been in operation for 10 years and are still using their original drive trains. Also, the Overaasen uses “off-the-shelf” parts. The Kodiak requires each replacement part to be manufactured machine specific.
The Park’s new Overaasen will plow 4800 to 5,000 tons of snow per hour. The truck-mounted Oshkosh plows about 4500 tons per hour.
February 21 2014 A summary report by Park Superintendent Craig Ackerman: The Park is back to its
2012 budget, but Congress took back 1% for unfunded activities in Washington. So campgrounds will be opened this coming summer and some employees will be coming back. Last summer a well was drilled at Union Peak Trail head coming in at 84 gallons/minute to supplement domestic water supply, but the State of Oregon will not give our permits for production wells. (This may be due to Indian water rights.) The Steel Center building is unsound because of snow loading. $8,000,000 is needed to fix it. Plans for new Rim Village Visitor Center include the need to demolish the old presently abandoned 1924 Camper Store Building. The Park needs to add a secondary entrance station to eliminate mile-long lineups. (source: FOCL board minutes.)
April 19 2014 The US Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, is kicking off National Park
Week with a visit to Crater Lake National Park.
Secretary Jewell strapped on snowshoes and hit the trails with students and teachers from Eugene. She also held an informal question and answer session with students to talk about why these natural treasures are worth protecting.
Jewell says these parks provide economic value in addition to recreational value.
“There is no better return than the return we get on our national parks. We return $7 for every $1 spent,” said Jewell.
According to the Southern Oregon Visitors Association, Crater Lake leads a tourism industry that employs more than 10,000 people in the area. In 2012, national parks combined to support nearly 250,000 jobs and generate nearly $27-billion to the economy.
Jewell says the goal of National Park Week is to simply encourage people to show up in the hopes that they enjoy their experience and choose to advocate for national parkland. All national parks will offer free admission for the remainder of the week.
April 20 2014 Crater Lake’s annual snowfall gradually declining – Crater Lake National Park averaged 460 inches of snow each year between 2000 and 2013. That is much less than what the park got in the 1930s and 1940s — when the annual average was more than 600 inches.
“The really surprising thing was seeing how much snow used to fall here in the 1930s and ’40s,” stated Crater Lake park ranger Dave Grimes. “It has been a very gradual decline, but when you look at the numbers, it’s something that definitely sticks out.”
The trend is important because snow, for a variety of reasons, is the lifeblood of the Southern Oregon park. “The first of which is that it provides water for Crater Lake itself,” Grimes said. “One of the reasons it’s considered the cleanest and clearest lake in the world is that it’s mostly pure snowmelt.” (H & News)
Average seasonal snowfall at Crater Lake National Park by decade at 6,540 feet.?
August to July of each season?
1931-40 — 614.48?
40-50 — 623.00?
50-60 — 571.51
60-70 — 507.15
70-80 — 494.54
80-90 — 474.50?
90-00 — 493.23?
00-10 — 459.39?
Does not include four seasons from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II.? Does not include data from current season, which still is in progress, with a snowpack 42 percent of normal as of April 16.
April 30 2014 Snowshoe hiker goes missing after renting snowshoes from the Café’ intending to hike and take photos.
May 8 2014 Missing man Crater Lake National Park rangers searched an area on Garfield
Peak near the caldera rim for a snowshoer who has been missing in the park since April 30. Showshoe tracks were found on a collapsed cornice near the Garfield Peak trail near Cleetwood Canyon, just east of the Lodge. Cam Parnell’s (Nashville, Tennesse) coat was found lying on the snow.
Park spokeswoman Marsha McCabe said the April 30 report indicated the visitor, described only as a male not from Oregon, had arrived at the park two days earlier, rented snowshoes from the park concessionaire, and set off to hike and take photos. Following a lead, rangers searched an area on Garfield Peak near the caldera rim. They located snowshoe tracks leading from the Garfield Peak trail onto a snow cornice that had collapsed. McCabe said extensive search efforts in that area by park rangers and Crater Lake Ski Patrol volunteers and by helicopters have not located the individual. A helicopter flew a broad area of the park Wednesday, April 30, then, after finding the collapsed cornice, focused on the Garfield Peak area.
Missing snowshoer identified
Cameron Blake Parnell, of Mount Juliet, Tenn., is presumed to have died at Crater Lake, April 28.
