Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-10-02

that disappeared here at our feet
many thousands of years ago. Tc
whatever geological sin the downfall
of Mount Mazama may be traced, in
Crater Lake nature has left a monu-
ment that will attract more attention
and admiration than any of the
neighboring peaks that survive.
On such a night as this, when
ones imagination weaves its fondest
fancies, Llao Rock seems like a
mighty lion carved in stone; the Pal
isades a great wall of masonry; Gla-
cier Peak the skeleton of an ante
diluvian monster; Phantom Ship
barely discernible in the pale moon
light, the ghost of an ill-starred
craft that sailed these waters al
some prehistoric period; the lake it.
self, an immense cauldron filled with
molten metal.
The beautiful stone hotel which is
being erected on the rim of the era
ter will not be finished until some
time next year, so we slept in tents,
pungling up one plunk apiece for the
privilege. Meals are served at six
bits and one dollar. A single COM
pany has monopoly of the hotel
and auto stage business in the park.
Our chauffeur was threatened with
arrest for poaching on the preserves
of this company, since the govern
ment issues only one permit for
these lines of business. 1t was ex-
planned that there would be no OBJ
lection to his hauling his folks or
friends, whereupon we all came for
ward and expressed our willingness
to be considered as such and to for
get any little bargain we may have
made relative to financial remunera-
tion for transportation. Mr.. Boyd
was visibly moved by our magnanim-
ity, but said that he could not permit
us to make so great sacrifice on
his behalf; that while he appreciated
our generosity and unselfishness he
would insist that we appear as COM
mercial passengers and pay the price
agreed upon for the trip, even if he
had to go to Jail for it. After con-
siderable cloth mastication the mat
ter was adjusted and we were per-
mitted to proceed in peace.
Saturday morning all of us except
Madame Chaperone followed the
switchback trail down to Eagle Cove.
The grade is about as steep as a
house roof, and there are places
where single misstep would precip-
itate one into paradise or purgatory,
as the case might be. Signs warn
us against rolling or throwing rocks,
which gather the momentum of a
cannon ball in plunging down the
thousand-foot cliff. AS we pass
close by huge snowbank the south
ern girl is delighted, saying that on
her recent trip to Alaska she never
got so near the snow as this. Inspir-
ing vistas of jagged cliffs and deep,
blue waters, framed with evergreen
trees, open before our admiring eyes
at every turn of the trail. Green as
liquid emerald are the shallow wa
ters near the shore, which change to
beautiful blue as the depth increas-
es. Tiny wavelets sparkle in the
morning sunlight as the fitful breeze
ruffles the placid bosom of the lake.
A number of boats near the shore
appear like toy craft, so far are they
below us. Arriving at the waters
edge, we charter one of the boats at
four bits per hour and row mile
and half over to Wizard Island.
This is pile of lava rocks a mile
across, surmoAnted by cone of Gin
ders 500 feet high, with a miniature
crater in the top. There is a little
lake on the north side of the island,
making lake within lake, as we'll
as crater within crater. Extend
ing westward into Skell Channel are
number of rocky isles composed of
lava, which looks as though it might
have cooled and broken up just re-
Gently. Putting out a couple of
trolling lines, we slowly row over
the shallow waters which separate
these dark piles of lava.
A mile to the north, on the west
ern shore of the lake, we behold a
curious formation known as the
Devils Backbone. When Mount Ma
zama was an active volcano the lava
flowed through fissure in its west
ern side. The cooling of this lava
formed these satanic vertebrae,
which extend from the rim of the
crater to the waters edge.
I've got one!" sings out the musi-
cal maid, pulling in fine, big trout.
This is the extent of our catch, since
we have no desire to further deci-
mate the piscatorial population of
the lake.
While rowing back to the shore
we marvel at the immensity of the
caldera of the crater, which contains
a dozen cubic miles. The projecting
top of the volcano must have con-
tanned at least half as much more,
making a total of eighteen cubic
miles of material which disappeared
when Mount Mazama sank from
sight. This is more than four hun
dIed times as much as the entire
quantity of dirt and rock which has
been moved in digging the Panama
Canal. The latter amounts of $780,
100000 cubic yards, but that is only
one twenty-fifth of a single cubic
mile.
What knocked the props out from
under Mount Mazama and caused it
to drop eight or ten thousand feet?"
inquiries our stroke oarsman, paus-
ing to peer into the indigo depths,
which are so clear that dinner plate
can be seen hundred feet below
the surface. Scientists are unable
to explain the cause of this phenome-
non, which is unparalleled in the
geological history of the world.
o. H. BARNHILL.
OUR COMBINATION