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Old Man of the Lake

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Picture of the "Old Man of the Lake" (September 13, 2005).

The Old Man of the Lake is the name given to a tall stump of tree, probably a hemlock, which has been bobbing vertically in Oregon's Crater Lake for more than a century. Due to the extremely cold water of the lake, the tree has been rather well preserved.

Tour boats regularly pass The Old Man on their journeys to view the sights around Crater Lake. The clarity of the lake's water allows one to see far down The Old Man's length.

Vital statistics

The Old Man of the Lake is about 30 feet long and about two feet in diameter at its waterline. Its tip stands approximately four feet above the water and has been bleached white by the elements. The exposed end of the floating tree is splintered and worn but wide and buoyant enough to support a person's weight.[1]

Joseph S. Diller published the first geology of Crater Lake in 1902, the same year the area became a national park. In his work, Diller briefly describes a great stump in the lake that he had found six years earlier. Thus, in 1896, The Old Man floated just as it does at present, giving it a documented age of more than one hundred years.[1]

Fontinalis, a moss that is present in the waters of Crater Lake at a depth of 394 feet, also grows on the Old Man of the Lake, the only place it is found near the surface.[2]

Movement

Sketch of the "Old Man of the Lake," Kartchnerand, W.E. & Doerr, J.E., Jr., infra.

Movements of The Old Man have long been observed. In 1896, Diller established that The Old Man could travel by tying baling wire around the log and pulling it a short distance. Five years later, Diller observed the Old Man to be a quarter mile from where he had previously noted its location.[1]

As the result of an inquiry from Washington, D.C. as to its precise location, the project of recording The Old Man's location was undertaken between July 1 and September 30, 1938.[3] Those observations indicated that The Old Man of Crater Lake travels quite extensively, and sometimes with surprising rapidity. Since it can usually be seen virtually anywhere on the lake, boat pilots commonly communicate its position to each other as a general matter of safety.[1]

During one three-month period of observation in 1938, The Old Man traveled at least 62.1 miles. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the days on which the greatest movements occurred were days of relatively high wind and waves.[3]

In 1988, submarine explorations were conducted in the lake, and the scientists decided to tie The Old Man off the eastern side of Wizard Island to neutralize the navigational hazard until their research work was complete. However, the weather quickly went from clear to stormy. It seemed as if the weather was poor so long as the Old Man remained bound, but once the log was freed, the weather settled.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Salinas, J. "The Old Man of the Lake". Nature Notes from Crater Lake National Park, vol. XXVII (1996). Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  2. ^ Fairbanks, C.W. "The Crater Lake Community". Nature Notes from Crater Lake National Park, vol. XIX (1953). Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  3. ^ a b Kartchnerand, W.E. & Doerr, J.E., Jr. "Wind Currents In Crater Lake As Revealed By The Old Man Of The Lake". Nature Notes from Crater Lake National Park, vol. XI, Issue 3 (1938). Retrieved 2007-05-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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