Posted: May 13, 2014
By LEE JUILLERAT H&N Regional Editor
The snowshoer who apparently fell to his death last month when a cornice collapsed along the rim of Crater Lake has been identified as Cameron Blake Parnell of Mount Juliet, Tenn. His body has not been recovered. Parnell is described as “an adventurer, professional pilot, nature-lover, and world traveler — he was a man with a deep wonder and passion for life.
May 23 2014 H and News/The North Entrance Road opens for travel— just in time for the holiday weekend. This is a very early opening for Crater Lake’s North Entrance. Warm temperatures and a low snow pack have resulted in a greatly accelerated spring opening this year.
July 2 2014 17 people from nine countries became U.S. citizens while standing on the Rim of Crater Lake at the Watchman Overlook.
This was the second year Crater Lake hosted the ceremony. One by one, each candidate walked up to receive their certificate making them official U.S. citizens. By the end of the ceremony, there were three new citizens from the United Kingdom, four from New Zealand, two from Canada, three from Mexico, and one from each of Peru, China, Poland, Switzerland and Guatamala. KFals H&News
July 27 2014 A new National Park Service study shows that Oregon’s national parks fielded nearly 1 million visitors in 2013. Those visitors spent some $67.4 million and backed 1,055 jobs; Crater Lake National Park and John Day Fossil Beds and Oregon Caves. Portland Business Journal
July 30 2014 There are 16 new lightning-sparked fires that have popped up in
- Crater Lake National Park, following Wednesday’s storm that shot out
- between 2,000 and 2,500 lightning strikes across Southern Oregon.
The fires are all grouped in a 35-acre area, some in remote areas with no road access. Wildland firefighters, including rappelling crews, are battling 12 of the blazes with the help of bucket drops from helicopters. KTVL-tv (Medford, OR)
July 30 20014 By Aaron Nilsson/KTVL.com Employees at Crater Lake said after a long day’s work they just want to sleep tight and not have fear of a bed bug bite. But lately, bed bugs are creating a problem. They started showing up in several employee dorm rooms in May.
The bugs are leaving employees tired, hungry and frustrated.
Park managers said they’re working on it and a company will be arriving soon to handle the problem. Crater Lake manager, Mike Keller, said there are no bed bugs in guest areas like the lodge or in Mazama Village. Managers said the insects were an issue in the same dorm room last year.
.August 1 2014 There was an attempted stop of one individual who may have had illegal drugs and in his attempt to elude rangers he went over the rim in the vicinity of the Lightning Springs Trailhead pull out which provides a nice view of Wizard Island. So, Sat. Aug. 2nd morning, the search was still underway.
CRATER LAKE, OREGON – Crater Lake National Park Rangers are seeking information on an individual who was involved in a Search and Rescue incident within the park starting on August 1, 2014. They are also trying to ascertain the welfare of the individual following the incident. On August 1st rangers responded to an area along the west rim north of Discovery Point adjacent to the Rim Trail for an individual who was observed to have fallen from the caldera rim surrounding Crater Lake. The man was reported to have disappeared in the trees on the slope at that location.
Rangers immediately began a search for the individual. Rangers along with personnel from Jackson, Douglas and Josephine County Search and Rescue teams conducted high angle search efforts at the location on the rim through Sunday, August 3rd. In addition personnel searched from boats on Crater Lake and a helicopter conducted an aerial search of the slope. The only finding during the search efforts was a pair of sunglasses located directly below where the individual was reported to have fallen. It is believed that the individual may have somehow arrested his fall and climbed out of the caldera without making contact with rangers.
April 11 2014 Man who caused violent scene at Crater Lake bar pleads guilty
By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune
A Medford man who last month smashed glasses, struck a minister with his crutch and threatened to kill a park ranger during a drunken rage inside Crater Lake Lodge’s Great Hall will be sentenced Sept. 2 on four federal charges.
Donald Frederick Taylor, 38, pleaded guilty before a federal judge July 28 to assault within maritime or territorial jurisdiction, vandalism, disorderly conduct and impeding or interfering with a government official, U.S. District Court documents show. He faces up to a year in prison.
Court records say Taylor was under the influence of alcohol when he began yelling at patrons and throwing things at a cocktail bar inside the Great Hall at about 6 p.m. July 10. He threw a computer, credit card machine, water glasses and a water pitcher on the ground. Chief Ranger Dimmick ordered Taylor to stop and get on the floor, but Taylor refused. Dimmick used a stun gun on Taylor twice before Taylor complied with Dimmick’s demands to lie on the floor with his hands behind his back.
“He continued to talk, uttering various statements that made little sense, but then would make threats to me such as, ‘There is a bullet waiting for you”. They found Taylor had struck a minister in the head with his crutch when the minister asked Taylor to calm down. The minister suffered a one-inch laceration on the top of his head.
Rangers also found two rifles and several dozen rounds of ammunition in Taylor’s truck, parked outside the lodge entrance.
August 12 2014 Lightening strikes inside the Caldera wall between Rim Village and Discovery
Point ignite a fire about half way between the top of the rim and the Lake. After several weeks it burns itself out.
Sepember 10 2014 by Sam Wheeler Mail Tribune
A pair of lightning-sparked wildfires are burning inside Crater Lake National Park.
Although both fires are being closely monitored, they are not being suppressed by firefighters. The small Caldera fire is burning west of Rim Village on the inside wall of the caldera, while the roughly 16-acre Founders Day fire is burning in the northeast corner of the park. The fire burning inside the caldera is surrounded by natural barriers that are limiting fire growth. It was sparked by lightning on Aug. 13.
The Founders Day fire, sparked by lightning on Aug. 25 — the 98th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service — is expected to grow during the weekend’s predicted hot, dry and windy conditions. So far this summer, the National Park Service has suppressed 40 lightning-sparked fire within Crater Lake National Park.
September 19 2014 A former worker at Crater Lake National Park, A.J. Whorl, said about 20 employees and an
assistant general manager have left. Former employees said the reason is a bed bug infestation that’s not going away. KTVL TV news report.
September 22 2014 Sacramento, CA
Researchers focusing on the problem of crayfish in Lake Tahoe are applying what they’ve learned to stop a growing infestation at Crater Lake in Oregon. Like Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake is at a high altitude and really deep.
University of Nevada Reno Biologist Sudeep Chandra says like Lake Tahoe, crayfish numbers in Crater Lake are also increasing. In Crater Lake they’ve doubled in the past five years. He says that is one of many factors that could be affecting the clarity of the lake.
“We have been finding the edge of the lake turning slightly green,” says Chandra. “Now is that because of a changing climate, drought, could be, or is it because these crayfish are now excreting nutrients at a higher rate causing algae to grow.”
Chandra is helping researchers at Crater Lake try to eradicate the crayfish and protect species from the crayfish using underwater fencing.
Fall 2014 Crater Classroom reaches out to 2,463 students ranging from 2nd grade to high school.
November 21 2014 Crater Lake notes record number of visitor. But road construction will affect 2015 seasonal travel. Crater Lake National Park visitors often complain about road and other construction projects during the summer visits, sometimes angrily insisting work should be done other times of the year. The problem, according to park superintendent Craig Ackerman, is those people don’t realize park roads and buildings are typically buried under snow during normal winter seasons from mid-October to June or July. Ackerman notes construction also can be delayed even when roads are free of snow because pavement work is only effective when temperatures reach certain levels.
If Crater Lake experiences another low-snow year, Ackerman said 2015’s construction, Phase 1 of a three-year plan to completely rebuild the 33-mile Rim Drive, could start in May or June.
October 28 2014 By LEE JUILLERAT H&N Regional Editor Visitors have been making the trip to Crater Lake National Park in record numbers this year, but touring the park will be more challenging next summer.
As of Sept. 31, the park had counted 536,749 visitors this calendar year. Superintendent Craig Ackerman says that means it’s likely the total number of visitors from all of 2013, 572,527, will likely be surpassed this year. And he notes those figures are well above the 460,000 visitors reported in 2008, his first year at Crater Lake.
Ackerman said the lack of snowfall is a prime reason for the increased numbers of visitors because low snow levels allow snowplowing to begin early. This year, as in 2013, the park’s North Entrance Road opened before Memorial Day.
He also believes the two vehicle-free days on the final two weekends of September generated visitors who bicycled, ran or walked East Rim Drive. “Extremely successful,” he said of vehicle-free days, which still allow motorists to use Rim Drive between park headquarters and the North Entrance junction. “Very compatible with the mission of the park.”
Vehicle-free events
Having the vehicle-free days on two different Saturdays works better for motorists and bicyclists/walkers than having the days on back-to-back weekend days.
Plans for 2015 call for doing extensive repairs to Rim Drive, from the edge of Rim Village to the North Entrance Junction. Crews also will rebuild and enlarge the Cleetwood Cove parking lot.
During the construction, one lane is expected to remain open with vehicles following pilot cars, but significant delays are likely.
Ackerman said the existing road surface will be lowered so that Rim Drive’s narrow lanes can be widened. The road, which is seriously deteriorating, is currently too narrow for guardrails or fog lines. Planned for the summer of 2016 is the removal and replacement of the Rim Village parking lot and rebuilding Rim Drive from the North Junction to Cleetwood Cove. The cost for the Rim Drive upgrade is an estimated $18 million. Tentatively planned for 2017 is replacement of Rim Drive from Cleetwood Cove along East Rim Drive to park headquarters.
Cleetwood Cove project
Next summer’s Cleetwood Cove parking area project will expand the number of parking places from 100 to about 160. The new area will include large spaces designed for RVs and trailers, which historically have used two and sometimes three vehicle-size spaces. Estimated cost for the project is $1.4 million.
“It’s going to be a challenge to continue the boat tours,” Ackerman said of two-hour lake tours offered by the park’s concessionaire, Xanterra, which include geology talks by rangers. “The easiest solution would be to close the boat tours, but sometimes the easiest isn’t the best.”
Even if boat tours were eliminated, he said the number by people walking the trail would probably still be high because it’s estimated half to two-thirds of those who make 2.2-mile round-trip walk go to see and, increasingly, swim in the lake. The only trail to the lake begins at the Cleetwood Cove parking lot.
Alternate transportation Ackerman said the park may offer shuttles or develop an alternate way for people to go to and from Cleetwood Cove next summer.
The upcoming road construction also is a consideration as park officials prepare a response to a directive by National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis to study and possibly increase park entrance fees. The park’s current entrance fee is $10 but it could be upped to $25.
“We want to take into consideration the road will be disrupted the next three years,” Ackerman said, noting the park’s response of changing its fee structure is due in November.
October 24 2014 A series of colorful, eerie faces painted on rocks in some of the West’s most pristine, well-known national parks has sparked an investigation by authorities and a furor online. National Park Service agents have found the images at six parks in California, Utah and Crater Lake. The images appear to come from a New York state woman traveling across the West this summer and documenting her work on Instagram and Tumblr. One photograph online shows a painting of a woman’s face on a rock outcropping against the panoramic sweep from Mt. Scott. In another, a line drawing of a woman smoking a cigarette appears on red rock in Utah’s Canyonlands. The images appear to have been painted with acrylic paint or drawn with marker. (MT) (See June 14, 2016 post)
December 20, 2014 Portland Oregonian Oregon Caves National Monument enlarged nearly 10 times, with presidential signing of act By Terry Richard
The National Park Service reports that a new 4,000-acre site to be known as Oregon Caves National Preserve is a reality. Passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Friday, Dec. 19, 2014.
The new park, created through the transfer of national forest lands, is contiguous with the existing Oregon Caves National Monument. The two units will be administered as a single area. The current monument is 480 acres, and an enlargement of the area has been considered since its designation 105 years ago. The newly acquired acreage takes in the watershed that feeds the cave and provides the drinking water for the visiting public. The legislation also designated the River Styx that flows through the cave as the first subterranean stream as a national wild and scenic river. The National Park Service anticipates that the newly transferred land will also provide expanded recreation opportunities for visitors including hiking, hunting and new ranger programs. Oregon Caves National Monument is a significant economic driver for Southern Oregon and adds $5 million annually to the local economy, according to the park service.
Season 2014 Trail Use:
Cleetwood Cove Trail 52,634
Garfield Peak Trail 21,426
Pacific Crest Trail South 1,181
Pumic Flat Trail 1,532
Season 2014 Visitation: 619, 467. An increase of 100,000 over last year. (Online sources say: 535,508 ) A lack of snow allowed the Park to open roads sooner and a promotional campaign by Travel Oregon. Nation-wide figures show a record 294 million people visited National Park Service sites in 2014.
Season 2014 Budget: $5,265,000
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